Two Minutes With The Bible

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Glorious Liberty Of The Children Of God
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


We Americans have, for over two hundred years, celebrated our liberty as an independent nation on the Fourth of July.

It does not follow from this however, that all Americans are now free. Far from it! Think of the millions of alcoholics and drug addicts, bound with chains they only wish they could break. Think of the slaves to immoral passions, to violent tempers, to malicious backbiting, not to mention smoking and other habits they cannot control. No, the vast majority of Americans are slaves to–well, sum it all up in one word: sin.

If God is a righteous Judge — and He is — He must of course, punish sin. Romans 6:23 says: “the wages of sin is death”, but on the other hand, thank God, I Corinthians 15:3 says: “Christ died for our sins”.

The Lord Jesus Christ was no sinner; He had committed no crimes; there was no wrong He had to pay for; He had no death to die. It was our death He died at Calvary, and we are saved from the penalty as we look at Calvary and say: “This is not His death He is dying; it is mine. He is paying for my sin. I will accept this gift of God and trust Him as my Saviour”.

This is a wonderful truth: Death, the penalty of the Law, was inflicted on us — in Christ. Therefore the Law (i.e., the Ten Commandments) has no further claim on us. If it did, we would be condemned all over again. This is why Paul says in Galatians 2:19: “I through the Law am dead to the Law”. The Law may put a man to death, but after that what can it do? Nothing. The Law has put him to death (in Christ) and set him free from its own dominion.

Unsaved friend, God wants you to be free, really free. He Himself, paid sin’s penalty for you and wants you to rejoice in what Paul calls, “the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Rom. 8:21), freedom from the condemnation of the Law!

Place your trust in the Christ who died your death and you will find how gloriously true it is that “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).

[nChrist]

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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” (11 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).

[ollie]

"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”!

Amen!

Praise God. Give thanks always.

1 Corinthians 1:18.  I know very well how foolish it sounds to those who are lost, when they hear that Jesus died to save them. But we who are saved recognize this message as the very power of God.

[nChrist]

Amen Ollie!

It's great to hear from you. Yes, I was just thinking - the way of the cross leads home like in the old hymn. We're getting closer by the day.

Love in Christ,
Tom

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A Twofold Purpose
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Have you ever noticed the wording of the majestic statement with which the Bible opens?

    “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1).

It does not say that God created “the universe,” but “the heaven” and “the earth.”

This is because God had a special purpose for the earth quite distinct from His purpose for the rest of the universe. This purpose concerning the earth and the nations to dwell upon it is progressively revealed in the Scriptures. We look forward to its glorious consummation when “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” — when the Christ who was crucified here shall come into His right, reigning as King of kings and Lord of lords.

But God also had a very special purpose concerning heaven which He kept hidden in His own heart of love until man’s sin and rebellion had reached their climax. Then He stooped down, saved the “chief of sinners” and used him to make known the wondrous secret of His purpose to offer to sinners everywhere, salvation by grace through faith alone, reconciling them to Himself in one body by the cross and giving them a present position and a future prospect in the highest heavens.

God’s purpose concerning the earth and Christ’s reign upon it is the subject of prophecy (Luke 1:68-76), His purpose concerning heaven and our exaltation there with Christ is the subject of “the mystery” (Eph. 2:4-10; 3:1-4). Into these two great subjects the Scriptures are basically divided.

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Comfort One Another
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Increasing world tension and the present trend of events in the Middle East have always filled many with fear, and there are even sincere believers in Christ who fear that perhaps the “Great Tribulation” of prophecy, with all its horrors, is at hand.

It is true indeed that even Paul’s epistles warn this world of the judgment to come. “…The Day of the Lord”, he says, “so cometh as a thief in the night”.

    “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (I Thess. 5:2,3).

But before this time comes, the Lord will recall His ambassadors, as the apostle tells us in the following passage:

    “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
    “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
    “Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (I Thess. 4:16-18.).

This is the event with which “the dispensation of the grace of God” will be brought to a close. Then will follow “the day of His wrath”, but even as Paul goes on to tell about this in the passage which follows, he reassures the members of Christ’s Body that they will not be included amongst those to whom the Lord will come as “a thief in the night”.

