Two Minutes With The Bible

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Your Greatest Need
by Pastor Ricky Kurth


Even in these challenging financial times, the greatest need of a Christian is not monetary. It is rather found in Colossians 1:11, where Paul prays that we might be

    “Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all…”

Unto all what? Whatever it is, Paul is convinced we are going to have to be “strengthened” with “all might” according to “His glorious power” to obtain it. As we read on, Paul tells us the goal of all this empowerment:

    “…unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.”

Patience? The reason we need all this mighty empowering is so we can be patient? While this may seem anticlimactic, we submit that patience is our greatest need. We need patience to put up with the world’s wickedness, the abortions, etc., patience in knowing the Second Coming of Christ will right the world’s wrongs. We need patience as televangelists continue to dominate the airwaves with their dilutions and pollutions of the gospel, and patience as Bible teachers muddle the minds of the saints by their failure to rightly divide the Word. And since no man today has the gift of healing, we need patience with our physical infirmities, and longsuffering as we wait for that wonderful change that will come to our bodies at the Rapture (Phil. 3:20,21).

Finally, we need patience with one another, as we learn to not just put up with other believers, but to actually give them the same unconditional love and acceptance God extends to us. Moses was patient with unbelieving Pharaoh, but lost his patience with his brethren. How like us! But ask yourself, when did David show greater spiritual strength, when he slew Goliath, or when he refused to slay Saul?

Paul says we are to be strengthened to all patience “according to His glorious power,” but what is God’s glorious power? The destructive power He exhibited at the Red Sea is called “glorious” (Ex. 15:6), but we suggest that God’s glorious power today is seen in His patience. The fact that God could put an end to the abortions and religious confusion, but doesn’t, is His most glorious power in the dispensation of grace.

The apostle concludes by praying that we might be patient “with joyfulness,” perhaps the hardest part of longsuffering. God doesn’t chafe under the vexations He receives from the world, religion, and the Body of Christ, and neither should we!

If this kind of power were not available to us, Paul would not be praying that we might have it. And so may his prayer also be the prayer of our hearts, as we enthusiastically study the only source of spiritual strength, God’s Word rightly divided.

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Go, And Sin No More
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


The self-righteous Pharisees had brought a fallen woman to Jesus and, “when they had set her in the midst”, they began to accuse her, saying: “Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest Thou?” (John 8:5).

They were using this fallen woman to embarrass the Lord into agreeing that this woman should be stoned, or else leaving Himself open to a charge of repudiating Moses’ Law.

At first He made “as though He heard them not”, but, when they continued asking, they got what they asked for! Simply answering: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”, the Lord turned away again to let that sentence do its work. They had “set her in the midst”. Now He had set them in the midst and, “being convicted by their own conscience”, they “went out one by one” (Ver.9).

And there stood the woman alone before Him: a great sinner and a great Saviour. Since none of the Pharisees had dared to cast a stone at her, the Lord said: “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more” (Ver.11).

Thus the Lord graciously forgave the sinner-woman, yet without ignoring the demand of the Law. He had not denied that the woman deserved punishment. He had only pointed out that the Pharisees themselves were sinners; that they, like she, needed a Saviour.

Thank God! Since “Christ died for our sins”, God can justly forgive us — and He will, IF we but acknowledge our sin and our need of a Saviour, and do not join the self-righteous who keep “going about to establish their own righteousness” (Rom.10:3).

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save SINNERS…” (I Tim.1:15). God is very gracious to those who will acknowledge their sin and their need: “For the same Lord over all is RICH UNTO ALL THAT CALL UPON HIM.”

    “FOR WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED” (Rom. 10:12,13).

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From Death To Birth
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


    “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever” (I Pet. 1: 23).

We are prone to think of death as following birth. People are born to live their lives and then die.

Spiritually, however, it is the other way. St. Peter, by divine inspiration, says that we must be “born again” because: “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth and the flower thereof falleth away: But the Word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the Word which by the gospel is preached unto you” (I Pet. 1:24,25).

