Will We Also Go Away?

In 2010, after attending a Bible conference in West Virginia, our family went to visit New York City. Pastor Dennis Kiszonas graciously offered to be our guide for a tour of the city. Since we were staying in New Jersey with a dear friend, I asked Pastor Kiszonas if we could stop by Star of Hope Mission in nearby Paterson before going into the city. Pastor Cornelius R. Stam spent much of his childhood working at this mission with his father, Peter, who founded it in 1913. In that day, missionaries and well-known preachers came to Star of Hope and faithfully preached the Word with clarity and authority. Many were saved through this ministry’s zeal for the Word of God and the unadulterated gospel of grace.

Arriving at the mission and going through the front door, I noticed a picture of Peter Stam prominently displayed in the foyer. However, right away I could see that the mission was no longer about proclaiming the Word of God. It had become a mission which was meeting only the community’s need for food and clothing. While this is admirable, how much more important are the spiritual needs of the soul? Star of Hope had been founded to preach the Word with a burden for the salvation of souls, but they’ve turned away from this original purpose to focus on meeting physical needs. In old pictures we have here at BBS, around the auditorium of Star of Hope were Bible verses painted at the top of the walls, verses such as Hebrews 2:3: “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation.” As we toured the building, we saw boxes of food and clothing stacked high, blocking those verses and making them barely visible.

It reminded me how, over time, a ministry can lose sight of its primary purpose and how easy it is for other things and programs to take the place of what is most important: the eternal destiny of souls and the Word of God. What about the ministry you’re involved with? Is the gospel of the grace of God and preaching the Word, rightly divided, the main purpose? When many of the Lord’s followers left Him during His earthly ministry, He asked the twelve, “Will ye also go away?” (John 6:67). Will we also go away from the Lord in His heavenly ministry and from the things that matter most to Him? May it never be.

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.

Christ Died for Our Sins and…

William Sangster was a stalwart, Bible-believing minister “who helped guide Londoners through the horrors of the bombings of London in World War II. Sangster developed a disease that progressively paralyzed his body, and eventually his vocal chords. On the Easter morning just before he died, he managed to scribble a short note to his daughter. The note read: “How terrible to wake up on Easter and have no voice to shout, ‘He is Risen!’ However, it is far worse to have a voice and not want to shout, ‘He is Risen!’” (Paul Goodrich, “He Is Risen!” accessed February 25, 2017, http://www.fumcwf.org/he-is-risen/.)

We rejoice in Christ’s resurrection and the life we have in Him. However, it is troubling to find that there are teachings out there that say that all you need to believe to be saved is that Christ died for your sins. Some say that faith in Christ’s resurrection isn’t necessary to be saved because our salvation is based solely on Christ’s payment for our sins at the Cross, and they’ll intentionally leave out the Resurrection. However, this is not Pauline. The gospel of the grace of God includes the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul stresses in his letters the importance of believing that Christ is risen from the dead. Note the following verses:

“And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness…But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead” (Rom. 4:22,24).

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Rom. 10:9).

“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3,4).

“And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Cor. 5:15).

“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him” (1 Thes. 4:14).

Unbelievers must trust that Christ is risen in order to be saved, so believers need to stress Christ’s death and resurrection when they share the gospel of grace. When Paul writes about our spiritual baptism with Christ, we are not only identified with His death, but also His burial and resurrection (Rom. 6:3,4). According to Colossians 2:10, we “are complete in Him,” because we have been identified with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection (Col. 2:11,12) the moment we believed in His death, burial, and resurrection.

Christ died for our sins and… He rose again the third day. Don’t leave out the resurrection! It’s crucial to our faith and salvation. We have God’s Word on it. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:17, “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain [empty]; ye are yet in your sins.” But because “Christ is risen from the dead,” those “in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:20,22). That should cause us to want to shout for joy!

“Jesus our Lord…was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification” (Rom. 4:24,25).

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.

Remembering Jesus Through Paul’s Epistles – 2 Timothy 2:8-9


Summary:

After telling Timothy to endure hardness as a good soldier of Christ (2:3), Paul knew that Timothy might be thinking that soldiers often die in the line of duty. So he reminds him that if that happened to him, God would raise him from the dead by reminding Him of the resurrection of Christ (2:8). He calls Him “the seed of David” to remind Timothy that God swore to David that He’d raise up David’s seed (Acts 2:29,30). God sometimes says things and repents, but not when He swears, so Paul called the Lord’s resurrection “the sure mercies of David” (Acts 13:33,34). And now that Timothy was in Christ, those sure mercies applied to him too—and to us! (cf. Ps.56:4).

Christ was raised according to Paul’s gospel (2:8), that is, He was raised “for our justification” (Rom.4:25). But your justification only becomes effectual if you believe He died for you and rose again (Rom.10:9). But this begs a question. How could Christ have been raised according to Paul’s gospel if He rose before Paul had a gospel?

This is God’s way of telling us that He knew Paul’s gospel in advance, and raised Christ according to the blueprint of his gospel that He drew up in Heaven in eternity past. This explains how God can someday judge the sins of even Old Testament men by his gospel (Rom. 2:16). But just as you don’t have to know antivenom saves you from snake bite, so the Old Testament believers didn’t have to know how obeying the gospel that God gave them saved them, and they’ll be judged according to the fact that provision was made for their salvation which they failed to access by faith.

Remembering Christ’s resurrection according to Paul’s gospel (that He was raised for our justification) is the only way we should remember it in the dispensation of grace. Peter told the Jews to remember that He was raised to sit on David’s throne (Acts 2:29,30). He was born to sit on David’s throne (Lu.1:32), but when the Jews killed Him that prophecy was in jeopardy until God raised Him to sit on David’s throne. But that’s not how we should remember Him. When we observe the Lord’s Supper, Paul says we should remember His death and resurrection (ICor. 11:24-26), but the Lord told the 12 to remember His death and resurrection in connection with the kingdom (Mt.24:28,29), something Paul doesn’t mention.