    “But ye brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light…God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us…Wherefore comfort yourselves together…” (I Thess. 5:4-11).

[nChrist]

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A Tale Of Three Cities
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


In Thessalonica Paul reasoned out of the Scriptures for three sabbath days with men who were unwilling to be convinced (Acts 17:1-9). The bigotry of these Thessalonians not only kept them in spiritual darkness, but it moved them to bitter opposition to the truth, so that they persecuted Paul and Silas and even followed them to Berea, stirring people up against them.

Bigotry has the same effect today. Let us never close our minds so as to keep error out, for in doing so we will only shut new light out and close old errors in. Moreover, it is but a small step from shutting out new light from God’s Word to engaging in bitter opposition against it.

The Athenians went to the other extreme. They lost interest in what was old and clamored only to hear new things (Acts 17:21). Yet when Paul came to them with the good news of the gospel of grace, some “mocked” while others, more polite, said: “We will hear thee again of this matter,” and turned away (Verse 32).

The Athenian spirit too is still rife today. Many are constantly giving up the old and looking for something new, sure that the latest fashions, the latest statistics and the latest advice must be best. This is why the New Evangelicalism has gained so many followers in our day.

Significantly, the story of the noble Bereans falls between those of the Thessalonians and the Athenians in our Bibles. These Bereans possessed true spiritual greatness. They gave man’s word respectful consideration, whether old or new, but then subjected it to careful examination in the light of the Word of God. They received Paul’s word, we read, with open minds, and then “searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Verse 11). For this God called them “noble.” They were the spiritual aristocracy of their day.

May God help us to be neither “Thessalonians” nor “Athenians,” but true Bereans. If we follow men we drift on a sea of human speculation, for men disagree on the most vital issues. Only as we stand on the infallible, unchangeable Word of God can we be sure that we have the truth.

[nChrist]

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Now Is The Time
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Today we think of St. Paul’s words to the Corinthians in II Cor. 6:1,2:

    “We then as workers together with [God], beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain…. Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

This passage reminds us that it is not enough that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” collectively. We, each one individually, must do something about appropriating this salvation for ourselves.

After the classic passage in II Cor. 5:14-21 where the Apostle tells how Christ “died for all,” and how God deals with all men in grace since “He hath made Him to be sin for us” so that “we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” — after this great unfolding of what God, through Christ, has done for us, he urges individual acceptance of this great truth.

As “workers together with God,” the Apostle and his associates begged men not to “receive… the grace of God in vain,” but to trust Christ, each one as His own personal Savior, to apply His redemptive work to themselves.

And even at that early date in the history of the Church, the Apostle gave men to understand that there was no time to lose; the day of grace was not to last forever, but was to give place to the day of judgment and wrath.

If this was so then, how much more is it so now! God has been very longsuffering with the world. He has continued to deal with mankind in grace for nearly two thousand years but according to both Old Testament prophecy and Paul’s “mystery” He will judge this world for its rejection of Christ.

When will this happen? No one knows. It is the very essence of grace that no one knows when the dispensation of grace will end. It is grace, pure grace, on God’s part that causes Him to linger day after day in mercy toward a world that rejects Him.

Thus God’s messengers cannot offer even one more day of grace. We must say as St. Paul did: “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” “Christ died for our sins” (I Cor. 15:3). “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

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Puzzle Or Picture
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Where “rightly dividing the Word of truth” (II Tim. 2:15) is concerned, our spiritual leaders are like a group of people, each one of whom holds a part or several parts of a jig-saw puzzle, but who fail to put them together and so never get to see the picture.

One sees clearly that the so-called “Great Commission” was a Kingdom commission and not ours. Another sees that the “one baptism” of Ephesians 4:5 MUST be the DIVINE baptism which makes believers one in Christ. Another sees that Paul’s apostleship was wholly distinct from that of the Twelve. Another sees that Romans 6:3,4 does not contain one drop of water. Another sees that the Christian’s position is spiritual and heavenly in character. Another sees that the Body of Christ, the Church of today, was never prophesied — even, that it did not begin at Pentecost with Peter and the eleven, but later, with Paul.