This new birth is a spiritual matter, necessitated by the fact that by nature men are “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1). Thus believers are not born again in the same way as they were first born, but are born again — given new life, by believing the Word of God.

God’s Word, in this passage, is called “incorruptible seed”– seed that cannot die. Once the Word takes root in one’s heart, once it is believed and received, it never dies, but produces “everlasting life”.

    “The Word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the Word which by the gospel is preached unto you” (Verse 25).

The Word of God takes root in one’s heart only as one believes the gospel, the good news, about Christ’s redemptive work. Peter himself proclaims this wonderful gospel: “…ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold…but with the precious blood of Christ…”(I Pet. 1:18,19).

    “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree…” (I Pet. 2:24).

    “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God…” (I Pet. 3:18.).

BY BELIEVING THIS GOOD NEWS, DEAD SINNERS ARE “BORN AGAIN”.

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No Time For God?
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Those who have no time for God should consider what their circumstances would be if He had no time for them; no time to paint the sunsets, no time to send the warm sun’s rays or the refreshing showers, no time to make the crops and flowers grow. We doubt that any thinking person would actually want nothing to do with God.

Cain despised God’s authority and finally murdered his brother, but when he was driven from the presence of God he said: “My punishment is greater than I can bear” (Gen. 4:13).

One of the saddest sentences in the gospel records is our Lord’s prediction that He would have to say to some: “I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:23).

Just what it will mean to be “cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:15), we pray God none of our readers will ever find out, but the Scriptures do clearly indicate that those involved will be cast forever out of the presence of God.

Thank God, it is not He who desires this. He paid for our sins at Calvary to reconcile us to Himself (Eph. 2:16). St. Paul declares that God has called believers “unto the fellowship of His Son” (1 Cor. 1:9) and that at His coming for them they shall “ever be with the Lord,” adding: “wherefore, comfort one another with these words” (1 Thes. 4:17,18.).

    “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (II Cor. 5:20).

God has demonstrated His love for us in Christ. Why not respond by gratefully trusting Christ as your Savior?

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The Folly Of Worldly Wisdom
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The Gift Of God
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Men have given many gifts to each other down through the ages, but in James 1:17 we read that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,” and comes to us from God. The greatest of these gifts is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the redemption He has purchased for us. In speaking to the sinner-woman at Sychar’s well, our Lord drew a picture, contrasting the barrenness of her own life with the refreshing joy of salvation, saying:

    “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water… Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst…” (John 4:10-14).

By nature we are all sinners, but by the grace of God we all may be saved.

    “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).

    “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).

Thus St. Paul speaks of “the gift of the grace of God” (Eph. 3:7) and constantly emphasizes the fact that salvation is a free gift.

But a gift is not possessed until it is accepted. Thus the Apostle, in Rom. 5:17, refers to those who “receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness.” Those who receive Christ and the salvation He has wrought for them, find it natural to exclaim with Paul-

    “THANKS BE UNTO GOD FOR HIS UNSPEAKABLE GIFT!” (II Cor. 9:15).

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What Was Accomplished At Calvary?
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 men is centered in 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” (I Cor.1:18; Acts 20:24).

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. 2:14,15), and believers in Christ are “reconciled to God in one body by the cross” (Eph. 2:16). Little wonder Paul calls this message “the preaching of the cross”!

To the believers it is thrilling indeed, and how thankful we should be, to see the cross as God’s reply to Satan when, at first glance, it had appeared that the cross was Satan’s greatest triumph.

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Never Even Missed It
by Pastor John Fredericksen


One Sunday, a Christian family of four decided to take two different cars to church. After the service was over, the young boy rode home with his mom while the eight-year-old girl rode with dad. The father and daughter decided to stop at a furniture store to look for a living room set. After a while the dad got in his car and drove home. After a few minutes in the house, the mother asked, “Where’s Emily?” Until that question, the father had not realized that he left the store without his daughter and drove all the way home without her. Despite the solitude in the car, he never missed her until after arriving home. All the way back to the store, the ten-year-old brother, who was very angry with his father, kept asking his dad, “How could you have forgotten my sister?”

