God’s Two Poems

In Romans 1:18-20 the Apostle Paul declares that ungodly men are “without excuse” because they are surrounded by the evidences of the Creator’s “eternal power and Godhead.”

Our Authorized Version calls the creation, in this passage, “the things that are made,” but in the Greek it is called literally “the poyeema,” from which we get our word poem. The Apostle refers, of course, to the harmony of God’s creation, and is it not indeed amazing how billions of heavenly bodies can continually revolve in the vastness of space and never collide! And are not the flowers, the seasons, the sunsets all part of a harmonious creation, which God alone could have conceived and set to music?

But very interestingly, this word poyeema is used just once more in Scripture. We find it in Eph. 2:10, where it is translated “workmanship.” Let us consider this passage in its context:

“For by grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of your- selves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.

For we are His workmanship [Gr., poyeema], created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:8-10).

Romans speaks of the poem of creation, Ephesians of the poem of redemption, and the latter is the more wonderful. An old hymn says: “‘Twas great to speak a world from naught; ’tis greater to redeem.”

In this poem of redemption which God has composed, we believers too often want to change some word or phrase. We would like this or that in our circumstances to be different. Ah, but this would destroy the meter and meaning of God’s new creation.

Thank God, when we believers go to be with Christ, we will see the beauty and glory of the poem of redemption. Then we will rejoice that He did indeed “work all things together for good” for us.

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Reward Or Loss

Fortunately, salvation is by grace, through faith, and we do not doubt that even in the dark ages many were saved in spite of their blind leaders and their limited knowledge.

However, we fear that the spiritual leaders of our day will fare little better than the leaders of their day when they appear at the Judgment Seat of Christ, for they have certainly not taken heed to build according to the plans and specifications committed to Paul as God’s appointed “masterbuilder” of the Church (I Cor. 3:10).

Just think a moment. Is the Church today mostly composed of “gold, silver and precious stones” (morally and spiritually), or of “wood, hay and stubble” (I Cor. 3:12)? Surely many a man who enjoys prominence and popularity today will weep in that day to see his works go up in flames, as it were (I Cor. 3:13). It will be a dreadful thing to “suffer loss” when the rewards for Christian service are given out (Ver. 15).

Christian ministers, missionaries, evangelists, Bible teachers, we appeal to you in behalf of a stricken Church. They are God’s building — we are the builders (Vers. 9,10). “We are laborers together with God.” What a calling! Paul, as an instructed “masterbuilder,” has given us the plans and specifications in his epistles. We should be intelligent workmen; workmen whom God can approve, who will not need to be ashamed when the divine Building Inspector examines our workmanship.

There is only one way. Take your hand off the public pulse (Gal. 1:10), cease giving so much attention to organizing and advertising — and compromising — and begin to diligently, prayerfully obey II Tim. 2:15:

“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.”

We will not always be praised for teaching the Word of God, rightly divided, but God’s blessing is worth far more than human acclaim.

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.

So Very Rich (II Cor. 8:9)

So rich, so very rich, was Christ
Through past eternity!
As God the Son, with God enthroned,
The Heir of all was He.
So poor, so very poor, did He
As Son of man become!
From manger birth to shameful death
Rejected by His own.
For us, ah yes, it was for us
He bore such poverty.
That we by His redeeming grace
Might be as rich as He!

– C.R.S.

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Believers Justified

Our Lord’s appearance to Saul of Tarsus (later called Paul) on the road to Damascus, changed the pitiless persecutor in a moment into the docile, yes the devoted follower of the Christ he had so bitterly hated.

This transformation took place not only because he had now seen the risen, ascended Christ; it was caused also by what he had learned from Christ. From heaven the Lord had revealed to Paul the glory of His finished work of redemption and had sent him forth to proclaim “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).

This is seen in the closing words of the Apostle’s first recorded sermon, delivered at the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia. After mentioning the death and resurrection of Christ, the Apostle said:

“Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38,39).

Paul never changed this message, but kept emphasizing it wherever he went as well as in his writings. He saw in this truth the answer to man’s condemnation for breaking God’s holy law. Thus he wrote to the Romans:

“…by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested” (Rom. 3:20,21).

“[We] declare, I say, at this time, [Christ’s] righteousness; that [God] might be just and the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26).

Mark well: He does not say, “believeth and is baptized.” This was the message committed to the twelve (Mark 16: 16; Acts 2:38). With the ushering in of the dispensation of grace God was manifested as “the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Grace Abounding In Paul’s Ministry

“But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and THE MINISTRY WHICH I HAVE RECEIVED OF THE LORD JESUS, TO TESTIFY THE GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD.”
–The Apostle Paul in Acts 20:24.

