Two Minutes With The Bible

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Being Right vs. The Truth
by Pastor Kevin Sadler


"I don't want to be right. I want the truth!" That's what a brother in Christ told me on the phone one day here at Berean Bible Society. I thought it was a tremendous statement. It showed the godly mindset of the person on the other end of the line.

So many have their focus on being right -- that is, winning arguments and debates -- and are inflexible when it comes to the possibility of being wrong. Many stubbornly dig in their heels and just want to feel that they are right, even when there is Scripture against what they believe. The truth is what is most important.

In 2 Corinthians 13:8 we read, "For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth." The truth never changes. There is always the possibility that our fallible opinion of what we think is right is not the truth. Our focus needs to be on whether what we believe is the truth of the Word of God. We must conform our thinking to God's Word and have a humble, teachable heart that is willing to change if we are shown truth on a subject or passage on which we might be wrong. We must always have the spirit of a Berean and search the Scriptures to see if what we hear and what we believe are, in fact, the truth.

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The Promise God Made To Himself
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


    “In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world [or, “ages”] began” (Tit. 1:2).

“The Cretians are always liars” (Ver. 12). “God… cannot lie” (Ver. 2). What a contrast! And how reassuring to know that our salvation depends upon the Word of God, who cannot lie!

Our opening passage, above, however, states that God made this promise “before the world [or, “ages”] began. How can this be? There is no indication that He made this promise to the angels, and there was no one else to whom He could have made it — except Himself, and this is exactly the truth of the matter. Have we not all made earnest promises to ourselves?

Before God ever made one promise to any man, He promised Himself that He would provide salvation and all the riches of His grace for sinners through Calvary’s finished work, and the promises later made to men were but progressive revelations of a firm purpose He had already made in His own heart of love. Paul, the apostle of “the mystery,” refers to this blessed fact again and again in his epistles:

    “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery… the hidden… WHICH GOD HATH ORDAINED BEFORE THE WORLD UNTO OUR GLORY” (I Cor. 2:7).

    “According as HE HATH CHOSEN US IN HIM [CHRIST] BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD…” (Eph. 1:4).

    “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, BEING PREDESTINATED ACCORDING TO THE PURPOSE OF HIM WHO WORKETH ALL THINGS AFTER THE COUNSEL OF HIS OWN WILL” (Eph. 1:11).

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to HIS OWN PURPOSE AND [HIS OWN] GRACE, WHICH WAS GIVEN US IN CHRIST JESUS BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN” (II Tim. 1:9).

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Who Are the Dogs and Swine?
by Pastor Ricky Kurth


    "Who are the dogs and swine in Matthew 7:6 please?"

    "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."

A "pearl" is a living stone, a precious stone created by a living creature. Since Peter says that to come to the Lord under the kingdom program was to come to Him "as unto a living stone" (1 Pet. 2:4), the "pearl of great price" was Christ (Matt. 13:46), the most "precious" stone of all (1 Pet. 2:6,7). Hebrews who found Christ under the kingdom program "sold all" to obtain Him (Matt. 13:46 cf. Luke 18:22; Acts 2:45). When they associated themselves with the Lord in this way, they themselves became "lively stones" (1 Pet. 2:5), and these are the pearls the Lord was saying should not be cast to the swine. So who are the swine?

Swine were associated with demons (Mark 5:11-13), and the only time swine and dogs are mentioned together (2 Pet. 2:22), they are associated with "false prophets" (v. 1) who, like Balaam, knew the way of God but had "forsaken the right way" (vv. 15,16), men who had "known the way of righteousness" (v. 21) but chose to "turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them" (v. 21), showing they were Hebrews who were never saved (1 John 2:19). In the Tribulation that the Lord was preparing His Hebrew hearers to go through, there will be a strong temptation to cast the lively stone pearls of believers into the clutches of these demonically-controlled false prophets. This temptation will be so strong that even family members might sell one another out (Micah 7:5,6) thinking they are serving God (John 16:2). If family members yield to this temptation, however, the Lord warns that the swine of these demonically-controlled false prophets will "turn again and rend" them.

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A Solemn Challenge
by Pastor Paul M. Sadler


    "Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you" (Phil. 4:9).

With this we challenge you! Heed these words of the Apostle Paul, and you will find fulfillment in your Christian life.

LEARNED

What things had these believers at Philippi learned from the apostle? They had "learned" the Mystery from him and all that it entails. They understood they were members of the Body of Christ. Paul had communicated effectively to them how Christ is carrying out His heavenly ministry today, and that they were the recipients of a heavenly hope and calling. You must do the same!

