Two Minutes With The Bible

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June 9, 2006

THE NOBLE BEREANS
by Cornelius R. Stam

Many Christian groups and organizations call themselves Bereans, but it is surprising how few people know what a true Berean is.

The 17th chapter of Acts relates how Paul called upon his kinsmen at Thessalonica and for three sabbath days "reasoned with them out of the Scriptures," trying to show them that Jesus was the Christ.

Steeped in their own religion, however, the majority were unwilling even to consider the truths Paul proclaimed. Indeed, they resented the fact that some did believe and, in their bigotry, "set all the city on an uproar." Finally Paul’s life was in such peril that the Christians there sent him away by night to Berea, a town about forty miles away.

At Berea Paul again sought out his "kinsmen according to the flesh" -- and what a different reception! Here is what the record says:

"THESE WERE MORE NOBLE THAN THOSE IN THESSALONICA, IN THAT THEY RECEIVED THE WORD WITH ALL READINESS OF MIND, AND SEARCHED THE SCRIPTURES DAILY, WHETHER THOSE THINGS WERE SO" (Acts 17:11).

These people did not immediately close their eyes to further light. On the contrary, they gave Paul an interested hearing, listening with open minds to what he had to say. But they were not gullible either for, having listened to Paul, they subjected his word to God’s Word, searching the Scriptures daily to see whether those things were so. For this God called them "noble." They were the true spiritual aristocracy of their day.

We should all be Bereans, spiritually big enough to listen with open minds to the teachings of men, and then big enough too to subject their teachings to the Word of God, the Bible, to see for ourselves whether these things are so. Our Lord said: "Search the Scriptures... for... they... testify of Me" (John 5:39). As we do this we will find eternal life -- and more -- in Christ.

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June 10, 2006

TEACH NO OTHER DOCTRINE
by Cornelius R. Stam

In strong language the Apostle bids Timothy to "charge some that they teach no other doctrine"; no other doctrine, obviously, than that which he had taught them. In 1 Tim. 6:3-5 he closes his epistle by saying:

"If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ... from such withdraw thyself."

In these passages the Apostle emphasizes the importance of fidelity to that heaven-sent message committed to him by revelation; that message which he says in Tit. 1:2,3 was "promised before the ages began" but made known "in due time... through preaching which is committed unto me..."

Ever since Paul’s day religious leaders have substituted other messages for that committed by the glorified Lord to Paul. The law of Moses, the Sermon on the Mount, the "great commission," and Pentecost have all been confused with God’s message and program for the dispensation of grace. This is what has bewildered and divided the Church and ripened it for the apostasy.

With all the confused thinking about the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount fifty years ago it was little wonder that modernism swept so many off their feet with its teachings about Jesus of Nazareth, the Man of Galilee, following his footsteps, social betterment, political reform, etc. Multitudes were so taken up with the social gospel, so eager to help make the world a better place to live in, that they did not even notice or believe that the modernists denied the very fundamentals of the Christian faith.

But the new evangelicalism of our day is still more dangerous. It is big. It is well financed. It is popular. It is subtle. Perhaps its greatest danger lies in the fact that while claiming to be "conservative," it minimizes the importance of the fundamentals and the danger of apostatizing from them.

Thus the inspired words of the Apostle Paul: "Charge some that they teach no other doctrine," are more urgently needed in our day than they were in his.

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June 11, 2006

THE WONDER CURE
by Cornelius R. Stam

Most of us remember the drugstore product which swept the country like wildfire years ago and netted one man more than $3,000,000.00 in one year. It was called Hadacol. Whatever was wrong with you, Hadacol could cure it! Radio commercials and newspaper advertisements acclaimed its healing powers. Some small drugstores displayed signs over their doors reading, "MAIN ENTRANCE FOR HADACOL."

One humorous story was told at that time about a woman who was supposed to have testified over the radio: "Before I began taking Hadacol I couldn’t read nor write; now I’m teaching high school!"

Some people seem to think that Christianity is like Hadacol was supposed to be. In fact, some evangelists give the erroneous impression that if one accepts Christ everything will suddenly go right. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Christian life is a battle, and we cannot win this battle without much diligent, earnest Bible study and prayer. In fact, it is this battle that makes the Christian life rewarding. Formerly we were "taken captive by [the devil] at his will" (II Tim. 2:26), but now God provides us with complete armor, including "the sword of the Spirit" and "the shield of faith" (Eph. 6:16,17), and says, "Stand fast." Indeed, James 4:7 says: "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

God has enlisted every true believer in His "armed forces," as it were, and He encourages us each one to be "a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (II Tim. 2:3). Indeed, He expects this of each corporate assembly of believers as well, for Paul, by divine inspiration, wrote to the Philippian saints:

"Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel" (Phil. 1:27).