It is a simple reality that many times the most important things in life are simply forgotten. During the years of Israel’s many kings, a pattern of turning away from the Lord to false gods persisted. But that changed with one king. Once King Josiah ascended the throne, “he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord” (II Kings 22:2). “And like unto him there was no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might” (II Kings 23:25). Josiah became a spiritual reformer, ridding the land of false worship, sinful practices, and leading the nation back to the proper, exclusive worship of Jehovah.

This spiritual revival began at the beginning of Josiah’s reign and was built on one primary incident. Josiah instructed trusted people to make needed repairs in Israel’s house of worship, the temple, which had been neglected for many years. In the process of making these repairs, Hilkiah the high priest made an important discovery. He reported back to King Josiah, “I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord” (II Kings 22:8.). Amazingly, God’s chosen and blessed people, Israel, had been without God’s Word for decades. It had been absent in their times of worship, in their homes, in their conversations, in their work place, and in their lives, AND NOBODY EVEN MISSED IT.

Over and over in the Old Testament, the Lord instructed Israel to build their lives around the Scriptures. They were to write portions of it on their door posts, read it daily, diligently teach it to their children, and make it a topic of conversation as they went about their day (Deut. 11:18-20). How could it be that God’s own people could be without God’s Word and not even miss it?  No doubt the answer is through a growing neglect of the Scriptures, disinterest in spiritual things, and preoccupation with temporal things, resulting in a cold callousness toward the Lord. It’s a dangerous pattern and a dangerous place to be.

Could we today, who know Christ as Savior, come to a place where we have little or none of God’s Word in our lives and never even miss it?  Absolutely,and it happens all the time.  The same pattern that plagued Israel persists today.  We are easily distracted and preoccupied with the temporal distractions of this world.  Neglecting time in the Scriptures, or not applying it to our daily lives and conversations, can lead to a growing disinterest in the things of the Lord.  It may be easier to see this in someone else’s life than in our own, but this danger is very real for all of us.

What should each of us do to avoid this from happening to us?  The first thing is to be awakened to our need to make God and His Word preeminent in our lives. Just as Israel was to read it daily, constantly discuss it, and make it the central part of their worship, so it should be for us. This principle is just as needed today as it was for Israel. The Apostle Paul tells us to “hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love” (II Tim. 1:13). God’s Word in our lives is our life line to good spiritual health so “don’t leave home without it” and make it a topic of conversation with family and Christian friends. Finally, don’t neglect the place of worship where God’s Word is rightly divided and where the primary doctrines of grace are recognized to be found in the letters of the Apostle Paul.

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Creation
by Pastor Paul M. Sadler


Scripture Reading:

    “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.”
    – Genesis 1:3-5

I am a creationist. I personally believe that God created all things in heaven and earth in six literal 24-hour days. A proper understanding of creation is essential, since it is the foundation upon which all the doctrines of God rest. Sadly, some in Christendom have sought to erect an elaborate system known as the day-age theory to accommodate the geologic timetable of billions of years. But does this position pass the Berean test?

Those who subscribe to the day-age theory believe that the Hebrew word “day” (yom) can refer to a 24-hour day or a long period of time. This is true! For example, the day of the Lord is an extended period of time which covers well over one thousand years. Consequently, the context must always be consulted to ascertain the duration of time under consideration. Of course, those who defend this position teach that the days of the Genesis record quite literally cover millions and millions of years, which conveniently accommodates evolution.

Interestingly, when the Hebrew word yom is used with a number, it always refers to a 24-hour day, without exception. In regard to the Passover God instructed Moses, “Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel” (Ex. 12:15).

Would we conclude otherwise that the “first day” here is anything other than a normal day? Furthermore, when perimeters are set on the term yom, such as “the evening and the morning,” as found in Genesis 1:4, this limits the day to 24 hours.