But while each sees some component part of “the Mystery”, Satan has used tradition to blind him to the rest. The result is that confusion continues to prevail and they still have a puzzle instead of a picture.

If only they would put the pieces together! What a clear picture they would see of “the Dispensation of the Grace of God”, and how eagerly they would join us in “THE PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY” (Rom. 16:25)!

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First Communion
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


For some years a little girl passed our window at Berean Bible Society each day on her way to and from school. Every time she passed she would smile, wave and throw a kiss.

Occasionally she would come in to tell me something special, and I was always impressed by her natural refinement. One would not have wished to meet a sweeter child.

One day she came in to show me a picture of herself, all dressed up for her “first communion!” “How pretty!”, I exclaimed. “But do you know what happened at the very first communion supper?” “Yes,” she said, “they killed Him.” “That’s right,” I agreed, “but there’s much more than that.”

She had given me a wonderful opportunity to breathe into her little ears, what St. Paul calls “the preaching of the cross”, “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth”.

If only we could persuade all of our readers of “the truth of the gospel”, (I Cor. 15:3), and that “by Him all who believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses” (Acts 13:39). This is why St. Paul could tell the trembling Philippian jailor: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

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Christ And Politics
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Astronaut John Glenn in politics — running for the U. S. Senate! It seems odd to think of him in a political role, but evidently he feels he can serve his country best in politics.

But did you ever think of Christ’s relation to politics? He came into this world, remember, as a King. The very opening words of the New Testament are: “Jesus Christ, the Son of David…” (Matt. 1:1). This emphasizes the fact that He came from the royal line. John the Baptist had gone forth as the King’s herald, to prepare His way, and the twelve apostles proclaimed His royal rights as they preached “the gospel of the kingdom.” This was all in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy:

    “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David…” (Isa. 9:6,7).

Instead of crowning Him King, however, they nailed Him to a cross and wrote over His head His “accusation”: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

Actually our Lord had come especially, this first time, to be rejected and crucified for the sins of men. Psalm 22, Isaiah 53 and other Old Testament passages had predicted that at His first coming He would be despised and rejected. Matt. 20:28 says of this coming: “The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Our Lord did not die an untimely death; the cross was not a useless sacrifice. He knew that man’s greatest need is moral and spiritual — that his sins must be paid for if he is not to be condemned forever before the court of eternal Justice. So in love He came to be rejected and suffer and die “the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (I Pet. 3:18.).

He will come again to judge and reign as all prophecy indicates, but for the present He deals with mankind in grace. Eph. 1:7 says that “in [Him] we have redemption, through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace” and Rom. 3:24 declares that believers are “justified freely by [God’s] grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

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Is Revival Possible?
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


We have received responses from several friends who conclude from such passages as II Tim. 3:1-13 that there cannot possibly be a revival before the Lord comes for His own.

We have never concurred in this view. Verses 2-7 of this passage describe the condition of the ungodly about us. These have “a form of godliness” but not the reality and it is these who will “wax worse and worse” (Vers. 5,13). “From such” the Spirit exhorts us to “turn away” (Ver. 5).

But why, in the midst of these “perilous times” should the Church not be strong and united? The Word of God often shines brightest when the days are darkest.

It is true that our Lord said about the coming “tribulation,” that “because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matt. 24:12), but this was a prediction concerning a particular situation, and while similar causes often produce similar effects, this is not always so. Not infrequently the wickedness of the world has driven saints to their knees and to the Word, with blessed results.

True spiritual revival takes place in the blood-bought Church of God not in the wicked world about it. That which is dead cannot be revived but that which has life can and should be. We know of no Scripture that should deter us from praying for a true spiritual awakening among God’s people. Indeed we must be careful lest we cease praying and toiling for a revival on the grounds that “times are getting worse and worse and there’s not going to be, a revival.”