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June 12, 2006

THE WAY TO HEAVEN
by Cornelius R. Stam

Perhaps you have heard the story of the man who inquired from a mountaineer the way to a certain destination.

The mountaineer stuttered and stammered and finally said: "You can’t get there from here."

We may smile at this, but the results would be even more amusing -- and sad -- were we to ask the average person on the street the way to heaven.

What is the way to heaven? It is interesting to read in God’s Word what many think about this. In Proverbs 14:12 we read:

"There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."

What are some of these "ways" that "seem right" to men, leading them to hope for heaven? Joining a church? Being baptized? Doing one’s best? Keeping the Ten Commandments? Loving one’s neighbor as himself? These are a few of the ways that men follow, hoping to gain eternal life, but they all come under one heading: "Do good."

But what do the Scriptures say about this? In the Gospel according to John there are recorded for us seven "I ams," which the Lord Jesus Christ used in speaking of Himself. One of these is found in John 14:6:

"I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me."

This passage has a double significance, since it was not only the declaration of the Lord Jesus Christ, but at the same time a declaration of the divinely inspired Scriptures. >From this verse we learn not only that Jesus is the only way to the Father, but also that He is "the truth" to be believed and trusted in. Thus we can believe the Lord Jesus when He claims to be the way to heaven.

But according to this passage He is also "the life." As we place our faith in Him as the One who died on the cross for us, we receive eternal life. "He died that we might live."

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June 13, 2006

MOSES AND THE PROPHETS
by Cornelius R. Stam

Now our Lord, when on earth, encouraged, indeed He even challenged His audiences to “Search the Scriptures” for themselves (John 5:39). Indeed since God revealed Himself and His plan of salvation in the written Word, we are responsible, each one for himself to study the Scriptures. When the rich man Dives begged Abraham to be allowed to go and warn his five brothers about the horrors of hell, Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them”. And when the rich man urged that a word from him would be more effective, Abraham answered, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead” (Luke 16:29,31).

Don’t depend upon your clergyman, my dear friend, to interpret the Scriptures for you. See for yourself what God says in His Word. For “every one of us shall give an account of himself to God”, says Romans 14:12. And it won’t be enough in that day to say, my minister or my priest told me so and so. You are responsible, you, to search the Scriptures for yourself, to see whether these things are so.

Why don’t you search the Scriptures, especially the epistles of Paul, our apostle. For it is Paul who says, “For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the Apostle of the Gentiles [Nations], I magnify mine office” (Rom.11:13). Learn in his epistles this mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you the hope of glory and how it is that Christ’s death on Calvary’s cross can save you.

“In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph.1:7).

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June 14, 2006

FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE
by Cornelius R. Stam

"And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love" (I Cor. 13:13).

St. Paul had been discussing, in I Cor. 13, some of the miraculous signs that were to vanish away as God’s revelation became complete. But faith, hope and love, he declared, would abide as a triune evidence of true Christianity.

These three are all we need in the present "dispensation of the grace of God." Any church where faith, hope and love are found in abundant measure is a "full" church. It may have but a few members, but what greater blessing could it wish for than faith, hope and love in its fellowship?

Faith, hope and love are a trinity often referred to in St. Paul’s epistles. Each is of basic importance in its way, and none can exist without the other two.

Faith is of primary importance. "Without faith it is impossible to please [God]" (Heb 11:6), and how can there be hope and love without faith?

Hope holds the central place among the three. Hope in the Bible is more than a wish; it is the opposite of despair, an eager anticipation of blessings to come. Hope is the Christian’s experience, his living with eternity’s glory in view.

Love is the crowning virtue of the three; it is the fruit of faith and hope, and is greatest in the sense that it is "the bond of perfectness." Moreover, love is eternal. Some day, for every true believer, "faith will vanish into sight; hope be emptied in delight" and love will reign supreme.

May God help us, in our fellowship with each other, to evidence a full measure of faith, hope and love.

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June 15, 2006

A COFFIN FOR THE LAW
by Cornelius R. Stam

God had barely given the Law to Moses when He ordered that it be put in a coffin. That’s right -- a coffin. The reason for this is that the Mosaic covenant clearly stipulated:

"Now therefore, IF YE WILL OBEY MY VOICE INDEED, and keep My covenant, THEN ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people, for all the earth is Mine" (Ex. 19:5).