RECEIVED

They also "received" these teachings of grace as their own. They could defend Paul's gospel with the best of them. You see, it is one thing to know the message of grace; it is a completely different matter to accept it fully and stand for it without compromise. These saints were fully committed to Paul's apostleship and message, which God expects every believer to embrace in the age of Grace.

HEARD

The Philippians had "heard" the gospel of the grace of God, not secondhand mind you, but directly from Paul himself when he visited Philippi. They had heard him proclaim the secret of the gospel regarding what God was doing in Christ at Calvary. Now they were sharing the good news that Christ died for the sins of the world.

Furthermore, they had heard Paul emphasize the importance of church planting and the need to train faithful men to serve as pastors "who shall be able to teach others also" (II Tim. 2:2).

SEEN

These saints had "seen" firsthand how Paul handled adversity. He didn't lash out in a tirade at his persecutors when he was beaten unmercifully before the very eyes of these saints. Nor did he curse the Philippian jailor when he threw Paul into the inner prison and put his feet in stocks. He rather prayed and sang songs of praise to God, which so moved the jailer that he trusted Christ immediately after the earthquake took place (Acts 16).

Paul had been a spiritual father to them. It is far more beneficial for a son to see his father living for the Lord, than to hand him a list of dos and don'ts.

DO

You see, Paul not only taught these things, he lived them! With this in mind, the apostle challenges these brethren to "do" these things, in the sense of performing them repeatedly, to which he adds, "And the God of peace shall be with you." This charge is as relevant today as it was when Paul first gave it--a solemn challenge.

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Faith Versus Presumption
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


The Word of God declares in Hebrews 11:6 that “without faith it is impossible to please Him”.

There is nothing that will haunt a man like the fear that God may be displeased with him, nor any joy comparable to the assurance that He is pleased. It is foolish, however, to suppose that we can please God with the things we think He desires. We must give Him what He says He desires. Thank God, it is not difficult to determine this, for He tells us again and again in His Word that it is faith He desires most of all. He wants us to trust Him, to take Him at His Word.

The Bible tells us at length how God loved us in spite of our sin and gave His blessed Son to die on Calvary’s tree to clear our title to heaven, but alas, instead of taking Him at His Word, thousands turn away from His gracious offer, “going about to establish their own righteousness” (Rom.10:3).

They do “good works” and make great sacrifices, thinking that a God of love will surely accept their efforts and overlook their sins. But this is presumption, not faith. How can a just God overlook sin? We should thank Him that in His matchless love He himself paid for our sins so that we might be free, and that salvation is “the gift of God”, obtained by faith alone.

Cain presumed that God would accept his attractive sacrifice instead of the prescribed one, but God refused both him and his offering. Pharaoh presumed that he could take his armies through the Red Sea as Moses had done, but he perished in the sea for presuming on God. Naaman, the leper, refused God’s way of cleansing, saying, “I thought…”, but the great general remained a leper until he took God at His Word. Will you take God at His Word and trust Christ as your Saviour?

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The Hour
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


History records many great and significant events, but none nearly so significant as the crucifixion of Christ on the cross of Calvary. Referring to the time, then still future, when this should take place, our Lord spoke again and again of “the hour,” “that hour” and “My hour,” and so does the sacred record.

When His enemies would have stoned Him at the Feast of Tabernacles, the record states merely: “they sought to take Him: but no man laid hands on Him, because His hour had not yet come” (John 7:30). Finally, when that dread time did arrive, we read:

    “And when the hour was come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him” (Luke 22:14).

    “And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified.

    “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:23,24).

    “Now is My soul troubled; and what shall I say: Father save Me from this hour? But for this cause came I unto this end,” (John 12:27).

    “Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come… having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end” (John 13:1).

Finally, in His great High-priestly prayer, uttered in the very shadow of the cross, He “lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come…” (John 17:1).

This is the hour to which many of the Old Testament sacrifices and prophecies had pointed forward. This is the hour to which the redeemed will look back with gratitude and praise for the ages to come. There would have been no salvation for sinners without it, nor any hope of a restored earth with the curse of sin removed. Thank God, because Christ was willing to face that dreadful hour “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7).

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Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire
by Pastor Ricky Kurth


As far as we know, the well-known expression found in our title wasn't around in Bible days. But it certainly would have been an apt description of the inhabitants of Crete, where Paul had left Titus to minister (Titus 1:5). Even one of their favorite sons had to admit this was true!

