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Ashamed
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Some time ago, we noticed in the fly-leaf of a young man’s Bible, a list of autographs of “great” preachers.  At the top of the page, one had been scratched out with a penknife.  Our curiosity aroused, we asked him what had happened.

“That was Pastor J. C. O’Hair’s signature,” he answered.

“And you scratched it out!”

“Yes,” he replied, “these other men would never sign with his name there!”

This young man’s heart had once been thrilled with the gospel of the grace of God and the truth of the mystery, but before a few “great” preachers, he had become ashamed of the one whom God had used to open these truths to him.

Popular opinion!  What a powerful enemy to the truth!

Little wonder that some faint-hearted Christians should be ashamed of those who boldly proclaim the mystery when we realize there was danger that even godly young Timothy might be ashamed of Paul!  Let us who mean to be faithful, however, remember that the words of Paul to Timothy are also the Word of God to us:

    “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God” (II Tim. 1:8).

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Does The Word Of God Contradict Itself?
by Pastor Paul M. Sadler


Satan has sought to undermine the authority of the Word of God since the beginning. He whispered to Eve, “Yea, hath God said,” suggesting God was withholding something from our first parents. But more often than not his attacks are far more subtle. The liberal, for example, would have us believe the Scriptures contradict themselves; therefore they cannot be trusted. This is nothing more than an attempt to cast a shadow of doubt upon the veracity of God’s Word.

Despite the claims of the liberal, God never contradicts Himself. He’s omniscient! He knows the end from the beginning; how could He possibly contradict Himself? When we’re confronted with an alleged contradiction, the problem isn’t with the Word of God; rather, it’s with our understanding of the Scriptures. Most times there is a simple solution to the problem.

The account of Judas’ death is often appealed to as a glaring contradiction:

    “And he [Judas] cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself” (Matt. 27:5).

    “Now this man [Judas] purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out” (Acts 1:18).

We believe the Acts record is merely an augmentation of Matthew’s account of Judas’ dishonorable end. After Judas hanged himself, either the limb or rope broke, and since the top part of the body is heavier than the lower extremity, he fell headlong to the bottom of the ravine where his body burst open upon striking the jagged rocks.

Another supposed contradiction is found in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians:

    “Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand” (I Cor. 10:8).

    “And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand” (Num. 25:9).

Once again, Paul’s account of the plague is simply a fuller description of what actually transpired during the wilderness wanderings. The key is found in the apostle’s words, “and fell in one day.” Paul reveals 23,000 died in this judgment on the same day, but according to Numbers, the total number of Israelites that perished, which included the days that followed, was 24,000. The apostle was merely emphasizing the seriousness of committing fornication, by showing how many fell in one day.

While these two purported contradictions are easily resolved, this is not always necessarily the case. In those areas where we are unable to adequately address a discrepancy, we must patiently wait upon the Lord for additional light, which may not be given until eternity.

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Demon Possession
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


The modern revival of E.S.P., fortune telling, astrology, magic, the Ouija board, the spirit seance and a score of other occult practices have caused many to wonder whether human beings may be possessed or controlled by evil spirits.

Many Christian people recall the cases of demon possession recorded in the Bible in connection with our Lord’s earthly ministry.

There is indeed much evidence that there was a great outbreak of demon activity when Christ was on earth. This outbreak seems to have abated soon after the Lord’s ascension to heaven, but many are asking: Has another such epidemic broken out?

Whatever the answer to this question, the Scriptures clearly indicate that the best defense against the activity of Satan and his hosts is sincere faith in Christ, of whom we read that, “having vanquished” the powers of evil at Calvary, “He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Col. 2:15). It is on the basis of Christ’s finished work of redemption that St. Paul joins believers in…

    “Giving thanks unto the Father, who hath made us meet [fit] to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son” (Col. 1:12,13).

Not only is the true believer in Christ “delivered… from the power of darkness,” but upon believing he becomes “the temple of the Holy Spirit,” a living shrine where Christ is worshipped. Thus St. Paul says again: “What! Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit” (I Cor. 6:19). How then could the Christian’s body also be the dwelling place of an evil spirit?

