A message by Pastor Paul M. Sadler from the 2001 Fall Bible Conference of the Midwest Grace Fellowship.
Monthly Archives: October 2016
The Cross of Christ
Perhaps you are reading these lines but do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We want you to know that life begins at Calvary! To illustrate consider for a moment the vertical beam of the Cross. It represents the way through which the broken relationship between God and the sinner can be restored. The way is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Savior Himself said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).
In your heart of hearts you know that you are not right with God. Sin has separated you from the Holy One of Heaven and has made a mess of your life! It’s left you living in fear of death and the judgment to come. I know, I’ve been there! Salvation is not found in what you can do to make yourself acceptable to God, but what He has already done for you at Calvary.
The only way to restore your broken relationship with God is to believe that Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose again the third day (I Cor. 15:3,4). As the song says, “When He was on the Cross, you were on His mind.” The moment you place your faith in Christ’s finished work, you will be forgiven of all your sins: past, present, and future. Keep in mind, too, that the day Christ died all of your sins were yet future.
Nothing in this life is free, someone paid for it! This is also true of God’s provision of salvation; Christ paid for it with His precious blood. Today, God is offering salvation as a free gift to all who place their trust in His Son. When you believe the gospel, the burden of your sins will be lifted. You will for the first time in your life experience “peace with God” through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:1). Once this relationship is established, it is permanent because you are sealed by the Holy Spirit until the redemption of the purchased possession (Eph. 1:13,14).
We might liken the horizontal beam of the Cross to our relationship with those around us. Our lives touch the lives of others. God has believers in every walk of life so that those who are still outside of Christ might have the opportunity to hear the good news. This horizontal beam also represents the importance of reaching out to our brothers and sisters in Christ who have yet to see the revelation of the Mystery (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:8,9), which raises an important question: when was the last time you shared Paul’s gospel with a Christian friend?
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.
A Spiritual Oxymoron – 2 Thessalonians 2:15-17
Summary:
The word “fast” (v.15) can mean firm or secure, as in how God set the mountains securely in place (Ps.65:5,6). So when Paul tells us to “stand fast” in the knowledge that God has chosen us to salvation from the Tribulation (v.13,14), we should stand in that truth as firmly as a mountain. Did you know Paul always told people to stand fast in things in which they weren’t standing fast.
He told the Corinthians to “stand fast in the faith” because they had departed from the faith when they ceased believing in the resurrection (ICor.15:32). He told the Galatians to “stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Gal.5:1), the yoke of bondage being the Law of Moses. They had forgotten that “we are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom.6:15). The apostle told the Philippians to “stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Phil.1:27), because two ladies were feuding (4:2) and the church was taking sides. But Paul told the Thessalonians to stand fast in the knowledge of the pre-tribulation rapture because they weren’t standing fast in it, due to a letter that someone wrote them and signed Paul’s name to (2:1,2).
When Paul told them to “hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle” (v.15), Rome uses this verse to enforce their position that the oral traditions of the church are equal in authority with Scripture. They also point to II Timothy 3:14, where Paul tells Timothy to continue in things he had “learned” apart from “the holy Scriptures (v.15).
But the danger of following oral traditions can be seen in one that got started in the Lord’s time (John 21:21-23). Rome claims her traditions should be obeyed because they go back to the early church, but this one goes back earlier than that, and is still wrong!
The Pharisees accused the Lord’s disciples of breaking their tradition (Mt.15:1-3), but He pointed out that their tradition transgressed God’s Word. Traditions that contradict the Word are transgressions.
The only reason Paul told Timothy to continue in the things he learned apart from Scripture was because Timothy knew he learned them from Paul (IIITim.3:14,15). Before the Bi-ble was complete, oral traditions of the apostles were equal with Scripture, but when the Bible was complete they were incorporated into the Word. No tradition today outside the Word can be trusted. So the “word” of II Thessalonians 2:15 that they were to hold was the word of Paul.
The word “tradition” just means things delivered (Rom. 6:17). Paul expected the Thessalonians to keep the doctrinal traditions delivered to the Romans, and to all seven churches he wrote to, just as the Lord told each of the seven churches in Revelation 2,3 to obey the information in all seven letters (Rev.2:l7,11,17,23,29; 3:6, 13,22). Paul actually uses the word “delivered” for the doctrines of salvation (ICor.15:3,4) and the Lord’s Supper (11:23).