It seems to us that one of the surest ways to grow spiritually indifferent ourselves is to conclude that God will not grant us a spiritual awakening no matter what we do.

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Accepted
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


In Ephesians 1:6 the Apostle Paul sings a doxology, as it were, “to the praise of the glory of God’s grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved”.

In the story of the Prodigal Son it is touching to see the father accept his wayward son back to his bosom — and so generously! He does not merely admit him back into his home; he clothes him with his best robe, puts a ring on his hand, shoes on his feet and kills for him the fatted calf so that they call all to “eat and be merry” in celebration of his return.

But the prodigal was after all the father’s son, whereas Paul bids us “Gentiles in the flesh” to remember that originally we were “without Christ…aliens from the commonwealth of Israel…strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph.2:12).

Hence it is even more touching to contemplate God’s gracious acceptance of us who were not sons but “aliens” and “enemies” (Col.1:21).

The word “accepted” in the above passage actually comes from the word “grace” (Gr. karis) with which the verse begins: “…His grace, wherein He hath engraced us in the Beloved One”.

Thus God looks upon us now with delight; He delights to favor and bless the believer because He sees him in Christ, His beloved Son.

This passage reminds us how God once broke through the heavens to declare: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt.3:17). And now He is delighted with us and blesses us with “all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies” because we are in Christ, the “Beloved Son”. Not that we have attained to this position, far from it, for “HE hath MADE us accepted” — HE hath engraced us in the Beloved.

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How Small We Are!
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Just behind me, in the supermarket check-out line, were two little boys. I noticed that the older one kept looking up at me and then down at his brother again several times in succession. Finally, nudging his little brother and pointing up at me, he said: “Hey, Joey, look how little you are!”

Those who have seen me in the flesh know that I am not exactly small, physically, and I can easily imagine that, standing next to these little fellows, I made them look small indeed!

But all this pertained only to the physical, and as I left that supermarket, I began asking myself: “How big are you, actually, in the sight of God?” I thought of Psalm 8:3,4, where David mused over the same question:

    “When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; what is man that Thou art mindful of Him…?”

Yet we are so important to the heart of God that He entered the stream of humanity, as it were, and became one of us in Christ, Son of God and Son of Man. Why? Hebrews 2:14,15 gives us one important reason:

    “…that through death [His death for our sins] He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”

Moreover, insignificant as we are in ourselves, He would use us mightily to His glory for, according to I Cor. 1:27,28, He has “chosen” the “foolish,” the “weak,” the “base,” the “despised,” and those who “are not” to accomplish His purposes and to bring to naught the plans of the world’s great ones.

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The Seventh From Adam
by Pastor Paul M. Sadler


Scripture Reading:

    “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints.”
    — Jude 14

About two weeks prior to teaching the Dispensation of Conscience in my Dispensational Survey class at the Berean Bible Institute, I raised the following question to the student body. What is the significance of Enoch being addressed as “the seventh from Adam”? The entire class drew a blank — they were stumped!! Although it may seem rather insignificant at first glance, the Holy Spirit has added this phrase for good reason. In fact, this phraseology is only used in reference to Enoch.

A number of the students gave some thought to the matter and even ventured a couple of explanations, which were true, but not the answer I was looking for. Finally, one student eventually got two or three hints out of me and came up with the answer. Upon arriving at the fourth and fifth chapters of the Book of Genesis, I explained to the class that there were two Enoch’s before the days of the great flood. Therefore, we must carefully distinguish between the Enoch who descended from Cain, and the Enoch who was the “seventh from Adam” (Gen. 4:16-18 cf. 5:22-24). The first Enoch walked in the way of Cain — his descendants were morally bankrupt.

God would have us follow the example of Enoch, the seventh from Adam, who walked in the way of faith. Thus “Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found [implying everyone searched for him], because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God” (Heb. 11:5). In addition, the path of the coming Redeemer would pass through Enoch, the seventh from Adam, not Cain’s Enoch (Gen. 3:15). So then, a seemingly insignificant phrase suddenly helps us better appreciate that:

    “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (II Tim. 3:16).