Israel, of course, did not obey God’s voice indeed, but broke the Law before Moses even got down from Sinai. It was because of this that God, in grace, commanded: "And they shall make an ark..." (Ex. 25:10). This word "ark" is rendered "coffin" in the last verse of Genesis and that is its simple meaning. But why did God order a coffin as the very first article of furniture for the tabernacle? The answer is: To put the Law in. Read it for yourself:

"And thou shalt put into the COFFIN the testimony [the Law] which I shall give thee... and thou shalt put the MERCY SEAT above upon the coffin..." (Vers. 16,21).

If God had not put the covenant of the Law in a coffin and met His people from a "mercy seat" none of them ever would have been saved.

This Old Testament type has a lesson for us today, for if God dealt with us according to our works none of us would ever be saved, but "Christ died for our sins," meeting for us the just demands of a broken Law, so that we might be saved by grace through faith in His redemptive work.

Col. 2:14 says concerning this "handwriting of decrees, that was against us," that our Lord, in death, "took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross," and Rom. 7:6 explains:

"But now we are DELIVERED FROM THE LAW, that being DEAD wherein we were held; THAT WE SHOULD SERVE IN NEWNESS OF SPIRIT, and not in the oldness of the letter."

Thus believers in Christ are saved "by grace... through faith... not of works" but "unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:8-10).

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June 16, 2006

INEXCUSABLE
by Cornelius R. Stam

The second chapter of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans is a dark, sad passage, but it opens the door to the richest blessing the human heart can contain: salvation by grace.

The opening words: "Therefore thou art inexcusable," are blunt indeed, but God exposes our sinful condition only so as to save us from it.

This is where most philosophies and the Bible clash head-on. Most philosophies close their eyes to the sinful nature of man. They argue, generally, that man is inherently good, while overwhelming evidence bears witness that he is inherently bad. Therefore human philosophy offers no salvation from sin and its just penalty. Only the Bible does this with its "gospel [good news] of the grace of God."

In Paul’s day the Greek philosophers condemned the uncivilized pagans for their open immorality and wickedness. But while preaching virtue these moralizers themselves practiced vice, and God said:

"Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things" (Rom. 2:1).

It is the same today. Multitudes of self-righteous people are outwardly cultured and moral, but they forget that God looks upon the heart and sees hate as murder, jealousy as theft and the lustful look as adultery. He considers, not what we do, outwardly, but what we desire to do or wish we dared to do. He sees the desires and motives of the heart.

But thank God, "Christ died for sinners" -- guilty sinners, and all who come to God by faith in Christ are "justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:24).

"Inexcusable," or "justified freely by His grace," through faith in the Christ who died for our sins? Which will it be?

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June 17, 2006

"ENTERING INTO HIS REST"
by Russell S. Miller

"God rested the seventh day from all His works" (Heb.4:4), a reference to the six days of creation as recorded in Genesis 1:1-2:2, and an exhortation that you cease your works and rest in the power of Almighty God.

But Moses himself, through unbelief, failed to enter, and rest, in the land of promise (Heb.4:6; Nu.20:7-13; Deut.34:1-8). Since he had already "smitten" the rock once (Ex.17:1-7), the Lord now instructed him to "speak" (Nu.20:8) to the rock, for the "Rock" smitten once typifies Christ’s death on Calvary (ICor.10:4; Heb.10:10-14). A "word" humbly "spoken" in the wilderness (Ex.17:1-7) would bring forth the water of life freely, but Moses "smote the rock", not once, but "twice" (Nu.20:11). His anger with Israel, "ye rebels", revealed his unbelief also, for Christ was not to be "smitten twice" (Nu.20:8).

Nevertheless in John 4:14 we see the "water" that Christ gives is a "well of water springing up into everlasting life". Under the leadership of Moses and Joshua, it is apparent that though Israel entered Canaan, they failed to enter His rest.

"And they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief" (Heb.4:6).

Even David and his valiant men could not bring Israel into His rest because of unbelief (Heb.4:7).

"For if [Joshua] had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day" (4:8).

>From David unto Christ, Israel would not enter into His rest, "although the works were finished from the foundation of the world" (Heb.4:3; Rev.13:8), a reference to the "forbearance" of God as Paul declares in Romans 3:25,26.

"Jesus", Hebrews 4:8 in our KJV, refers not only to Joshua, but He whom Joshua typified, our Lord Jesus Christ. Under His Divine Leadership Israel rejected the Millennial Rest of His glorious reign (Luke 19:14). See also Romans 10:3,4.