Paul suffered trouble preaching his gospel (2:8,9) because Satan doesn’t want men to know He was raised for our justification. As far as we know none of the 12 were in bonds at that time, for after God shifted His focused from them to Paul, Satan did too!

Paul didn’t mind though, for his bonds fell out to the furtherance of the gospel (Phil.1:12,13). He was imprisoned in Caesar’s palace and led some of the royals to the Lord (Phil.4:22). Since men had the right to appeal to Caesar (Acts 25:11), men from all over the empire were coming to Rome, hearing the gospel, and taking it home! This carried the gospel “further” than if Paul hadn’t been in jail.

The gospel was also furthered by Paul’s bonds through the brethren (Phil.1:14). Persecution doesn’t extinguish Christ-ianity, it fans the flames! That’s an example of Romans 8:28. God’s “purpose” is that the gospel be furthered, and all things work together for that good.

This is how Paul could be “content” in jail (Phil.4:11). Once you tie your contentment to the furtherance of the gospel, you too will be content, for God can further the gospel in whatever happens to you personally. It is actually the only way to be content. You’d think Haman would have been content when everyone worshipped him, but instead he was miserable because one man didn’t (Esther 3:1-6). This shows that no matter how perfect your life is, you won’t be content either. It is human nature. You must find your contentment in the furtherance of the gospel.

If you haven’t yet attained that level of spirituality, remember Paul too had to “learn” it (Phil.4:11). We know he wasn’t content when he went to jail, for he thought he had to be free for the word to have free course (IIThes.3:1,2). Once he learned otherwise, he was content.

Puffed Up Believers?

During a Sunday morning service, we had a dear saint get up and do something that made us cringe. He was expressing thanks for the preciousness of rightly dividing the Word of God. Unfortunately, he was doing so by comparing ourselves to a denomination, saying how foolish and incorrect they were in interpreting God’s Word. We’ve seen wild Tom Turkeys all puffed up, spreading their feathers and strutting their stuff to impress the ladies around them. Sadly, this was the impression our Christian friend was leaving with those who were visiting from the denomination he was ridiculing.

The knowledge that God has placed divisions in His Word is, indeed, precious. It helps us better understand truth in Scripture, and dissolves what otherwise would seem to be contradictions. But there are two dangers we should be keenly aware of and avoid.

The first is to search only for “knowledge” when we read God’s Word. Please don’t misunderstand what we are trying to say. The knowledge of sound doctrine, or information, from God’s Word is essential. Paul told the saints at Corinth that when he ministered to them, “what shall I profit you, except I speak to you…by knowledge…or by doctrine” (1 Cor. 14:6). He encouraged believers to “give attendance…to doctrine (1 Tim. 4:13), to be “nourished up in…good doctrine” (1 Tim. 4:6) and to become skilled in sound doctrine (Titus 1:9; 2:1). But the trap that many fall into is thinking that information is all they should be looking for when studying God’s Word. When this happens, it only leaves us “puffed up” with pride. Our study will then, in effect, leave us worse off in pride and less pleasing to the Lord.

The second trap is failing to look for application to change our lives. Paul told the saints in Romans 6:17, “But God be thanked…ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.” God is not impressed with how much we know, unless it shows itself in a transformed life of greater godliness. Therefore, after every time in the Scripture, we should always be able to answer the question: “So what difference does God want this information to make in my life today?” This is the most essential aspect of every Bible study. Demand of yourself, and anyone who teaches God’s Word, that this kind of application be made.

Let’s not be puffed up over how much doctrine we know. Let’s be transformed into lives of greater godliness!

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.

Mumbling and Grumbling

“Do all things without murmurings [grumbling] and disputings [arguing]: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation [generation]” (Phil. 2:14,15).

Whenever there is something that is disrupting the harmony of the local assembly, each member of that Body needs to examine himself, and ask, “Lord is it I? Am I the one who has caused this problem?” The flesh can justify anything, even grumbling to others how they would have handled things differently. This only serves to cause discord among the brethren. These types of things are normally said in the shadows of the assembly hall where the battle lines are drawn for a major confrontation. When you’re not on the frontlines fighting the good fight of the faith, it’s easy to stand in the shadows and criticize others who are defending the faith. Criticism is not one of the gifts of the Spirit, but a manifestation of the flesh!

Paul wanted those at Philippi who were living in carnality to turn from it so they could be used in a greater way by the Lord. They were to be blameless, harmless, and without rebuke, so that there would be little question who they were in the eyes of the world. You see, believers have something the world is searching for: peace, purpose and hope! Therefore, it was important that these children of God maintain a consistent testimony for Christ before a crooked and perverse generation. Essentially, the apostle is challenging the Philippians to live a godly life so as not to disgrace the name of Christ before the world.

The unsaved of our day, for example, revel in pointing out: “Oh, you mean that church where they fight like cats and dogs and had to call the police to settle a dispute. Why it’s no different over there than the corner tavern I frequent.” Once a local assembly has this type of reputation, it is highly unlikely they will have much of an outreach to the community for Christ. As it has been said, “When a non-believer sees a professing Christian who is argumentative, hard to get along with, and worldly in his ambitions, conversation, and behavior, the unbeliever soon forms a poor opinion of Christianity.”

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.

Berean Searchlight – September 2017


Free Mail Subscription

For a free subscription to the Berean Searchlight by mail, visit the Berean Searchlight Subscription page.

Subscribe to the Berean Searchlight Monthly Email to receive an email announcement when each issue of the Searchlight is posted online.