A “consolation prize” is what you get when you don’t receive the main prize, but “everlasting consolation” (IIThes.2:16) refers to the main prize of the comfort of the pre-trib rapture. Paul uses the word “comfort” for this doctrine over and over (IThes.3:1-3; 4:17-5:11).
That’s why he goes on to talk about “good hope through grace” (IIThes.2:16). Israel’s hope under the Law was to go through the Tribulation to enter the kingdom, but our good hope under grace is to be raptured before it.
There are other differences in our hope. Israel will be “comforted in Jerusalem” (Isa.66:13). “He will comfort all her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like Eden” (Isa.51:3). God won’t comfort saved Jews by taking them to heaven, He’ll bring heaven to Jerusalem for them.
Paul says the knowledge of the pre-trib rapture will “stablish” us (IIThes.2:17). Of course! It’s part of Paul’s gospel (Rom.16:25). This is different than how Israel was established, only after suffering the Tribulation (IPe.5:10).
Reaching Real Maturity
Spiritually speaking, Paul considered Timothy his “son in the faith” (I Tim. 1:2). And, like any parent, he had noble aspirations for his loved one. In the Book of II Timothy, he is very specific about four things he wants Timothy to become for the Lord.
First, he wanted him to be a good servant of the Lord (1:6). God had given him a temporary spiritual gift that was not to be wasted, but consistently used in the local church, where he would have opportunities and the obligation to use this divine enablement.
Paul also wanted Timothy to become a good soul-winner (1:8). Apparently, there were real dangers in doing so for Timothy, and there was a danger he might shrink away from this essential task. He might allow the fear of men, and their reactions, to prevent him from sharing the gospel. If Timothy did not grow beyond such a fear, his lack of action would essentially be saying he was “ashamed of the testimony of our Lord.” What a reminder for us today as well!
Next, Paul wanted Timothy to be a good student of the Word (2:15). Specifically, he wanted him to diligently apply himself to the study of the Scriptures so that he would be able to rightly divide the Word.
Finally, Paul wanted Timothy to faithfully hold fast to the distinctive doctrines taught only by the Apostle Paul (1:13,14), to continue in them without wavering (3:14), and then teach them to faithful men who would stand with him in dispensational truth (2:2). In Paul’s eyes, it would only be as Timothy achieved these four goals that he would be a spiritually-mature saint.
In a practical sense, each of us today can gauge our own spiritual maturity by measuring ourselves against these four goals that Paul had for Timothy. If we are consistently using our God-given capabilities for the Lord in our local church, then we’ve taken a step toward spiritual maturity. If we are bold and faithful in giving out the gospel to lost souls, we have taken another step toward maturity in Christ. If we are willing to endure hardship in ministry for Christ, without stopping our service, we have taken yet another step in maturity. If we are unwavering in our loyalty to the distinctive dispensational truths of God’s Word, as taught exclusively by Paul, we have taken still another important step toward spiritual maturity.
When young children begin to walk, they take one wobbly step at a time. Sometimes they fall down. The important thing in their development toward physical maturity is the process of getting back up when they fall, undeterred, and continuing to walk on toward greater stability. Dear saint, if you’ve fallen down in one of these four areas of growing in Christ toward spiritual maturity, get back up and start walking again in the right direction. Your Heavenly Father is watching and waiting to be pleased of what you choose to do next.
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.
Saved By Grace Alone
A message by Pastor Paul M. Sadler from the 2001 Fall Bible Conference of the Midwest Grace Fellowship.
John 21:18-25 – The Blessing of Dressing Yourself
Summary:
The Lord told Peter that when he was young he dressed himself and went wherever he wanted, but that would change when he was old (v.18). But the word “gird” doesn’t always dress. The first definition of the word means to tie or bind with a “girdle,” which is defined as a man’s belt (Acts 21:10,11). So the Lord was telling Peter about how he’d die (21:19), he’d be arrested, bound, and executed.
While this might sound like bad news for Peter, he may have appreciated a second chance to prove he’d die for the Lord like he’d boasted (Mt.26:35) yet denied Him instead. If it be objected that the Lord said he’d be carried where he didn’t want to go, he was willing to die, not foolhardy!