  • GRACE to you, and peace” (Rom.1:7);
  • “Being justified freely by His GRACE” (Rom.3:24);
  • “we have access by faith into this GRACE wherein we stand” (Rom.5:2);
  • “the GRACE of God, and gift by GRACE… is by one Man” (Rom.5:15);
  • “the abundance of GRACE and of the gift of righteousness” (Rom.5:17);
  • “where sin abounded, GRACE did much more abound…that GRACEmight reign” (Rom.5:20,21);
  • “for ye are not under the law, but under GRACE” (Rom.6:14);
  • “not under the law, but under GRACE” (Rom.6:15);
  • “there is a remnant according to the election of GRACE” (Rom.11:5);
  • “if by GRACE, then it is no more of works; otherwise GRACE is no more GRACE…. But if it be of works, then is it no more GRACE” (Rom.11:6);
  • “By the GRACE of God I am what I am; and His GRACE… was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the GRACE of God which was with me” (ICor.15:10);
  • “that the abundant GRACE might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God” (IICor.4:15);
  • “receive not the GRACE of God in vain” (IICor.6:1);
  • “ye know the GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ” (IICor.8:9);
  • “God is able to make all GRACE abound toward you” (IICor.9:8);
  • “the exceeding GRACE of God” (IICor.9:14);
  • “My GRACE is sufficient for thee” (IICor.12:9);
  • “I do not frustrate the GRACE of God” (Gal.2:21);
  • “the praise of the glory of His GRACE” (Eph.1:6);
  • “the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His GRACE” (Eph.1:7);
  • “the exceeding riches of His GRACE” (Eph.2:7);
  • “For by GRACE are ye saved, through faith” (Eph.2:8);
  • “the dispensation of the GRACE of God… given me to you-ward” (Eph.3:2);
  • “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly…singing with GRACE in your hearts to the Lord” (Col.3:16);
  • “the GRACE of our Lord was exceeding abundant” (ITim.1:14);
  • “who hath saved us…according to His own purpose and GRACE, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (IITim.1:9);
  • “Be strong in the GRACE that is in Christ Jesus” (IITim.2:1);
  • GRACE be with you all” (Tit.3:15).

 

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Forgiveness That Cannot Be Revoked

Centuries before Christ, the Psalmist said:

“If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities… who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with Thee…” (Psa. 130:3,4).

It is doubtful whether the Psalmist understood the basis upon which a just God, through the ages, has so graciously forgiven sins, but this has since been revealed in the Epistles of Paul.

There we read: “God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32). But this is only part of the truth, for God forgives sinners, not merely because Christ desires this, but because Christ paid for their sins and purchased their redemption. Thus Eph. 1:7 declares: “In [Christ] we have redemption, through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”

And thus Paul could proclaim to his hearers in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch:

“Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:

“And by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38,39).

Obviously such forgiveness can never be rescinded or revoked, for it is based upon the full and complete payment of our whole debt of sin by “the precious blood of Christ.”

Sad to say, many people do not feel they need forgiveness, for they have not seen themselves as they truly are in the sight of a holy God, but those who are conscious of their sins and are willing to say with the prodigal son: “I have sinned,” may experience the peace and joy of sins forgiven by faith in Christ who paid sin’s penalty for us.

Here is forgiveness that can never be revoked because it is based on the “one offering [of Christ at Calvary]” by which our Lord “hath perfected forever them that are sanctified [i.e., set apart as His own]” (Heb. 10:14).

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.

The Gambler

There are so many ways to gamble these days! Casinos that used to be found only in Las Vegas now seem to be everywhere. People gamble on sporting events, at racetracks, and in state lotteries. Others risk their hard-earned money in the stock market, which is always a gamble! But even if you have never placed a bet, if you are not saved, you are gambling with eternity.

You might be thinking, “I don’t use that word saved,” but I wonder if at some time in your life you’ve sung that most beloved of all Christian hymns, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.” You may have sung the song, but are you saved? We call the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior; well, the purpose of a Savior is to save people! Has He saved you?

The Bible says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). Now, if you are wondering what it is specifically that you have to believe about Christ to be saved, the Apostle Paul told the Corinthians,

“I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you…by which also ye are saved…how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day” (I Corinthians 15:1-4).

Here the Bible clearly says that the way to be saved from your sins is to believe that Christ died to pay for your sins. So the only question now is, do you believe God when He says your sins are paid for? Do you trust Him when He says that? If you do, the Bible says that you are saved!

If you are not sure what I’m trying to say, suppose for a moment that you have a serious gambling problem, and that you have racked up a million dollars in gambling debts. One day some very bad men threaten to kill you unless you pay your debt. Naturally, you are very afraid, because you don’t have the money. But just then a friend emails you to say, “I heard about your problem, and I paid your debt.”

Now you have to ask yourself, “Do I really believe my friend when he says he paid my debt? Do I trust him when he says my debt is paid?”  If you don’t believe him, you’ll have to keep trying to pay your debt on your own. But if you do trust your friend when he says he paid your debt, you’ll thank him for it, and simply rest in what he did for you.

That’s all God asks of you to be saved from your sins. Believe that Christ paid for your sins, and rest in what He did for you. If you’ll do that, the Bible says you are saved. If you won’t, well, you’ll just have to go on trying to pay for your sins in your own way, by being good, by not being bad, or by being religious—something the Bible says you can never do:

“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5).

“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” (Ephesians 2:8,9).

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us” (Titus 3:5).