But perhaps the most conclusive evidence that each day was 24 hours is found in Exodus 20:11: “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Here Moses uses the term yamin, the Hebrew plural for “days,” which exclusively speaks of 24-hour cycles.

If the Holy Spirit had intended to convey that the days of creation were “eras,” He would have used the used the Hebrew olam, which is defined as “indefinite time.” We accept by faith that God is sovereign and all-powerful; therefore, it was a small matter for Him to speak all things into existence in six days (Psa. 33:6-9).

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God For Us
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Many people, even religious people, suppose that God is against sinners. “Do what is right,” they think, “and God will love and bless you, but do what is wrong and He will be angry with you and curse you.”

Perhaps this view of God comes from the fact that many Scripture passages, especially in the Old Testament, reveal God as the Enemy of the workers of iniquity. But He is the Enemy of the workers of iniquity as such — as workers of iniquity, not as individual persons.

In Ezek. 18:23 God asks: “Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die… ?” And in II Pet. 3:9 we learn that when God might have judged this world for the crucifixion of Christ. He delayed the judgment because He is “longsuffering” and “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

The Apostle Paul, referring to the crucifixion, declares that “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation” (II Cor. 5:19).

How could He have shown sinners more conclusively that He desires their good than by imputing their sins to Christ and telling them that He is not imputing their trespasses unto them? Their trespasses will be imputed to them, of course, if they reject God’s provision of salvation through Christ, but for the present it is a wonderful fact that we can go to any sinner and say on the authority of God’s written Word: “Your sins have been paid for; God is not holding them against you. Will you accept His love and receive Christ as your Savior?”

No, unsaved friend, God is not against you. He loves you and provided abundantly for your salvation by paying for your sins Himself at Calvary. This is the essence of “the gospel of the grace of God” (See I Tim. 2:4-7). Will you believe it? Will you trust Christ now, acknowledging Him as your Lord and Savior?

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Keeping On An Even Keel
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Occasionally we receive letters on the importance of preaching a “well-rounded” message. One old friend wrote us recently to the effect that, unlike this writer, he sought to keep on “an even keel” in his ministry, not just preaching the mystery revealed to Paul, but the whole Bible, and opposing fluoridations, communism, modernism and all that he felt was opposed to the truth.

Now we too seek to proclaim a “well-rounded” message and to keep on “an even keel,” but what does this involve? Is one who consistently proclaims the mystery lopsided or unbalanced in the message? Were the twelve apostles off balance when they proclaimed “the gospel of the kingdom”? Of course not, for this is what they were sent to proclaim (Luke 9:1-6).

And neither are we off balance or lopsided in our ministry when we consistently proclaim what Paul called “my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery” (Rom. 16:25), for this is our gospel too.

This does not mean that we are to preach only from the Pauline epistles. Far from it. But it does mean that we should make sure that our hearers are well-grounded in the Pauline epistles and that when we preach from other parts of the Bible we should relate it to the mystery, God’s message for today.

When the twelve apostles preached from the Old Testament Scriptures, they preached Christ according to the revelation of prophecy. But Paul’s “gospel” was “the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery.” Hence when we preach from the Old Testament Scriptures, we should preach Christ “according to the revelation of the mystery,” applying, relating, comparing, and contrasting God’s programs for other dispensations with His program for the dispensation of grace. This is exactly what Paul himself does in Romans and Galatians, and this is “keeping on an even keel.”

A failure to “preach the Word” and to preach it rightly divided is not keeping on an even keel or bringing a well-rounded message; it is simply getting away from the message God has commissioned us to proclaim.

Since the faithful proclamation of this glorious message rouses Satan’s enmity more than anything else, we must pray for God-given boldness in making it known, like the Apostle Paul, who said:

    “[Pray] for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak” (Eph. 6:19,20).