    "One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, the Cretians are always liars..." (Titus 1:12).

But before we talk about this prophet's assessment of his countrymen, I want to point out that Paul's words here prove that there is nothing wrong with quoting unsaved men if what they say is true--and what this unbeliever said was true, as Paul hastened to add (v. 13). I say this because sometimes we here at Berean Bible Society are taken to task if we quote a non-dispensational pastor or teacher in our Two Minutes devotionals, or in our Berean Searchlight magazine. We know that the Apostle Paul would not have had a problem with this, however, for he quoted an unsaved man--and not just once (cf. Acts 17:28).

Now the reason Paul quoted this Cretian is that he had just finished warning Titus about "vain talkers...of the circumcision...who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not" (Titus 1:10,11). Since the Jews of the circumcision loved the Law of Moses, these "vain talkers" were probably teaching the Law, just like the men who had "turned aside unto vain jangling; desiring to be teachers of the law" (I Tim. 1:6,7). And they were probably saying something like, "The Cretians are always liars, and everybody knows that the only way to deal with a liar is by putting him under the Law that forbids lying (Lev.19:11)."

But the members of the Body of Christ found in the churches of Crete weren't under the law, they were under grace (Rom. 6:15). To put them under the Law would be to put them under the curse of the law (Gal. 3:10), something that would subvert their very souls (Acts 15:24). Yet the vain talkers of the circumcision in Crete had been so active in this that Paul said that they had subverted "whole houses" (Titus 1:11).

But you don't have to put a sinner under the curse of the Law to help him overcome lying! Grace teaches us to reject lying, and all other forms of ungodliness (Titus 2:11,12). The apostle of grace said that we should be "putting away lying" (Eph. 4:25). And when he added, "for we are members one of another" (Eph. 4:25), he was providing us with tremendous incentive not to lie. I mean, think it through. If we are "members one of another," and we lie to one another, we're actually lying to ourselves. And bad things happen when a body lies to itself.

When you are in pain, there are drugs you can take that will make your body lie to your brain about the pain you are feeling. But those lies can cause the body a lot of damage when the warning signal of pain is silenced. There are also drugs that will make a body lie to itself about being tired, but those drugs can also damage your health. There are still other drugs that will make your stomach lie to your brain about being hungry. But some of those drugs are so dangerous that they had to be taken off the market.

The point is, when you lie to another member of the Body of Christ, you can do a lot of damage to that Body as well. How much hurt could be avoided in the local church if every one of us were to heed Paul's admonition to "speak every man truth with his neighbour" (Eph. 4:25). And with powerful incentive like knowing that we are members one of another, there's no need to put a sinner under the curse of the Law to get him to stop lying.

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The Twelve Apostles And Paul
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Worn Out Pages
by Pastor Kevin Sadler


When we rightly divide the Word of truth, we learn that Paul's epistles are written directly to us, the Church, the Body of Christ. The letters of Paul are the commands and will of Christ for His Church in this current dispensation of grace (Eph. 3:2). Our Bibles should reflect our belief. What you will often find with Bibles used by grace believers is that the pages for the letters of Paul are worn or even falling out. It's easy to find Paul's epistles because they are either bulging out or you can see the wear on the edge of the pages from turning there so often.

We are to read, study, learn, and declare "all the counsel of God" (Acts 20:27), knowing that all the Bible is "written for our learning" (Rom. 15:4), but not all the Bible is written to us for our direct instruction and obedience. If you have a Bible that looks like the Bible pictured above, which is one of my father's old Bibles, know that this is pleasing to the Lord. It shows you are following and living by God's will for this dispensation of grace. And a well-worn Bible, especially with the pages of Paul's letters worn out, can lead to a well-lived life. It is God-honoring to have a Bible that shows the wear on Paul's epistles!

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Paul and "The Faith Which Once He Destroyed"
by Pastor Ricky Kurth


    "Someone is telling me that Galatians 1:23 proves that Paul didn't get a new message."

When we teach that Paul had a unique new message, people sometimes respond by pointing out that this cannot be, since it was said of Paul, right after he got saved, that he "preacheth the faith which once he destroyed." They insist that this means that the message he preached existed before he preached it. However, you'll notice that Galatians 1:23 says that they "heard" this. Have you ever heard something spoken that turned out later to be untrue? That could easily be the case here.