All this goes along with what we know about this chapter, that the Lord is assuring the twelve He wasn’t upset that they forsook Him by repeating the miracle He performed when He called them. Peter is being given a second chance to die for the Lord, making him a type of the nation Israel. Peter denied the Lord thrice, and Israel denied the Father in the Old Testament through the prophets, they denied the Son when He came to them, and they denied the Spirit at Pentecost. But God will give all the Jews a second chance to die for the Lord in the Tribulation. They had the chance to die for Him by accepting Him and suffering the wrath of emperor who would have snuffed out the nation that dared worship a rival king (John 11:47-50). It was the will of God that the whole nation accept Him and die with him to be saved (Mt.16:24,25). Most of the Jews blew it and denied Him the first time, as Peter did, but now like Peter they will get a second chance to die for Him in the Tribulation.
When the Lord told Peter “follow me” (21:19), this also fits the new start God gave the apostles. Remember, He told them to follow Him when He first called them (Mt.4:18,19). This typifies the Jews who will be given a second chance to follow the Lord in the Tribulation (Rev.14:4). Now, being told to follow the Lord, you’d think Peter would watch Him, but he turned his eyes to John (21:20). Instead he should have been “looking unto Jesus” for the Lord was faithful to death (Heb.12:2), while John might not be.
The Lord had just predicted that Peter would be faithful to death, so when Peter asked the Lord what John would do (21:21), he was asking if he would be faithful to death too. The Lord told him to mind his own business (21:22) because they were heading into the Tribulation when it would be important not to love family members more than the Lord (Mt.10:37). Hadn’t the Lord just asked Peter if he loved the Lord more than “these” brethren (21:15)? If your brother takes the mark of the beast you have to quit looking at him or you might follow him, you have to look to Jesus.
The Lord answered Peter, in effect, “Who says John will die?” (v.22). He knew that there would be a whole genera-tion of Jews who’d live to see the Lord come without dy-ing, and was saying to Peter, “What if John is one of them?”John symbolized that generation the way Peter sym-bolized those who would die and rise to enter the kingdom.
A rumor arose that the Lord said John wouldn’t die (v.23), but the Lord was a prophet, and the Spirit prompted Him to choose His words carefully, allowing that he might not die. Those who started the rumor probably thought John might be one of the ones the Lord said would live to see His coming (Mt.16:28). The way to correct misunderstandings like this is to just repeat what God says, as John did (v.23).
John never names himself because he is a type of how Jews will have to be tightlipped in the Tribulation (Micah 7:5,6), but confess Christ if put on the spot (Mt.10:33), just as Peter would be willing to die but not in a hurry to die!
We know John’s testimony was true (v.24) because Mat-thew, Mark and Luke testified the same things (cf.Jo.8:17).
More books like this could have been written (21:25) but just as Solomon wrote enough to get men to fear God (Eccl.12:12,13), John wrote enough to get men to believe that Jesus was the Christ (20:31).
Enriched in Utterance and Knowledge
“I’m a little foggy on the meaning of this passage. ‘That in everything ye are enriched by Him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you’ (I Cor. 1:5,6).”
The key to understanding this passage is to remember that Paul was writing to the Corinthians during the transition period. The apostle was showing them how they had been enriched by the Lord when He imparted to them the supernatural gift of tongues (utterance) to communicate Paul’s gospel, and the gift of knowledge that they might more fully understand the will of God (I Cor. 12:4-11). This is confirmed for us in the very next verse where Paul said to them, “So that ye come behind in no gift” (I Cor. 1:7). These miraculous gifts were the “testimony of Christ” that was confirmed in them. This was a demonstration that God was now working among the Gentiles. Thus we are introduced by the Apostle Paul to a new creation, which is the Church, the Body of Christ.
Once the Body of Christ was established in the faith, and the Word of God was completed by Paul (i.e., the Mystery), the supernatural sign gifts of the Acts period ceased (I Cor. 13:8-11 cf. Col. 1:25,26). God has replaced these gifts with something infinitely better: faith, hope, and love (I Cor. 13:13). Subsequently, if you want to know the will of God for this present age you must turn to Paul’s epistles for guidance. This is also true as you live for Him day by day
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.