But there remains "a rest" to all those who will place their faith and trust in our "Great High Priest...JESUS the Son of God" (Heb.4:14-16).

"FOR HE THAT IS ENTERED INTO HIS REST, HE ALSO HATH CEASED FROM HIS OWN WORKS, AS GOD DID FROM HIS" (Heb.4:10).

Again in Romans, Abraham is God’s great example of faith:

"For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
"For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and...his faith is counted for righteousness" (Rom.4:2-8).

Isn’t it about time that you also ceased from your so-called "good works". Trust the Lord Jesus Christ alone as your Saviour for salvation, and His finished work on Calvary’s cross, and enter into His rest, by grace through faith?

"IN WHOM WE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE" (Eph.1:7).

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June 18, 2006

CAN THE TEN COMMANDMENTS SAVE?
by Cornelius R. Stam

St. Paul pointed out a basic Scriptural -- and logical -- fact, when he said:

"For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified" (Rom. 2:13).

Many people suppose that God gave us the Ten Commandments to help us to be good. The fact is, however, that He gave them to show us that we are bad. Rom. 3:20; Gal. 3:19 and a hundred other Bible passages teach this clearly.

How can the Law be of any advantage to a law-breaker?

How can it justify us unless we keep it -- perfectly?

Do you recall the woman caught in adultery, in John 8? She was a Jewess. She was better off than the Gentiles, for she had the law of Moses to show her right from wrong, but this didn’t justify her; it condemned her. So her "advantage" turned out to be a serious disadvantage, for "not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified."

James 1:23,24 says that one who knows the Law but doesn’t obey it, is like a man looking into a mirror, seeing his dirty face, and then walking away without doing anything about it. This is why Rom. 2:14,15 declares that the consciences of the heathen confirm what the Law says, "their thoughts the meanwhile accusing, or else excusing one another."

Those in heathen lands know that it is wrong to lie and steal and commit adultery, yet they know nothing about the law of God, or the Ten Commandments. How, then, do they know that these things are wrong? God made them with this knowledge; He gave to them, and to us all, conscience, a sense of blameworthiness in doing wrong.

How good to know the One who has paid the penalty for our sins so that our hearts may be cleansed from "an evil conscience" (Heb. 10:22)!

"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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June 19, 2006

The Seventh from Adam
by Paul M. Sadler, President

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).

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June 20, 2006

BAPTISM AND THE REMISSION OF SINS
by Cornelius R. Stam

“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16).

The twelve apostles preached and practiced exactly this. When Peter’s hearers at Pentecost were convicted of their sins and asked: “Men and brethren, what shall we do” Peter did not tell them that Christ had died for their sins and that they could receive salvation as the gift of God’s grace, apart from religion or works. Rather he said:

“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38).

Years ago, in a series of debates on dispensationalism, the author asked his opponent: “Suppose, after a Sunday evening service, some of your hearers were convicted of their sins and asked you and your co-workers: 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' Would you tell them what Peter told his convicted sinners at Pentecost?”

“Why, of course!” he exclaimed.

“In those words?” I persisted.

He thought for a moment and then replied: “Well, I guess not exactly in those words.”

The fact is that this pastor would not at all have said to his hearers what Peter said to his. Even though a Baptist, he would not have said: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins,” for he believed that subjection to water baptism should be left to each person’s conscience, and he did not believe that it had anything to do with salvation. He would doubtless have said to any inquirers what Paul said when the convicted Gentile jailor asked: “What must I do to be saved?” Like Paul, he would have replied: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.. .“ (Acts 16:31). Peter at Pentecost preached what he was commanded to preach under his commission: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16), but when God raised up Paul, that other apostle, He sent him to proclaim “the gospel of the grace of God” and the finished work of Christ.

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June 21, 2006

"THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH"
by Russell S. Miller

Some suppose that somehow, in the final analysis, their "good works" will outweigh the bad works they do and God will accept them into His heaven. But is it good works that save?

Of the first two children born into this world, Cain brought of the fruit of the ground--that, which his works had produced--with which to worship the Lord, while Abel, his brother, offered the sacrificial lamb that God required.

"By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh" (Heb.11:4).

God rejected Cain’s offering because he had not obeyed the Lord God. But a far greater sacrifice than Abel’s has been offered on our behalf. "Christ died for our sins" (ICor.15:3). Now the question must be asked, Have you believed the Lord in this? As long as men continue in unbelief, and reject the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, they will remain angry and bitter and wicked sinners in the sight of a thrice Holy God.