Remember, Paul's gospel and the kingdom gospel were both centered in Christ, and so when Paul got saved and began preaching Christ, that could easily explain how "the churches of Judaea" (Gal. 1:22) "heard" that Paul preached their faith. They would have had to have heard this second hand, from easily confused unbelievers, since believers were afraid to go near Saul in those early days (cf. Acts 9:26).

If there was any truth to the rumor, then the phrase "the faith" was being used in the generic sense. When this phrase is used by Paul, it refers to the body of truth that was given to him (Acts 14:22; 16:5; Rom. 1:5; Gal. 3:23; Eph. 4:13; Col. 1:23; I Tim. 3:9; I Tim. 4:1; II Tim. 3:8; Titus 1:13). When this phrase is used by Bible writers other than Paul, however, it refers to the body of truth of the kingdom message (Acts 6:7; I Pet. 5:9; Jude 1:3).

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Always Abounding
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


    “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (I Cor. 15:58).

We should note carefully that the Apostle Paul here addresses only his brethren in Christ, those who have truly been born again — born into the family of God.

Furthermore, he sent this appeal to Christians everywhere: to “all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord” (I Cor. 1:2). He knew that there is a tendency among all believers to be tempted to abandon the work of the Lord through discouragement or carelessness, so he pleads with us to be “stedfast” and “unmoveable,” reminding us that our labor is “not in vain in the Lord.”

How we need this exhortation! We do not soon abandon our businesses or homes. We toil on in spite of difficulties and obstacles, and when the outlook is darkest we often work the hardest. Sometimes our bodies suffer for it, but we do not immediately give up.

And how much more urgent is the work of the Lord! Souls are perishing all about us for whom Christ died. It is our plain duty to pray for them and tell them of His love. It is our responsibility to toil and sacrifice that they may hear and believe the good news. What shall we say when some day we stand before our Savior if we have been satisfied merely to know Him ourselves? And what will He say?

Let us then be up and doing, “always abounding in the work of the Lord.” Life is too short to fritter away the precious moments God has given us to proclaim His saving grace. Let us tell them, then, by lip and by life, by our testimony and by our behavior, that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” and that “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7).

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The One True Church And How To Join It
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Many people have been saved and have truly come to know Christ after having been sincere, religious “church members” for years. Though faithful supporters of some earthly church organization they had never experienced the truth of II Cor. 5:17: “If any man [be] in Christ there is a new creation.”It is possible to be a member in good standing of a church organization, yet be outside the one true Church of which the Bible speaks.

This is because the true Bible Church is not an organization, much less a political state. It is a living organism, a spiritual body, with a living Head and living members. Again and again St. Paul, by divine inspiration, calls the Church, the Body of Christ (Rom. 12:5; I Cor. 12:27; Eph. 5:30).

It should be observed too, that the true Bible Church has one Head — not a man on earth, but the glorified Christ in heaven (Eph. 1:22; 4:4,5; 5:23; Col. 1:18). Nowhere in Scripture do we read that any man is to act as His earthly representative as Head of the Body.

How, then, do we become members of this one true Bible Church, the Body of Christ? First, we must acknowledge ourselves to be sinners in God’s sight, for Ephesians 2:16 relates how Christ died for sinful men “that He might RECONCILE both [Jew and Gentile] to God in one Body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.” Thus, when believing sinners are RECONCILED to God by faith in Christ, they are REGENERATED, given a new life, by the Spirit, and by the Spirit are BAPTIZED into the Church, the Body of Christ.

    Titus 3:5: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of REGENERATION, and renewing of the Holy Spirit.”

    I Corinthians 12:13: “For BY ONE SPIRIT ARE WE ALL BAPTIZED INTO ONE BODY”.

Every one of us should ask himself: “Have I been baptized by the Spirit into the Body of Christ?” Those who have not, do not belong to the one Church which God recognizes. But membership in the true Church is still open. Simply, but sincerely, trust Christ as your Savior. He is the Head of the Church. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). Then associate yourself with some local assembly where Christ is honored and the Bible taught, rightly divided. We will be glad to suggest such a place of worship.

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Delay In Judgment
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


The Scriptures leave no doubt that the Lord Jesus Christ will come to this earth again, “in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God” and who “receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (II Thes. 1:8; 2:10). Nor will He forget His promise to give the twelve apostles thrones in His kingdom (Matt. 19:28). There can be no successors to Peter and the eleven, for they themselves are to reign with Christ in glory. What is happening now is a parenthesis in God’s prophesied program. Delaying Christ’s return to judge and reign. God chose another apostle, separate from the twelve, to bring a message of grace to this Christ-rejecting world. How great is His mercy and love!