John 21:15-17 – The Final Fish Fry
Summary:
The Lord called Peter “son of Jonas” to remind him that, like his namesake, he got into a ship instead of obeying God’s call to preach (Mark 16:15,16 cf. John 21:1). Jonah wanted Ninevah to pay for their sins; maybe Peter wanted Jerusalem to pay for theirs. So the Lord asked him if he loved Him more than he loved “these” fish (21:15).
Of course, the Lord could have been asking if Peter loved Him more than “these” apostles. He had claimed he did (Mt.26:33), so the Lord may have been asking if he still felt that way after denying Him. Peter humbly didn’t claim to love the Lord more, just claimed he loved Him.But since he denied Him he probably did love Him more (cf.Lu.7:41-43)
Of course, Peter couldn’t point to his conduct to prove he loved the Lord, just that the Lord “knew” it. That made him a type of how Jews were saved under the law. They had to keep all God’s commands to prove they loved Him (Deut.11:22), but couldn’t (James 2:10,11). So how could a Jew know he loved the Lord? He knew God knew!
When the Lord told Peter to feed His “lambs,” the only other time in the New Testament “lambs” is used is Luke 10:3. The Lord was telling him to feed the other apostles.
What could a denier like Peter offer the apostles? Plenty! They denied Him too when they forsook Him at His arrest! That’s why the Lord picked Peter to strengthen them (Lu.22:31,32). Remember, this all happened by a campfire (21:9), to remind Peter of his denial (John 18:18-25)—not to make him feel bad, but to remind him to feed the lambs despite his own experience as a denier.
Peter’s fall before and after the cross (Mt.26:74; John 21:3) and restoration makes him a type of the nation Israel, who failed the Lord before He died by killing Him and after He died by stoning His prophet. This makes Peter a living demonstration of what God wants to do with Israel, the way Paul is a living demonstration of what God is doing among the Gentiles, saving His enemies by His grace.
When the Lord switched to telling Pete to feed His “sheep” (21:16), it was to remind him that as their shepherd he had to be willing to give his life for his sheep as He had (John 10:11,15), something required for salvation (IJo.3:16-19).
All the commentaries point out that when the Lord asked Peter if he loved Him, the Greek word for “love” is agape, supposedly a God-like love, but Peter responded that he “phileo-ed” Him, supposedly an inferior love. It is true that agape is used in John 3:16, but it is also used for the love of sinners for one another (Luke 6:32). Meanwhile, phileo is used in John 5:20, and the Father didn’t love the Son with inferior love! Phileo is also used in John 16:27, and you’d better hope the Father doesn’t love you with an inferior love! Don’t let anyone convince you that you must know Greek to get deeper meanings out of the Bible!
The Lord didn’t ask Peter if He loved Him 3 times to rub it in that he denied him 3 times, but to picture how Israel denied God thrice and so were taken captive in three stages (IICh.36:5-20cf.Ezekiel10:4;10:18;11:23). How long would God’s glory and the headship of the world be gone from Israel? Till Christ comes (Ezek.21:24-27). In the New Tes-tament God tried to give the crown of the world to Christ and Israel would have ruled the world with Him, making this offer in 3 stages with John the Baptist, the Lord and the Spirit at Pentecost, each saying to Israel, “Lovest Thou Me?” Israel responded by denying Christ (Acts 3:13,14) and by denying the Father (IJo.2:22) and by denying the Spirit at Pentecost through the Sadducees, who took over from the Pharisees as the Lord’s chief opponent when the 12 began preaching the resurrection (cf.Lu.20:27).
Peter’s testimony that the Lord knew “all things” (21:17) can’t be used to say He knew the mystery, for Mark 13:32 proves He didn’t know all things while here on earth.
The commentaries say the Greek word for “feed” varies in this passage, but we know the Lord meant to feed His sheep with both food and spiritual food because He’d just fed them a meal, and feeding those who don’t take the mark will be part of the gospel in that day (James 2:14-26).
Bound to Give Thanks – 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14
Summary:
Paul is not thanking God that He saved them from Hell. The word “salvation” has different meanings. Israel was saved from the Egyptians (Ex.14:13; Jude 1:5). Paul talked about being saved from a storm (Acts 27:31). And in the Thessalonian epistles, “salvation” can refer to salvation from the Tribulation. “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord” (ITh.5:9). You don’t have an appointment to obtain salvation from Hell, you obtained it when you believed. But you have an appointment to obtain salvation from the Tribulation by the “salvation” of the Rapture (Romans 13:11).
