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The Twelve Apostles And Paul
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


In comparing the ministry of the twelve apostles with that of the Apostle Paul, we must observe carefully:

1. The twelve were chosen by Christ ON EARTH (Luke 6:13) while Paul was later chosen by Christ IN HEAVEN (Acts 9:3-5; 26:16).

2. Prior to Paul’s conversion the twelve had known Christ only ON EARTH (I John 1:1). Even at His ascension to heaven “a cloud received Him OUT OF THEIR SIGHT” (Acts 1:9). But Paul knew Christ only IN HEAVEN, having never seen Him on earth (Acts 26:16; I Cor. 15:8.).

3. The twelve represented their own nation. The number twelve has no connection with the “one Body” of Christ. As we know, Jacob of old “begat the twelve patriarchs” (Acts 7:8.). >From these sprang the twelve tribes of Israel. These tribes had twelve princes over them (Numbers 1:16). Even when Israel was ruled by kings there were still to be twelve princes — one over each tribe (I Chronicles 27:22). Thus, as He went forth proclaiming “the gospel of the kingdom” our Lord chose twelve princes for the twelve thrones in the kingdom to come (Matt. 19:28.).

On the other hand, Paul, as one apostle, represents the “one Body,” the Church of today (Rom. 12:5; I Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:4). However, he was both a born Hebrew and a born Roman, so represented believing Jews and Gentiles “reconciled…unto God in one body by the cross…” (Eph. 2:16).

4. The twelve were sent to proclaim Christ’s kingdom “at hand” (Matt. 10:7), and later to offer its establishment on earth (Acts 3:19-26). But Paul was sent to proclaim “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24), while the kingdom is held in abeyance.

5. The ministry of the twelve was based on covenant promises (Isaiah 60:1-3; Luke 1:70-79; Acts 3:22-26). Paul’s ministry was not based on covenant promises, but wholly on the grace of God through Christ (Rom. 3:21-28; 5: 20,21; Eph. 1:6,7; 2:7; etc.).

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The Fruits Of The Resurrection
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


The fruits of our Lord’s resurrection from the dead are many and important.

First, there were immediate results. It silenced those who had ridiculed His claims, and struck terror into their hearts. It explained how the prophecies would be fulfilled which predicted the death of Christ and the kingdom glory to follow. It heartened His followers, making cowards bold, turning their fear into faith, their sorrow into joy and their despair into glorious victory.

Then there were also long range results, for our Lord’s resurrection is a warning to unbelievers:

    “Because [God] hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31. See also John 5:22,27; Acts 10:42).

As to believers, first, Christ’s resurrection from the dead assures us that our debt of sin has been fully paid:

    “[HE] WAS DELIVERED FOR OUR OFFENCES, AND WAS RAISED AGAIN FOR OUR JUSTIFICATION. THEREFORE BEING JUSTIFIED BY FAITH, WE HAVE PEACE WITH GOD THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST” (Rom. 4:25; 5:1).

Second, His resurrection gives us a living Savior to help us in our daily walk.

    “WHEREFORE HE IS ABLE ALSO TO SAVE THEM TO THE UTTERMOST THAT COME UNTO GOD BY HIM, SEEING HE EVER LIVETH TO MAKE INTERCESSION FOR THEM” (Heb. 7:25).

Third, His resurrection is the pledge of our own:

    “FOR IF WE BELIEVE THAT JESUS DIED AND ROSE AGAIN, EVEN SO THEM ALSO WHICH SLEEP IN JESUS WILL GOD BRING [FROM THE DEAD] WITH HIM” (I Thes. 4,14; cf. Heb. 13:20).

    “BLESSED BE THE GOD AND FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST WHO, ACCORDING TO HIS ABUNDANT MERCY, HATH BEGOTTEN US AGAIN UNTO A LIVING HOPE BY THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST FROM THE DEAD” (I Pet. 1:3).

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The Little Foxes That Spoil The Vines
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Many Christian people entertain the notion that apostasy from the truth begins with a denial of one or more of the fundamentals of the faith, such as the infallibility of the Bible, the deity of Christ, or the efficacy of His redemptive work. The moral aspect of apostasy, they suppose, comes about in much the same way.

This view is not wholly correct, for apostasy generally begins, not with holding, but with condoning spiritual or moral error.

Eve fell into sin, not by denying what God had said but by listening to Satan.

In the Song of Solomon, the Shulamite damsel, doubtless quoting the words of Solomon, her beloved bridegroom, notes that the vineyards are in full blossom. Soon the grapes will be ripe for the marriage feast. But a danger threatens the harvest: “the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines.” These must without fail be “taken,” or caught (Song of Solomon 2:15).