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Why Paul's Ministry Was So Effective
by Pastor John Fredericksen


We have Christian friends who have a close relationship with an outstanding Bible teacher. They tell the story of going on a cruise with this teacher. At the time, the husband knew Christ as Savior, but the wife was still unsaved and somewhat leery of letting go of the doctrines learned as a child in her church. The teacher disarmed this lady by seeking her out, sharing a meal with them, being very personable, and lovingly sharing the Scriptures she needed. The end result was that this lady trusted Christ as her Savior, became a vibrant believer, and the couple became lifelong friends with this teacher who had been so used of the Lord in their lives.

Have you ever wondered how the Apostle Paul had such an effective ministry with so many during his lifetime? He gives his testimony about this in the Scriptures. It began with a genuine burden for lost souls. Paul tells us “That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren…” (Rom. 9:2,3). Lost souls seem to be able to sense when one deeply cares for their spiritual welfare. Paul was ready to share the eternal life-giving gospel “in season, out of season” (2 Tim. 4:2). No matter where he was, from prison to the palace, he was constantly giving out the message of salvation by grace alone. He sowed the seed of the gospel frequently enough that many were saved. Paul said, “I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more” (1 Cor. 9:19). His attitude was one of surrendering as a willing bond slave to the Savior; then, he served others, in a spiritual sense, willingly and humbly attending to their needs. Paul approached the lost in a personable way, finding common ground with the lost so he’d have greater credibility when presenting the gospel. He says: “…unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews…To them that are without law, as without law…I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some…” (1 Cor. 9:20-22). Paul was also tireless, working “night and day” (Acts 20:31; 1 Thes. 2:9), in his care and prayer for those he led to Christ.

If you’d like to be more greatly used of the Lord, follow this pattern used by the Apostle Paul and the teacher who reached our friend.

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It's No Contest!
by Pastor Ricky Kurth


During his recent visit to the United States, the pope stirred up quite a bit of controversy when he canonized an 18th-century friar named Junipero Serra. The pontiff sought to recognize the friar for his work in bringing Catholicism to California, but there are some who claim he treated Native Americans harshly. This explains why a statue of Serra was vandalized after his elevation to sainthood was announced. As you can see, when your sainthood depends on your conduct, there will always be someone who will stand up to contest it.

How different it is with the saints mentioned in Scripture! The Corinthians were known for their carnality (I Cor. 3:1), yet Paul calls them “saints” (I Cor. 1:2). If you are wondering how this could be, it is because Paul knew that the verb form of the noun “saint” is sanctify, and while the Corinthians were carnal in their conduct, they were “sanctified in Christ Jesus” (I Cor. 1:2). In the Bible, men are “sanctified by the Holy Ghost” (Rom. 15:16), not by any earthly church. They are “sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ” (Heb. 10:10), and not by their behavior. Rome awards sainthood to men who are known for good works, but the Lord says that men are “sanctified by faith that is in Me” (Acts 26:18).

So it is that while the canonicity of all Rome’s saints can be contested by men, not even the devil himself can contest the sainthood of the believer in Christ. It’s no contest! Just remember, sainthood is a high calling, so make sure “that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” (Eph. 4:1).

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Be Strong in the Lord
by Pastor Kevin Sadler


    “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might” (Eph. 6:10).

As Paul begins to close the letter to the Ephesians, he addresses the spiritual warfare of the Body of Christ.  Paul’s instruction is for us to “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.”  In this spiritual battle, we need spiritual strength.  As we are on the Lord’s side, Paul points us to the Lord Almighty, from Whom we are to get our strength.  In this epistle, Paul has been showing believers that we are “in Christ,” in perfect, eternal union with Him.  Being in Christ, we find that His life is our life and His power is our power.  We, the Body, draw the strength and power for living the Christian life from our living Head.

    “What is the exceeding greatness of His 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…” (Eph. 1:19,20).

Being strong in the Lord and in the power of His might has to do with living by faith in the resurrection life and power which resides in every believer through Christ.  The same power that raised Christ from the dead is the same power we’re to use to stand in this spiritual battle.  The strength of the Christian life is dependence on God.  So Paul points the Church to be “strong in the Lord,” to depend upon Him.

