Home Keepers

In Paul’s letter to Titus, he gave the young man some instructions to pass on to “aged women” (Titus 2:1-3).  Whenever I read these verses while preaching, I always explain to my congregation that I’ll teach Paul’s instructions, “even though we don’t have any aged women in our church.”  This policy has always made me very popular with the aged women in our church!

One of the things Paul tells aged women to do is to “teach…young women” with “husbands” and “children” to be “keepers at home” (vs. 4,5).  Since there is a lot of controversy about the exact meaning of that phrase, in an earlier edition of Two Minutes I shared some examples of how that word keeper is used in Scripture, to try to determine what “keepers at home” might mean.

For instance, the Bible talks about the doorkeepers of the temple (Ps. 84: 10).  We discussed some of the Bible duties of doorkeepers, and another is found in II Kings 23:4:

“And the king commanded… the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal…”

Doorkeepers in the temple were commanded by the king to expel idolatry from God’s home.  From this example I think it is safe to extrapolate and say that Christian moms should guard the temple of their homes against idolatry as well.  Now you might think that there is little danger of idolatry rearing it’s ugly head in a Christian home, but remember that the Apostle Paul says that “covetousness…is idolatry” (Col. 3:5).  If you’re a Christian mom, and you’ve never witnessed any covetousness in your home among your children, you are a fortunate mom indeed!  Most moms have to work hard to keep their children from the pitfalls of always wanting things.

But the “the vessels that were made for Baal” in the temple didn’t just promote idolatry, they also promoted false doctrine.  So I would further submit that it is the job of the door keepers of the Christian home to keep the influences of false doctrine out of the home.  Moms need to be careful about the kinds of religious programming they allow to enter their homes via the radio, television and internet, etc.  Kids might not seem to be paying attention to the words of the programs you listen to, but do you remember what the Bible says about how children learn?

“Whom shall He teach knowledge? and whom shall He make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.  For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little” (Isaiah 28:9,10).

Did you ever wonder why those verses repeat themselves so much?  It is because children learn by constant repetition.  And if a mom is constantly listening to errant Bible teachers, her children are learning error—line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little.  Christian mom, you are your children’s first line of defense against unsound doctrine.

Finally, there is yet another kind of keeper mentioned in Scripture, the “keeper of the wardrobe” (II Kings 22:14).  Moms are in charge of providing suitable clothing for their children (Prov. 31:21)—and then there’s the endless job of washing and ironing the wardrobe!

But there is more to being the keeper of the wardrobe than this.  Christian moms must see that daughters learn to dress like young ladies, and boys learn to dress like young men.  This might not seem very important on the surface, but stop for a minute and consider how the world around us is pushing our society toward what they call a “gender neutral” status.  In the face of this onslaught of evil, could anything be more important than for moms to be “keepers of the wardrobe.”

As you can see, being “keepers at home” involves far more than just housekeeping.  A mom who is keeping a Christian home is standing firm on the front line of the battle for the minds and hearts and souls of her children.  And is there anything more important than that?

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.


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Sanctification By Grace

(From a message given at the Berean Bible Fellowship 2019 winter conference in Inverness, Florida.)

“Day one: I went for a walk down a street. I fell into a hole. I didn’t see it. It took me a long time to get out. It’s not my fault.

“Day two: I went for a walk down the same street. I fell in the same hole. It took me a long time to get out. Why did I do that?

“Day three: I went for a walk down the same street. I fell in the same hole. I got out quickly. It is my fault.

“Day four: I went for a walk down the same street. I saw the hole. I walked around it.

“Day five: I went for a walk down a different street.” [James MacDonald, Lord Change Me (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2012), eBook.]

We all fall and have fallen into the hole of sin and find it hard to get out of sin’s consequences. However, we don’t need to continue in sin and keep falling in that same hole habitually day after day. That is Paul’s teaching in Romans 6. Here Paul addresses sanctification: change in the daily life of the believer, and walking “down a different street” for the glory of God.

By Grace We Are Dead to Sin

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Rom. 6:1-2).

Romans 6 explains the power in the believer to live apart from the sins of the unbelieving world listed in Romans 1:18-3:32. In those verses, we learn about the sins of ingratitude, wickedness, perversion, covetousness, envy, deceit, backbiting, pride, disobedience to parents, cursing, bitterness, and so on. Because we still have an old nature after we believe, believers are still capable of committing these sins, any and all of them. The believer can continue to live unrighteous and ungodly after getting saved. However, Paul teaches in Romans 6 that the Cross of Christ broke the power of sin, and the believer can live righteously and godly by grace.

There is a sharp turn going from Romans 5 to Romans 6. Paul’s subject turns from justification to sanctification, that is, practical sanctification. Let’s look at some differences between justification and our practical sanctification.

Justification

  • Justification is the act whereby God declares a person righteous.
  • Justification happens at the moment one trusts Christ as Savior.
  • Justification is an event.
  • Justification happens once and only once.
  • Justification delivers from the guilt and penalty of sin.
  • Justification cannot be repeated.
  • Justification is the work and miracle of a moment.
  • Justification gives you the merit of Christ.

Sanctification

  • Sanctification is the act whereby God works out Christ’s righteousness in a believer’s life.
  • Sanctification happens moment-by-moment as the believer surrenders one’s life to the Lord.
  • Sanctification is a process.
  • Sanctification is gradual and continuous.
  • Sanctification delivers from the control and the power of sin.
  • Sanctification must be repeated as an ongoing process.
  • Sanctification is the work and miracle of a lifetime.
  • Sanctification gives you the character of Christ.

Now, Paul had just written in Romans 5:20, “But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” In light of this, he next asked, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” (6:1). God, in His super-abounding grace through Christ, redeems from sin, justifies, and gives the gift of righteousness to those who believe.