What a striking lesson we have here! How often God’s people have stood at the threshold of great blessing, the refreshing odor of an abundant spiritual harvest in the air when, alas, all has been lost — not through a frontal attack by the adversary, but by those wily little foxes that had been permitted to spoil the vines. Some doctrine or practice clearly unscriptural and subversive of spiritual blessing, had been condoned when, like the little foxes of Solomon’s song, they should have been caught and disposed of.

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Paul And The New Birth
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


The Pauline revelation leads us into glorious truths respecting both our position and experience as believers. Indeed, the new birth itself, as it takes place in the believer today, is directly related to the divine baptism by which Christ and the believer are made one.

How was Christ made one with mankind? He was baptized into the human race. He did not merely come to dwell with men. He became man. How? By being born into the race. Was this by natural birth? No, by supernatural birth. He was begotten of the Holy Spirit. But His baptism into the human race did not end with His birth and life on earth. So fully did He become one with man, that He even died man’s death on the accursed tree. He was baptized into death (Luke 12:50) and, as we now know, into our death.

And it is there, at the Cross, that we become one with Him. The moment one looks in faith to Calvary, acknowledging: “He is no sinner; I am the sinner. Christ is dying my death”; that moment he becomes one with Christ; baptized into the crucified, risen Lord Himself (Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:26,27) not only positionally, in the reckonings of God, but exponentially, by the Spirit. And thus a new life is begotten.

By natural birth? No, by supernatural birth. Some hold that the Epistles of Paul do not teach the new birth, but this is an error. His familiar word teknon, generally translated simply “child” in our English Bibles, means literally, “born one.” And he uses this word with regard to our spiritual relationship to God.

Furthermore, the Apostle teaches the very truth of the new birth in Titus 3:5, where he says:

    “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost.”

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Redeeming the Time
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


As a new day dawns we do well to reflect upon two important passages of Scripture. The first is found in II Corinthians 6:2 where Paul, by the Spirit says:

    “Behold, now is the accepted time;  behold, now is the day of salvation.”

We have no guarantee that the Lord Jesus will tarry another year, or even a month or a day. It is possible that within ten minutes after you have read this the dispensation of Grace will have been brought to a close, and the Lord will have come to catch away His own. Most of our readers, surely, will then be part of a blessed, happy throng. What about you? Will you be with us or will you be left behind? If you are not sure of your salvation, be wise and place your trust in Christ now.

    “Yesterday’s past You have only today.

    Tomorrow may be too late.”

But the fact of the imminence of Christ’s return places a great responsibility upon believers too. How wrong of us to fritter away the time, when He may come so soon! How wrong to live for self! Let us rather heed the words of Paul to us who are saved:

    “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

    “Redeeming [buying up] the time, because the days are evil.

    “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is” (Eph. 5:15-17).

As one year dies and another is born,
A searching question’s due:
Have we lived up to the light we had?
Have we to Christ been true?

Or have we failed to do our part
To send His blessed Word
To those who stumble in the dark;
To those who have not heard?

Well, let us now forget the past,
Both failure and success,
And yield ourselves anew to God
To own and use and bless.

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God's Power Perfected In Weakness
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


To Paul was committed the greatest revelation of all time. He was divinely commissioned to proclaim the glorious all-sufficiency of Christ’s redemptive work. He made known God’s offer of salvation by free grace to all who trust in Christ, along with their heavenly position, blessings and prospect in Christ.

Lest he should become puffed up by the glory of these great truths, God gave him what he called “a thorn in the flesh,” an aggravating physical infirmity of some sort. “For this thing,” he says, “I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me” (II Cor. 12:8.). But the Lord knew better than Paul what was good for him:

    “And He said unto me. My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (Ver. 9).

How right God was! Every Christian knows that with brimming health and “good fortune” comes the tendency to forget our need of Him, while infirmity causes us to lean harder and to pray more, and this is where our spiritual power lies. Every believer should acknowledge this and say with Paul:

    “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities… for when I am weak, then am I strong” (Vers. 9,10).

Infirmities of the flesh are common even among God’s choicest saints. What satisfaction there is, then, in resting upon God’s Word: “My grace is sufficient for thee, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

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Majorities Often Wrong
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


When St. Paul was at Ephesus his proclamation of the gospel caused such a stir that the idol makers, who were losing money, protested until “the whole city was filled with confusion.” Soon somebody started a chant: “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” Others joined and the chorus swelled until “all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” (Acts 19:34), and the town clerk, referring to the religion which surrounded this pagan goddess, said confidently: “These things cannot be spoken against” (Ver .36).