If you are still not sure what I am trying to say, I have a little exercise for you. Later today, or perhaps tomorrow, you are going to do some good thing, or avoid doing some sinful thing. At that moment, you will be tempted to think, “I just helped pay my way to heaven.” When that happens, stop yourself, and say, “No, the Bible says that the only way I can get to heaven is by believing that Christ died for my sins.” Just keep that up, and eventually you’ll learn to trust what Christ did on the cross of Calvary to pay for your sins, and rest completely in what He did for you.

They say life is a gamble, and I suppose in many ways it is. But don’t gamble with eternal life. The stakes are much too high.

I promise you this: A thousand years from this moment, you will remember this moment. And whether you remember it with joy or eternal regret depends on the decision you must make right now to trust Christ as your Savior.

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.

It Didn’t Add Up!

In Daniel 9:25, the prophet Daniel was told that from the going forth of the commandment to restore Jerusalem “unto the Messiah” would be 69 weeks of years (cf. Gen. 29:27; Lev. 25:8). Frankly, this very specific prophecy baffled Bible students for many years, for the predicted time of 483 years (69×7) “unto the Messiah” did not match up with the time of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then, in his book The Coming Prince, a Bible teacher named Sir Robert Anderson realized the problem lay in the different ways Jews and Gentiles mark time. We number our years using a solar calendar wherein each year has 365¼ days, but the Jews used a 360-day lunar calendar, with each year consisting of 12 months of 30 days each.

Evidence of this is found in Genesis 7:11, where we read that the deluge began “in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month,” yet exactly “an hundred and fifty days” later (v. 24), “the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month” (8:3,4). The only way an exact period of five equal months can end 150 days later on the same day of the month is if each of those months has 30 days. Further evidence of this is seen when we remember that the last half of Daniel’s seventieth week is sometimes said to last “forty and two months” (Rev. 11:2), and sometimes it is said to last “a thousand two hundred and threescore days” (v. 3). The only way 42 equal months can work out to 1260 days is if each of those months has 30 days.

Once Sir Robert recalculated the prophecy using lunar years, he found that the 69 weeks “unto the Messiah” worked out to the very day the Lord Jesus rode the colt into Jerusalem and made an official presentation of Himself to Israel. No wonder the Lord lamented later that day, “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!” (Luke 19:42).

The point? When you are asked why men should trust the God of the Bible, why not give the reason God Himself gives—fulfilled prophecy! (Isa. 42:8,9; 44:7,8 cf. John 13:19). To those who would tout the gods of the world’s other religions, God says, “Produce your cause…bring forth your strong reasons…let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen…shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods” (Isa. 41:21-24).

The God of the Bible alone is God!

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.

The True Bible Church

Many people have truly come to know Christ as Savior 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 he is a new creation.”  It is possible to be a member in good standing of some church organization, yet be outside of the one true Church of which the Bible speaks.

This is because the true Bible Church is not an organization but 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. He says: “We being many, are one Body in Christ…” (Rom. 12:5). “Ye are the Body of Christ, and members in particular” (I Cor. 12:27). “We are members of His Body” (Eph. 5:30).

How do we become members of this true Bible Church, the Body of Christ? First, we must acknowledge ourselves to be sinners in God’s sight, for Ephesians 2 relates how Christ died for sinful men that He might “reconcile” them to God “in one Body” by the cross (Ver. 16). 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.

“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” (Titus 3:5).

“For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body” (I Cor. 12:13).

Every one of us should ask himself: “Have I been baptized by the Spirit into the Body of Christ?” If not, trust Christ as your Savior and become a member of the one true Bible Church. Then associate yourself with some local assembly where Christ is honored and the Bible taught, “rightly divided.”

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.

What The World Needs

Strange, is it not, that when men are successful, they generally credit themselves liberally for their success but when things go wrong they begin to blame others — even God.

The writer does not have up-to-date information about two particular plots of ground in Moscow, but some years ago one of these was a beautiful garden, the other a patch of weeds. Above each there was a sign. Over the one: “This plot is cared for by the United Soviet Socialist Republic,” over the other: “This plot is cared for by God”!

Evidently the atheistic Soviets who hatched this “bright idea” did not stop to think that only God could produce the beautiful flowers in the USSR plot. All their watering and cultivating would have been in vain except for the God they deny.

As to the other plot, they probably did not even know that even in Eden God put the garden in man’s charge “to dress it and to keep it” (Gen. 2:15), and later, when man sinned, God said to Adam, “Cursed is the ground for thy sake” (Gen. 3:17). This is why the Soviets must employ a gardener to control the weeds in even their garden! How wrong and foolish, then, for man ever to blame God for anything that goes wrong for him or causes him trouble!

Actually, when I have been asked: “If God is a God of love, why does He allow all this trouble and misery, and all this wickedness?” I have replied: “That’s easy. When God sent His Son into this world offering peace and righteousness and prosperity they cried: ‘Away with Him’ and nailed Him to a cross. If the Bible is true, and in this case it has surely proved to be true, how can this world expect peace while they still reject the Prince of Peace?”

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.