And it is this salvation to which we were chosen, not salvation from Hell. True, the Bible says “He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world” (Eph.1:4), but it doesn’t say we were chosen to be in Christ, it says we were chosen—in Christ. Christ is God’s elect:
“Behold…Mine elect, in whom My soul delighteth…He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles” (Isa. 42:1).
Christ is the only man God could delight in. When we go to the polls, we have to hold our nose and vote for the lesser of two evils. Not God! He delighted to elect Christ to rule the Gentiles in the kingdom. And the way that Jews became part of His elect was by faith in Him. But God also chose Christ to rule the angels in heaven, and when we believe in Him, we become part of that elect (ICor.6:3).
We are also “predestinated” (Eph.1:5), but that doesn’t mean God predetermined our destination to heaven as op-posed to hell, it means to heaven as opposed to the earth where Israel will rule the Gentiles. Remember, “we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated” (Eph.1:11). Our inheritance is to judge angels, but was told, “thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles” (Isa.54:3). But you’re predestination to go to heaven in the pre-tribulation rapture, is the salvation Paul felt “bound” to thank God for.
“Bound” means under legal or moral obligation. Even
under the Law, thank offerings were voluntary, and Paul wasn’t under the Law (Rom.6:14). But he felt a moral obligation to thank God they were saved from the Tribula-tion for them, since they were no longer thanking God for it now that they lost the hope of the pre-trib rapture.
Anytime God does anything, someone should thank Him. The unsaved don’t thank Him for the sun and rain He gives them (Mt.5:45), or for “life, and breath, and all things” (Acts 17:25), so we should thank God for them.
We were chosen to this salvation “through sanctification of the Spirit” (IITh.2:13). Sanctification means to be set apart to God (Ex.13:2,12), and we’ve been set apart to be saved by the pre-trib rapture.
Normally sanctification is from the unsaved (ICor.6:9-11), but here it is from the Jewish kingdom saints who will have to go through the Tribulation. That exact phrase “sanctification of the Spirit” is only elsewhere used by Peter to write to “the…elect according to the fore-knowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit” (I Peter 1:1,2). God foreknew the Jews would go through the Tribulation, so the Spirit sanctified them from us, the people He foreknew would be raptured before it. Peter went on, “that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold…though it be tried with fire” (1:6,7) and that’s Tribulation talk (Zech.13:9;14:1)
This is why Paul went on to say that they’d been chosen to be saved from the Tribulation “through belief of the truth,” Paul’s truth, and why they were called by Paul’s gospel (IIThes.2:14). If they were called by Peter’s gospel, the Spirit would have separated them to go through the Trib-ulation. This explains why Paul called us “them who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate” (Rom.8:28). God predetermined that our destination would be in heaven rather than the earth, so He called us by Paul’s gospel to obtain the glory of the pre-trib rapture. Saved Jews under the kingdom program were also called to obtain glory but only after they have “suffered” the Tribulation (I Pet.5:10).
Was Paul Saved Under the Kingdom Program?
“Was Paul saved under the kingdom program?”
No, Paul was “a blasphemer” (I Tim. 1:13) who, as a strict, Law-abiding Pharisee (Acts 26:5), would never blaspheme the Father, but was among those who blasphemed the Spirit when they stoned Stephen (Acts 7:51-8:1). This rendered him ineligible for salvation under the kingdom program, for the Lord had warned, “him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven” (Luke 12:10).
How then could God save Saul? Well, remember that the Lord had warned, “whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come” (Matt. 12:32). The nation of Israel blasphemed the Spirit in the world that the Lord spoke of as “this world” when they rejected Stephen, a man filled with the Spirit (Acts 7:55). “The world to come” is defined in Hebrews 2:5 as the kingdom, the “world” which God will “put in subjection” under Christ, where people will fully know “the powers of the world to come” (Heb. 6:5) that they only tasted at Pentecost.
Since blasphemy against the Spirit was unforgivable in both those worlds, we know Saul was saved under the program of a whole new world, the dispensation of grace, “this world” in which we live (Eph. 1:21), “this present world” in which we are to walk and please God (Titus 2:12).
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.