But later, at Rome, the Apostle was informed, with reference to those who had accepted the truths he had been proclaiming: “As concerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against” (Acts 28:22).

We wonder which side our readers would now prefer to be on: that of the superstitious multitude or that of the minority who place their faith in the Bible.

Millions worshipped the goddess Diana from a thousand years before Christ to two centuries after, but who knows her today? Where is the evidence of all the miracles she is supposed to have wrought? Her glory is little more than a memory and the religion which revolved around her name is a thing of the past.

But the Bible, for all these centuries and more, has stood unchanged and unchangeable. It has weathered, not barely, but handsomely, all the storms of criticism and opposition, and has proved to be indeed the Word of God. Read the Bible and especially that part which is particularly meant for us today: the Epistles of Paul. Depend upon it, act upon it and don’t hesitate to stand for it, even when in the minority, for where the most vital truths are concerned, majorities have generally been wrong.

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An Indisputable Fact
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


The theological confusion in the Church today is basically the result of her rebellion against the authority of Paul as the divinely-appointed apostle for the present “dispensation of the grace of God” (Eph. 3:1-3).

On every hand Paul is referred to merely as one of the apostles, sometimes even as one of the twelve, though the record of Scripture proves that he could not possibly have qualified as one of the twelve (See Matt. 19:28 and cf. Acts 9:1).

In Galatians 1 and 2 the Apostle throws down the certificate of his apostleship, as it were, to those who questioned it in his day. He opens his argument with the declaration:

    “…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).

The Scriptures teach beyond the shadow of a doubt that Paul’s apostleship and message were absolutely unique and separate from that of the twelve or of any who had preceded him. This is what Christendom as a whole has refused to accept. Is it any wonder, then, that they confuse God’s prophesied kingdom program with “the mystery,” committed to Paul for us in this present dispensation?

The Scriptures emphasize not only the Apostle’s constant use of the first person pronoun, “I,” “me,” “my,” but the unique character of his apostleship and message. Ignore this fact and confusion must inevitably result; accept it and a hundred seeming contradictions in Scripture disappear.

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The Baby Jesus And The Lord Of Glory
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Each year at Christmas-time, the “baby Jesus” is the subject of discussion and attention. Indeed, all year long the Babe in its mother’s arms and the dying Sufferer on the cross are kept constantly before the masses, while our Lord’s resurrection, ascension and present glory in heaven are given but scant attention. This is because so few have taken note of the great message of the Apostle Paul about the glorified Lord in heaven. In II Cor. 5:16, the Apostle wrote:

    “…yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more.”

It is sad that so many still know only “Christ after the flesh.” They love to discuss the “gospel stories” about the “Man of Galilee,” but find themselves strangers in the great Epistles of St. Paul.

Paul was the apostle for this present “dispensation of the grace of God.” It is he who presents Christ in His present glory as the great Dispenser of redeeming grace, through the merits He won at Calvary. In Eph. 1:15-23 we have recorded for us the Apostle’s prayer that we might be given “the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ” that we might come to experience…

    “What is the exceeding greatness of [God's] power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power,

    “Which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places.

    “Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world [age], but also in that which is to come” (Eph. 1:19-21).

Let us thank God that the baby Jesus died for our sins and became the risen, living Savior at God’s right hand, abundantly “able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him” (Heb. 7:25).

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The Apostle Of Grace
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Did you know that St. Paul was chosen by God as the apostle of grace? He was God’s great example of grace, the “chief of sinners” saved by grace (1 Tim. 1:12-16). To him was committed “the dispensation of the grace of God” (Eph. 3:2). He was sent forth to proclaim “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).

Paul wrote far more about grace than any other Bible writer. All his epistles open or close (or both) with the salutation “Grace be to you.” He declares:

    “We have redemption through [Christ's] blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7).

He shows how this grace was planned for believers in ages past:

    “Who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and [His own] grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (II Tim. 1:9).

He shows how this grace will be ours in ages to come:

    “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).

He shows how this grace is greater than all our sins:

    “Where sin abounded grace did much more abound” (Rom. 5:20).

He shows how grace gives us a righteous standing before God:

    “Being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24).

He shows how God’s grace has given believers a position in heaven:

    “[He] hath… made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus… for by grace are ye saved, through faith….” (Eph. 2:6,8.).

He shows how God’s grace is sufficient for our difficulties and can help us to live consistent Christian lives:

    “My grace is sufficient for thee” (II Cor. 12:9).

    “And 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.).

Accept salvation “by grace, through faith” as “the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8,9), and eternal life is yours.