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Applause
by Pastor Paul M. Sadler


Scripture Reading:

    “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.”
    – Colossians 3:17

There seems to be a growing trend in Christendom for congregations to physically applaud those who are ministering in the things of the Lord. Pastors are applauded when they wax eloquent or say something humorous. Also, after soloists lift the hearts of the saints into the heavenlies they are often met with a round of applause as they step down from the platform. Having pastored a number of local assemblies, I’ve risen from my chair, on more than one occasion to interrupt the hand clapping of the saints. While I am sure their applause was well-intentioned, it is nonetheless very irreverent and disrespectful to the Lord.

When the world gives a standing ovation after a performance of an actor or comedian they are expressing their appreciation for having been acceptably entertained. They are also praising the performer for his excellence in an art which has been cultivated through years of hard work.

When the servant of the Lord comes to the platform, to minister on our behalf, the purpose of his labor of love is not to entertain the congregation. It is to be viewed rather as a ministry, which is an integral part of our worship of the Holy One of Heaven. Anyone who serves the Lord, sincerely, would never want the applause of men, but would insist that all the honor and glory be given to God. May all our adoration go to the One Who is worthy to be worshipped, for He has given us his Word and the opportunity along with the gifts to minister on His behalf. Amen!

CHRYSOSTOM ON APPLAUSE
345-407 A.D.

    “… some clapped their hands in applause, according to the custom of the times. Then Chrysostom raised his voice: ‘How does your applause help me?’ It will be the right approval if you practice in life what I say to you. The church is no theater, where men listen for their own pleasure.” (From the Life of Chrysostom, by Frederic Perthes, P. 18.).

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Unions Or Unity?
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Here is a company of Bible-believing Christians joined together in, let us say, an evangelistic endeavor. All are trusting in the shed blood of Christ for salvation, though some are Baptists, some Presbyterians, some Episcopalians and some represent other denominations.

Are all these believers one? Yes, in Christ, for “there is one body” (Eph. 4:4).

What united them? The “one baptism” (Eph. 4:5) by which the Holy Spirit unites all believers to Christ and to each other: “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body whether we be Jews or Gentiles…” (I Cor. 12:13).

Yet these same believers, all trusting in the finished work of Christ for salvation, remain sadly divided as far as fellowship in the work of the Lord is concerned. They may have blessed fellowship in their evangelistic endeavor, but at its conclusion they go back to their mutually exclusive church organizations.

The reason? Basically it is that they have confused “the gospel of the kingdom,” proclaimed by Christ on earth and His twelve apostles, with “the gospel of the grace of God,” proclaimed by the ascended, glorified Lord through the Apostle Paul (Acts 20:24; Eph. 3:1-3).

Striving over baptismal modes and meanings, most of them still require their particular forms of baptism for entrance into their churches, while explaining at the same time that the ceremony has no saving value and that it is not required by God for entrance into the true Church.

Can’t we stop being Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodists and just be Christians? Why should the Church of Christ remain divided and weak, when God says:

    “WE BEING MANY ARE ONE BODY IN CHRIST, AND EVERY ONE MEMBERS ONE OF ANOTHER” (Rom. 12:5).

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He That Is Spiritual
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


    “He that is spiritual judgeth [discerneth] all things, yet he himself is judged [discerned] of no man” (I Cor. 2:15).

The truly spiritual man is so far above the wisest sages of this world, yes, so far above the mass of Christians with whom he comes into contact, that he can understand them, but they can never quite understand him.

We should all long to be truly spiritual, but what is true spirituality?

In the Pauline Epistles the human race is divided, by the Spirit, into four classes: the natural man, the babe in Christ, the carnal Christian, and the spiritual Christian.

All four of these are referred to in one passage of Scripture (I Cor. 2:14–3:4) and it should be noted that they are classified according to their ability to appreciate and assimilate “the things of God” as revealed in His Word.