Before salvation, Paul says we are “without strength” (Rom. 5:6).  We are weak and absolutely unable to please God or save ourselves.  Salvation is only through trusting Christ, and by Him alone we have victory over sin’s penalty and punishment.  After trusting Christ as our Savior, we are still weak in ourselves, and in the Christian life our sufficiency must be of God (II Cor. 3:5).  Victory over sin’s power in our lives occurs the same way we are saved from sin’s penalty, by wholly trusting Christ and Him alone.  His strength is more than sufficient for the battle, and we are guaranteed victory over anything Satan throws at us when we turn to our Lord (Phil. 4:13).

The question was asked in a Sunday School class: “How can we defeat Satan?”  One little girl answered, “Let Jesus answer the door when Satan starts knocking.”  To be instructed to be “strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” tells us that our might is not strong enough for us to be able to stand in this spiritual battle, and it tells us that we face an enemy much stronger than we are apart from Christ.  Therefore we need the infinite power of our Lord in this spiritual battle, and we appropriate that strength by yielding to the indwelling Spirit, through prayer and dependence on God, and by knowledge of, faith in, and obedience to His Word, rightly divided (cf. Eph. 6:17,18).

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God's Promise vs. Man's Efforts
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


    “For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: Because the law worketh wrath…” (Rom. 4:14,15).

This should be self-evident to us all. If blessing is gained by the works of the Law, it is earned. This is why Gal. 3:18 says: “If the inheritance be of the law it is no more of promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise.”

The Apostle Paul, God’s great apostle of grace, declares in Rom. 4:4,5:

    “Now 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.”

But let’s go back to that phrase: “the law worketh wrath.” Many people somehow do not see this. Even some clergymen tell us that the Law was given to help us to be good. But God Himself says, “the law worketh wrath.” Every criminal knows this, and every sinner should know it. God certainly places strong emphasis upon it:

    “Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions” (Gal. 3:19), “that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be brought in guilty before God” (Rom. 3:19). “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20).

If we come to God expecting eternal life because of our good works, are we not offering Him our terms, which He can never accept? He will never sell salvation at any price, and certainly not for a few paltry “good” works, when our lives are filled with failure and sin.

Our only hope? God has promised to give eternal life to those who trust in His Son (John 3:35,36; Acts 16:31; etc.).

    “The gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).

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Asleep In A Storm
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


What a disappointing scene! A terrifying storm, souls in danger of death, but Jonah, the man of God, fast asleep.

Sailors are not soon frightened in a storm, but this time the fury of the gale was so great that “the ship was like to be broken” and even the sailors were driven to their knees “and cried every man unto his god” (Jonah 1:4,5).

Can it be that Jonah, the only man aboard who knew the true God, was sleeping? Sleeping while souls were perishing? This was the shameful truth, and not one of us would blame the terrified captain for rudely awakening him and crying: “What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God!” (Verse 6).

But let us not be too ready to condemn Jonah, for we may be more guilty than he. Surely the world today is passing through a fearful storm and souls all about us are in peril of their lives. If they do not accept God’s way of salvation; if they do not trust in Christ, they will perish. And what are we doing about it? Are we pleading for them in prayer? Are we doing what we can to reach them for Christ? Or are we fast asleep?

“What meanest thou O sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God!” And when you have cried to God in behalf of your unsaved relatives, friends, and business associates, He will send you to witness to them of Christ and His love. Not until you have talked to God about them will you be ready to talk to them about God.

Politically, morally, spiritually, the night is dark, the storm is raging and souls are perishing, but “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts” (II Cor. 4:6). “…We are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as do others” (I Thess. 5:5,6).

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True Evangelism
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


In St. Paul’s mighty Epistle to the Romans he declares “the gospel [good news] of God… concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 1:1-3).

The good news which Paul proclaimed was essentially about Christ. He was always talking about Christ. His epistles were filled with Christ. In his message Christ was everything.