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What Grace Is
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


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

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

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

    “BUT GOD, who is RICH IN MERCY, for His GREAT LOVE wherewith He loved us,

    “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us [given us life] together with Christ (BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED),

    “And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

    “That in the ages to come He might show THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF HIS GRACE IN HIS KINDNESS TOWARD US THROUGH CHRIST JESUS” (Eph. 2:4-7).

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

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

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Our Only Boast
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


    “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…” (Gal. 6:14).

St. Paul was once a proud Pharisee, smug in his self-righteousness. In Philippians 3:5,6, he lists some of the things in which he took great pride:

    “Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.”

But everything was changed since that day when the Lord appeared to him on the road to Damascus. Suddenly he had seen himself a lost, condemned sinner in the sight of a holy God and had tasted the matchless grace that could reach down from heaven and save even him. He knew now that he could not stand before God in himself, or “on his own two feet,” as we say. His only safety before the bar of God was to take refuge in Christ, as he says in Verse 9:

    “And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”

Now he knew, as we all should know, that he really had nothing to boast of as far as his own standing before God was concerned. For the rest of his life, however, he did constantly boast of one thing: the cross, where the Christ he had so bitterly persecuted had died for his sins that he (Paul) might be justified before God. All else of which Paul boasted was embraced in the cross of Christ. This too is really the only thing we have to boast of and the most godly saint will enthusiastically join Paul in saying:

    “BUT GOD FORBID THAT I SHOULD GLORY, SAVE IN THE CROSS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, BY WHOM THE WORLD IS CRUCIFIED UNTO ME, AND I UNTO THE WORLD.”

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How Do You Want To Be Remembered?
by Pastor John Fredericksen


On April 7th, 2012, newsman Mike Wallace, who anchored the program “60 Minutes,” died at age 92. For several days, the media paid tribute to him, recounting his career. The recurring theme was that the most memorable thing about Mike Wallace was his aggressive, confrontational style of journalism, of asking hard or offensive questions. Once Mike was asked, “How do you want to be remembered?” He responded, “Tough, but fair.”

Since all of us will one day face death, we should decide now how we want to be remembered. Perhaps the best way to be remembered was as Joshua was. When he died, he was called, “the servant of the Lord” (Judges 2:8.). Such a legacy is a testimony of spiritual priority —- godly influence on others, and a life lived for something eternally important. How do you want to be remembered? Each of us basically decides by decisions we make now.

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The Grace Of God
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


In the Bible, the grace of God is His loving favor toward fallen man. St. Paul has more to say about grace than any other Bible writer, opening every one of his epistles with the declaration: “Grace be unto you and peace.”

Little wonder, for he himself was God’s greatest demonstration of salvation by grace. In I Tim. 1:13,14, he says:

    “I was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious; but I obtained mercy… and THE GRACE OF OUR LORD WAS EXCEEDING ABUNDANT….”

After years of service and suffering for Christ, he declared:

    “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 [GOOD NEWS] OF THE GRACE OF GOD”(Acts 20:24).

Salvation is wholly by God’s grace, not partly by man’s works, for in Rom. 11:6 we read: “…if [it be] by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.”

And in Rom. 4:4,5: “…to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Thus salvation is “not of works” but “unto good works” (Eph. 2:8-10). Good works is the fruit, not the root.

“All have sinned,” says Rom. 3:23 but, thank God, all may be “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24).

Thus it is God’s purpose “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).

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The Bible A Confusing Book?
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


We ran across an article recently, entitled: “Yes, the Bible is a Confusing Book.”

The article did not even attempt to dispel this “confusion,” or in any way help its readers to understand the Bible. It did not suggest even one basic rule of interpretation. Nor did it explain why the Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles constantly exhorted men to study the Bible.

The Bible is indeed a very large Book, so that the greatest of us will never understand it all. Moreover, it is God’s Book and must necessarily contain much that is “hard to understand.” But this makes it the greater challenge to the believing heart to seek divine aid in exploring its depths and the greater joy when precious stones are brought up from this exhaustless mine.

God does not reward lazy and indifferent Christians with light from His Word, but confusion invariably vanishes as we prayerfully obey His command:

    “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (II Tim. 2:15).

In studying the Bible there are basic distinctions to be observed; e.g., between the twelve apostles and Paul, the apostle for this age; between the “gospel of the kingdom” and the gospel for our day: the “gospel of the grace of God,” etc., but meantime there are many passages of Scripture so plain and simple that a child can understand them and no theologian can explain them away. For example, in John 3:35,36, we read:

    “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.”

At the other end from the spiritual poverty experienced by those who deem the Bible “a confusing Book,” we have what St. Paul, by divine inspiration, calls “all [the] riches of the full assurance of understanding” (Col. 2:2).