Through diligent, prayerful study of the Word, and with a sincere desire to obey it, the spiritual man has come to know God and the Lord Jesus Christ more and more intimately. Babes in Christ and carnal believers about him cannot “discern” him, simply because they have not come to know God as he. But he, having grown to spiritual maturity, quite understands them. He is among those of whom it is written:

    “But strong meat [solid food] belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Heb. 5:14).

[nChrist]

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Here Comes the Just
by Pastor Ricky Kurth


    “Behold, thy King cometh unto thee: HE IS JUST, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass” (Zech. 9:9).

When this writer was young, there was a trendy catch phrase among young people that some of you may still remember: Here comes the judge! Drawn from a skit on a popular television comedy show, this phrase could be found on many a poster hanging on many a teenager’s wall back in the day. Never having seen the show, we have no idea what it meant, but the phrase comes to mind every time we read the above text. A clear prediction of the Lord Jesus Christ, Matthew quoted these words the day He entered Jerusalem on a colt just days before His crucifixion:

    “Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass” (Matt. 21:5).

It is always interesting to see the way in which the Old Testament is quoted in the New Testament. When this writer taught hermeneutics (how to interpret the Bible) at Berean Bible Institute, an entire chapter of the textbook was dedicated to the subject of New Testament quotations of Old Testament texts. While many theologians find the New Testament’s use of the Old Testament to be problematic in many cases, we taught the students that there is often a doctrinal significance to the changes and omissions found in these quotations, and we believe that Matthew’s citation of Zechariah’s words here is no exception.

Did you notice that in Matthew’s quotation, the words “He is just, and having salvation” are conspicuous by their absence? We feel this omission was purposeful on Matthew’s part, and instructive on our part. You see, at the time Zechariah made his prophecy, there was no doubt in his mind that when the day came for the Lord to fulfill this prophecy, He would be “just,” and yet “having salvation.” The prophet didn’t yet understand how a holy God could give salvation to sinful men and still be “just,” but his trust in God was implicit. He knew that God would never be so unjust as to sweep the sins of men under the rug, and sneak them in the back door of the kingdom of heaven when the devil wasn’t looking.

The Apostle Peter spoke about this very thing in his first epistle. Speaking of the salvation of souls (I Pet. 1:9), Peter added,

    “Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently…” (v. 10).

Peter then went on to make it clear that the prophets did not understand the glory that would follow the sufferings of Christ (v. 11), and that this glory would include the glorious way that God dealt with the sins of men by having His Son pay for their sins with His death on Calvary’s Cross. These were some of the things that, as Peter says here, “the angels desire to look into” (v. 12).

Angels love to learn about the Almighty and all of His ways (Eph. 3:10), and we believe that in Old Testament times, they were as clueless as Zechariah and the rest of the prophets as to how the Lord could be “just, and having salvation.” We feel their angelic curiosity about this was symbolized by the cherubim that overlooked the ark of the covenant. As they looked down at the mercy seat below their outstretched wings, they no doubt wondered how the blood of the bulls and goats that was sprinkled there could justly take away the sins of men.

On the day of our Lord’s “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem, it was clear to Matthew that Zechariah’s prophecy was being fulfilled. His Messiah was indeed meek and lowly enough to enter the city of the great king sitting astride a baby donkey. What was not yet clear to him, however, was how He could be “just, and having salvation.” We feel that this was the reason he purposely omitted that segment of the prophecy from his quotation.

It was the Apostle Paul who broke the story of how God could be “just, and the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26). Speaking of Christ, Paul revealed:

    “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins…” (Rom. 3:24,25).

Whenever we use our leafblower to sweep the front porch, we never have to lift the welcome mat. The tremendous blast of air from the leafblower is powerful enough to levitate the mat as it blows away all the dust and debris beneath and around it. This always makes us think of how, rather than sweeping our sins under the rug, the Lord Jesus
Christ blew them away at the Cross on which He shed His blood!

And so it is, if you keep Paul’s revelation in mind, you can just picture the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem on that fateful day, and say with Zechariah: “Here comes the Just!”