This is in striking contrast to much of modern evangelism, which is not Christ-centered, but man-centered. Dr. A. W. Tozer, shortly before his death, wrote:

“The flaw in current evangelism lies in its humanistic approach… It is frankly fascinated by the great, noisy, aggressive world with its big names, its hero worship, its wealth and pageantry… This gross misapprehension of the truth is back of much… of our present evangelical activity…

“This concept of Christianity is a radical error, and because it touches the souls of men it is a dangerous, even deadly, error… It is little more than a weak humanism allied with weak Christianity to give it ecclesiastical respectability… Invariably it begins with man and his needs and then looks around for God, while true Christianity reveals God as searching for man to deliver him from his ambitions.”

Tozer was right in this. God’s good news for the world is about Christ and His power and love in defeating Satan, overcoming death, nailing the Law to His cross and paying for man the just penalty for sin, so that all who believe might be justified. This is why Paul’s gospel is called in Scripture “the gospel [good news] of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24) and “the gospel of the glory of Christ” (II Cor. 4:4).

To enter experientially into the truth of this good news is the greatest blessing one can possibly enjoy.

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A Compelling Reason
by Pastor Ricky Kurth
 

“I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing” (II Cor. 12:11).

The Apostle Paul did not like to “glory” or boast about his apostleship. He would much rather spend his time teaching the great truths of the Mystery, and the Word of God, rightly divided. However, the immaturity of the Corinthians “compelled” him to such boasting. They were so impressed with the boasting of the “false apostles” (11:13) that Paul was forced to speak to them in the only language they seemed to understand—that of boasting.

Grace believers are often accused of boasting too much about the apostleship of Paul, and to this we plead guilty. We too would much rather spend our time teaching the great truths of the Word of God, rightly divided. However, the sorry state of modern Christianity is such that we too are “compelled” to boast about Paul’s apostleship. The immaturity of contemporary Christianity has caused them to overlook Paul as “the apostle of the Gentiles” (Rom. 11:13), and presents us with a compelling reason to emphasize his apostleship.

Paul found the Corinthian situation especially disappointing, since as he told them, “I ought to have been commended of you.” As the one who had begotten them in the gospel (I Cor. 4:15), they should have been singing the praises of his apostleship, instead of forcing him to defend it. And so it is today. All who are saved in the dispensation of Grace are saved by grace through faith apart from works (Eph. 2:8,9), a gospel that is exclusive to the Apostle Paul. And so in a very real sense, all who are saved today are begotten of the Apostle Paul, and should be singing the praises of his apostleship, instead of forcing us to defend it.

The false apostles in Corinth were probably protesting, “Why, Paul isn’t even one of the twelve apostles! We have as much authority as he has!” This forced Paul to declare that he was “not a whit behind” the very chiefest apostles, i.e., James, Peter and John. But if Paul only claimed he wasn’t “behind” the twelve apostles, why do we insist on emphasizing his epistles ahead of the epistles of James, Peter and John?

Ah, Paul’s apostleship was equal to theirs, but he was the apostle of a different group of people. As he told the Galatians, “He that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles” (2:8). All state governors are equal in authority; no governor is a whit behind any other. However, if I am wise, I must recognize the authority of the governor of my state. And if we are wise as Christians, we must likewise recognize the authority of “the apostle of the Gentiles.”

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Are You A Token Grace Believer?
by Pastor Ricky Kurth


    “We ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:

    “Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God” (II Thes. 1:4,5).

In 32 years of pastoral ministry, this writer has had the privilege to officiate at many a wedding ceremony. When it comes time for the groom to say “I do,” we initiate this response by asking him, “Do you give your ring, and accept your bride’s ring, as a token that you will keep the pledge and perform the vows that you have made this day?” Since the word token has been defined as “something that serves as an indication or an expression of something else,” we then conclude the ring ceremony by saying, “These gold rings will serve as continual reminders of the lasting and imperishable faith that you have pledged to one another this day.”

In the Bible, we read that God gave the rainbow as a “token” of His promise to never again destroy the world with a universal flood (Gen. 9:11-13). Similarly, circumcision is said to be a “token” of the covenant God made with Abraham (Gen. 17:11), and the blood of the Passover lamb was said to be a “token” of God’s promise to Israel to spare their firstborn (Ex. 12:13).