Such are the deeds of those who place their will over the written Word of God, as their evil doings are reported daily over radio, TV and in our newspapers.

But God is able to turn "the wickedness of men" into the greatest good, as we have seen. For, when wicked men crucified the Lord, little did they know "that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them..." (IICor.5:19). Little did they know, that this event in history--the crucifixion of Christ--would bring "to nought" all this world’s wisdom. Little did they know, that God had a secret eternal purpose in Christ:

"Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory" (ICor.2:8).

Study God’s Word, especially the Epistles of St. Paul, and discover that Christ IS the great Victor over sin, death, the grave, and hell. You will also be rejoicing in all that He accomplished on Calvary’s cross--"the salvation, which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory" (IITim.2:10), and His "more excellent sacrifice", to which all the types and shadows pointed.

"The preaching of the cross" constitutes the obedience of faith today. It is therefore faith, and faith alone, in the finished work of Christ that saves:

"NEITHER BY THE BLOOD OF GOATS AND CALVES, BUT BY HIS OWN BLOOD HE ENTERED IN ONCE INTO THE HOLY PLACE, HAVING OBTAINED ETERNAL REDEMPTION FOR US" (Heb.9:12).

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June 22, 2006

THE SON OF A VIRGIN
by Cornelius R. Stam

"Behold, a virgin shall be with child" (Matt. 1:23).

Mary was highly honored that she should be chosen to be the virgin mother of Messiah. This was a distinction for which every Jewish woman had hoped and prayed. But -- now that she had heard the glad news from the angel Gabriel, she was to find herself in the most embarrassing position of an unmarried maiden with child. Little wonder that Mary hastened to the hill country to visit Elisabeth, the mother-to-be of miraculously-born John, later called John the Baptist. Who, in such a case, would better understand, or be better fitted to give sympathetic advice to Mary?

Mary remained with Elisabeth for about three months, or until the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:36,56), but now the real test lay ahead, for she must return to her home in Nazareth to face her relatives and acquaintances -- and Joseph, her lover. What would they say? And above all, what would he say? How could they be expected to believe her story? An angel had appeared to her, indeed!

In the record of Joseph’s reactions we are given light as to the extreme embarrassment in which Mary now found herself. Consider Joseph’s position. Mary was his "espoused wife." Why had she gone away -- and stayed so long? And now, what is this? She is found with child -- not by him. Her explanation, if indeed she offered it to him, must have seemed most unsatisfactory. He could have charged her with adultery and had her stoned, but "being a just [Lit., "fair-minded"] man" he "was minded to put her away privily" (Matt. 1:19).

But "while he thought on these things," with a heavy heart, "the angel of the Lord appeared unto him" and Joseph learned the truth; that she was indeed to be the honored mother of the Messiah of Israel, the Redeemer of sinners.

It was because our Lord was the Son of God, born into the world by a virgin and not partaking of Adam’s sinful nature, that He could go to Calvary and pay the full penalty for our sins. He "suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God" (I Pet. 3:18).

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[nChrist]

June 23, 2006

CREATION AND CHRIST
by Cornelius R. Stam

When we believing Christians hear some "scientist" speak of "our ancestors" roaming this earth, say, 40,000,000 years ago, we become upset, and exclaim: "What nonsense!"

Why? The answer is that we know that the speaker is not stating scientific facts; he is propagating the long-disproven theory of evolution. Worse than that, the speaker has denied God’s own account of creation by disseminating a theory far more difficult to believe.

Yet, when the believer hears a scientist refer to some planet, say, 460,000,000 miles away he rejoices and exclaims: "How great is our God!" Why the difference? Ah, because astronomy, unlike evolution, is basically a science.

Granted, some astronomers may go far afield when they speculate on the origin of the universe; they may even make many errors in their calculations, but astronomy proper is nevertheless a science, based mainly on mathematics and physics. This has proved to be true as men from earth have orbited the earth and the moon and have landed on the moon, returning back to earth again. Indeed, it is only a few months since two soft landings (of instruments) were made on the planet Venus, about 67,000,000 miles away, and all the above with the earth, the moon and Venus, not only travelling through space at incredible speeds, but with each all the while revolving on its own individual axis!

The Lord Jesus Christ dwelt in glory "far above all heavens" in eternity past and came to earth to subject Himself to humiliation and death only that He might pay the penalty for our sins and redeem us to Himself:

"That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:7).

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