And how are men saved today? How are their sins remitted? Must they come to some recognized authority and be “baptized for the remission of sins”? Some, still following Peter rather than Paul, say, “Yes.” But let us see what St. Paul, by divine inspiration, has to say about this.

    “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).

    “NOT BY WORKS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, WHICH WE HAVE DONE, BUT ACCORDING TO HIS MERCY HE SAVED US, BY THE WASHING OF REGENERATION, AND THE RENEWING OF THE HOLY GHOST” (Tit. 3:5).

This stands in striking contrast to Peter’s “Repent and be baptized… for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). It stands in contrast, also, to the words of the so-called “Great Commission”: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). Does not this indicate that a change in dispensation took place with the raising up of Paul, that other apostle?

But what about the kingdom? Does some man on earth hold the keys? No, for both the King and His kingdom are in exile. When a sinner obeys God and receives Christ as His Savior he is “translated into the kingdom of His dear Son” (Col. 1:13), and “made accepted in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:6).

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One Thing
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Referring to the great Temple of God, which King David so earnestly hoped to build, he said:

    “ONE THING HAVE I DESIRED of the Lord; that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple” (Psa.27:4).

Similarly, when Martha of Bethany complained to Jesus that Mary “sat at [His] feet and heard His Word” while she was left to serve alone, the Lord answered:

“Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things, but ONE THING IS NEEDFUL, and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her” (Luke 10: 41,42).

Today, with regard to the message of grace from the ascended, glorified Lord, the Apostle Paul exhorts us: “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly”(Col.3:16). Wonderful results follow such a determination to know Christ through the Word.

When the Lord Jesus opened the eyes of the blind beggar, the poor man was immediately persecuted by the religious leaders of the day. He could not answer all of their questions but he could answer the one most important to himself:

    “ONE THING I KNOW, that, whereas I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25).

The rest of the narrative relates how the blind beggar also received spiritual sight as, face to face with the Son of God, he exclaimed: “Lord, I believe! …and…worshipped Him” (Ver.38).

But what about our conduct after spiritual sight has been bestowed? The most consecrated believer will acknowledge that he often fails to live up to the light he has received. St. Paul, by inspiration, gives us the solution to this problem also, saying:

    “THIS ONE THING I DO: forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press [strain] toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil.3: 13,14).

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Why Not a Wall?

by Pastor Ricky Kurth


    "And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries…" (Ezra 3:3).

At first glance, this verse doesn't seem to make much sense. Back in Ezra's day, a city's walls were its main line of defense. The citizens of Jericho felt very secure within the confines of the massive wall that surrounded them. So here, if fear had fallen upon the Jews because of the enemies that surrounded them, why would they build an altar, and not a wall?

Well, as you may know, at one time Jerusalem had a wall, but when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Israel, his armies "brake down the wall of Jerusalem" (II Chron. 36:19). And the people of Israel knew why God had allowed this to happen. He had warned them,

    "…if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God…a nation of fierce countenance…shall besiege thee…until thy high and fenced walls come down…" (Deut. 28:15,50,52).

So God's people knew that, if they continued in sin, the strongest of walls could not protect them. But they also knew that if they hearkened unto the voice of the Lord, He would protect them. And now that God had allowed them to return to the land after their captivity in Babylon, hearkening to the voice of the Lord included building this altar so that they could keep the Law by observing the feast of tabernacles with a burnt offering (Ezra 3:4 cf. Lev. 23:34-36).

In the coming kingdom of heaven on earth, when God's people will be filled with the Spirit and caused to hearken to His voice (Ezek. 36:27), God has promised them that He will be "a wall of fire round about" them (Zech. 2:5). In that day, "salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks" (Isa. 26:1). That's part of what will make it heaven on earth!

But here we have a dispensational difference. Your salvation is no defense against earthly enemies. You are not in the kingdom of heaven on earth, and you are not under the Law that promised Israel that God would protect them if they were good. As a responsible member of the Body of Christ, you need to take whatever precautions necessary to protect yourself from wicked men.

We once knew a teenage girl who would go out jogging at night, assuring her mother that "the Lord will protect me." She had obviously been listening to preachers who had applied the promises of the Law or the promises of the kingdom to us. While what she said sounds very spiritual, please don't follow her example! This is one area where a failure to rightly divide the Word of truth could cost you your life.