Here in our text, the apostle Paul says that the patient manner in which the Thessalonians were enduring persecution was “a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God.” That is, their patient endurance of tribulation was a sign that, when God finally does judge the world, “He will judge the world in righteousness” (Acts 17:31), for He will be paying the world back for persecuting His people. As Paul goes on to say in the verse that follows our text,

    “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you” (II Thes. 1:6).

You see, when a Christian is persecuted for his faith, an injustice has taken place; an unrighteous thing has occurred. In God’s perfect system of justice, which can leave the debt of no sin unsettled, this injustice must be paid for, and God solemnly vows to right this wrong “when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,

    “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

    “Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord” (II Thes. 1:7-9).

Here God vows that He will someday avenge the Thessalonians for the tribulations given to them by their persecutors, beginning with the destruction that He will bring upon the world at His Second Coming. Of course, God knows that He will be charged with unrighteousness, as He always is when He is forced to sit in judgment upon men. This is why the Book of Revelation is sprinkled with affirmations that God’s Tribulation judgments are not unrighteous, that they are rather “just and true” (Rev. 15:3), and “righteous” (16:5-7; 19:2). Similarly, here in our text, Paul is defending the righteousness of the Lord’s Second Coming judgments.

Next, Paul says that the righteous judgment of God on these persecutors of God’s people will then continue in the Lake of Fire, the “everlasting destruction” of which he goes on to speak of here in II Thessalonians 1:9. Here we see clear evidence that all those in any age who reject God’s provision for their sins will die in their sins (cf. John 8:24), and must themselves be made to pay for their sins.

Of course, the Thessalonians themselves could have retaliated against their persecutors, and forced them to pay for the crimes they committed against them. Surely there were times when they felt like evening the score. However, had they done so, it would then be unrighteous for God to someday recompense tribulation to their persecutors, and God will not be guilty of double jeopardy. As it was, Paul was able to tell the Thessalonians that the “patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure…is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God.” If the world should someday ask why God is troubling them, He can reply, “Well, you used to trouble My people, so now, by the same token, I am troubling you!”

There is a lesson that we can learn from this. If we take vengeance on those who trouble us, that means God can’t. What an incentive to leave vengeance to the One whose judgments are always fair and equitable! When we take vengeance, we often retaliate too little, leaving our sense of justice feeling unsatisfied. Or we retaliate too much, creating an additional imbalance of justice that leaves our adversary feeling a need to strike at us again. “But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things” (Rom. 2:2). God will judge all men fairly, for His judgment will be according to truth. No wonder Judgment Day is called “the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (2:5).

Are you a token grace believer? Is your patient endurance of those who trouble you a token that, when God judges your persecutors, He will do so in righteousness? None of us would ever knowingly and purposely take something away from God that He says belongs to Him, and yet this is what we do when we take vengeance away from the One who has said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay” (Rom. 12:19). If you are thinking of making someone pay for what they did to you, why not determine right now to leave it all with Him?

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The Christian's Prospect
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Those of us who trust in Christ for salvation have a glorious prospect. For the present, while waiting to go to be with Him, “we have redemption, through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7). In infinite love God has made us to be “accepted in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:6) and has pronounced us “complete in Him” (Col. 2:10).

Our position is now a blessed and exalted one, for God has made us to “sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6) and has “blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3).

But this is only the beginning, for, referring to the Christian’s death, Phil. 1:23 tells us that “to depart, and to be with Christ… is far better”; far better, not only than earth’s sorrows and troubles, but far better even than earth’s dearest treasures and joys.

But even this is not all, for the time will come when, the Church, “the Body of Christ,” having been completed, the Lord will come to receive all of its members, living and dead, to Himself. Referring to the resurrection of the deceased believer’s body, I Cor. 15 declares that “it is raised in incorruptibility” (Ver. 42), “it is raised in glory” (Ver. 43), “it is raised in power” (Ver. 43), “it is raised a spiritual body” (Ver. 44), for “as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” (Ver. 49). And as to those believers who will be alive at His coming, he says: “We shall all be changed” (Ver. 51).

    “For… we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself” (Phil. 3:20,21).

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You Bet Your Sweet Bacon!
by Pastor Ricky Kurth


This morning as I was frying my breakfast bacon, I was thinking about all the Christians who pass on this tasty treat due to the Law’s prohibition. Despite Paul’s declaration that we are not under the Law (Rom. 6:15), and his assurance that “every creature of God is good” (I Tim. 4:4), these dear brethren remain convinced that “the swine…is unclean” (Lev. 11:7).

If this is your religious conviction, we would invite you to consider the reason God determined that pork was unclean. After God instructed Peter to eat some unclean animals (Acts 10:9-16), you would think that he would say: “God showed me that I should not call any animal unclean.” Instead, he testified that God had showed him “that I should not call any man common or unclean” (Acts 10:28). You see, Peter understood that the only reason God made certain meats unclean was to teach Israel that certain people were unclean: the Gentiles.

    “…I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people. Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean…” (Lev. 20:24,25).

We know that those who hold that pork is still unclean would never say that any people are still unclean, and so we invite all who hold this view to recognize the symbolism that Peter understood and acknowledged, and rejoice with us that in the dispensation of God’s grace there are no foods—or people—that are unclean in God’s sight.

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Freedom's Light
by Pastor Paul M. Sadler


    “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (I Thessalonians 5:18).

Some time ago I read the fascinating autobiography of Governor William Bradford, who courageously led the Pilgrims to the New World in 1620.  The Governor documents how their quest for “religious freedom” brought them face to face with many perils.  He describes how, en route to what we now know as Cape Cod, they nearly went to a watery grave when the supporting beam of the Mayflower’s mainmast snapped.  By the providence of God, one of the families on board had brought a jack, which was used to reinforce the beam.

But this was only the beginning of sorrows.  The arrival of the Pilgrims on the shores of liberty was also filled with many hazards, as nearly one-half of their number perished the first year due to disease.  Nevertheless, their faith in our Lord remained unmoveable.  Throughout it all, they found much for which to be thankful that “first” Thanksgiving.  And so do we, for our “freedom of worship” was originally conceived in their sacrifice.

Today, however, this freedom is being threatened on every hand, both here and abroad.  Perhaps the greatest threat is Islam!  Christians around the world are being persecuted for sharing Christ with those who are living in darkness.  Islam, of course, is a religion of hate, which is clearly seen in the riots and recent murders of innocent Americans in Muslim countries.  The hallmark of Christianity, on the other hand, is love.

As we gather with family and friends this Thanksgiving, may we be mindful of the great price that was paid to secure our liberty.

May we be mindful that Christ also died for Muslims; only He can deliver them from the brutality of their religion and set them free from a life of oppression.

May we be mindful of our troops overseas who are the guardians of our nation, preserving our freedom to worship here in America without fear of persecution.  Many of these defenders of our values will be sitting in a bunker this Thanksgiving in some faraway country.  There was a popular saying at the time of our country’s founding which is as true now as it was then: “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”

May we all give thanks for the salvation that we enjoy in Christ, even the forgiveness of our dreadful sins that would have condemned us.  “O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good: for His mercy endureth forever” (Psa. 107:1).  AMEN!

[nChrist]

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"Holy" God -- "Holy Bible"
by Pastor Kevin Sadler


When we say that God is holy, what does that mean to you? Pure, yes. But the definition of holiness is not exhausted by purity. When the angels around the throne of God constantly say, “Holy, Holy, Holy” (Isa. 6:3; Rev. 4:8), they aren’t just saying “Purity, Purity, Purity,” but more than that. The word “holy” means to be set apart. When the Scriptures declare that God is holy (Psa. 99:9), it means that He is not like any other. There is no one like Him. He is matchless and incomparable. No one is His equal. He is unique in Himself and His Person, unsurpassed in beauty, worth, and perfection. He is set apart unto Himself. As it’s been said, “God is always the greatest thing in existence.”

When the Bible refers to “the holy Scriptures” (2 Tim. 3:15), “holy” means much the same thing. The Bible is not like any other thing. There is no other book like it. It has no equal. It is incomparable, unsurpassed in its beauty, worth, and perfection. The Bible is set apart from all other books. It is the Word of God.