Therefore, Paul asks, “What shall we say then?” about this super-abounding grace. Perhaps believers should not worry about sin in their lives, and we could continue in sin because this would only result in the manifestation of God’s abounding grace over sin and His greater glory. Would not God’s abounding grace shine all the brighter if we kept on sinning? Since we’re righteous forever in God’s sight, can’t we just sin and live however we want? This is the question Romans 6-8 is meant to answer.

Paul’s emotional answer to this kind of thinking is clear: “God forbid,” or “By no means!” “May it never be!” “Perish the thought!” Justified believers in Christ should never continue in sin that grace may abound. Paul’s teaching is how God’s superabounding grace not only justifies us, it sanctifies us, or sets us apart from sin. His grace doesn’t free us to sin, it frees us from sin and gives us power over it.

The basis of Paul’s answer is in the form of a rhetorical question: “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” By posing the rhetorical question, Paul expected the reader to see the answer in the question. Rhetorical questions are not asked in expectation of answers; rather, they make statements.

For example, if I went into my son’s or daughter’s room and asked, as I could, “How are you going to keep your room neat if you throw your clothes on the floor and never hang them up or put them in your dresser?” I’m not looking for an answer or for information. I’m making a statement: You will not keep your room neat if you just throw your clothes on the floor and never hang them up or put them away.

That is the way Paul uses the rhetorical question in Romans 6:2. “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” In other words, you should not live in sin any longer when you are dead to sin. Then he goes on to explain what he means by this, that by the process of sanctification, believers are to become in practice what we are in Christ: dead to sin and alive to God.

By Grace We Are Baptized into Christ

“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:3-4).

Christian living depends on Christian learning. Duty is founded on doctrine. If Satan can keep believers ignorant, he can keep them weak. Our sanctification is based on what we “know.” Paul asked, “Know ye not?”

This is something crucial for every believer to know: When we believed the gospel, that Christ died for our sins and rose again, at that moment we were baptized into Christ by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13). This does not refer to water baptism. When you read the word “baptized” in your Bible, it does not always refer to water. And there is no water in these verses. These are dry verses. To put water baptism in these verses is to rob us of the truth and power that God is intending to convey.

Romans 5:8 teaches, “Christ died for us,” whereas Romans 6:3 teaches that we died with Christ. John Gregory Mantle once wrote, “There is a great difference between realizing, ‘On that Cross He was crucified for me,’ and ‘On that Cross I am crucified with Him.’ The one aspect brings us deliverance from sin’s condemnation, the other from sin’s power.” [John Gregory Mantle, quoted by R. W. DeHaan, “Galatians 2:20 – Outstanding Servants,” Bible.org, published February 2, 2009, https://bible.org/illustration/galatians-220.]

Baptism means being placed into, united to, joined to, or identified with. The moment we trusted Christ for our salvation, we were placed into Christ, united with Him, and joined to Him eternally by the Holy Spirit. This is a most beautiful reality, that an unrighteous sinner is made righteous and joined to God’s righteous Son by faith alone. This is only possible by super-abounding grace.

This leads Paul into the second step in his logic. If believers were baptized into Christ and joined to Him completely, then we were also united with His death. And because we are united with His death, then we are united with His burial. And because we are united with His death and burial, we are joined to and united with His resurrection, and therefore we can and “should walk in newness of life.” That’s the logical sequence of thought.

The believer is united with Christ, so God counts what happened to Christ as having happened to us. God established this union. We are in Christ. His death is our death. His burial is our burial. His resurrection is our resurrection. His newness of life is our newness of life.

Thus, when Paul asked, “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” it refers to our death with Christ when He died. Christ’s death is applied to us now, but because Christ died once for all in the past, and we were united to that, our death to sin happened, to God’s way of seeing things, on the day Christ died. Thus, the instruction is not a present progressive, ongoing tense: “We are dying to sin.” It is not a future tense: “We will die to sin.” It is not an imperative: “Die to sin!” Nor is it an exhortation: “You should die to sin.” It is a final, past tense: “You died to sin.”

The simple truth is that if you are a believer, you have already died to sin. It’s a past event and an accomplished fact. It means that, now and forevermore, you have been set free from the ruling power of sin in your life by the Cross of Christ. Now, having been crucified with Christ, we are to move forward with knowledge of this unchangeable truth so that we might not live in sin any longer. Through our union and identification with Christ and His death, burial, and resurrection, we are now dead to sin and alive to God.

What Paul wanted believers to “know” is that, when we believed the gospel, even though we didn’t see it, hear it, or feel it, before God, we were made one with Christ by the Spirit’s baptizing us into Him, and at the same time we were also united with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection.

Now His death is my death. His resurrection is my resurrection. His victory over sin is my victory over sin. His triumph over death is my triumph over death. His life is my life. His resurrection power is my power, which He wants me to use to live a life that glorifies Him. This is practical sanctification. It is made possible entirely by grace.

We have been forever freed from sin’s penalty and sin’s power. Because we are united with Christ in His resurrection life, “even so we also should walk in newness of life” (v. 4). We have newness of life in Christ. By God’s grace, now we “should” live a new life because we can live a new life. By virtue of our union with Christ’s resurrection, we can even appropriate the power of His resurrection, a power that enables us to live in
righteousness.

By Grace We Are Freed from Sin

“For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin” (Rom. 6:5-7).

“Christian author and teacher Dr. Bill Gillham likes to illustrate how our behavior is linked to our position and identity in Christ through a humorous analogy. He describes a scene in which a man is suddenly accosted by a ferocious bear while on a walk through the woods. The man runs into a shack. Though the structure is securely buttressed by thick timbers, he is unaware of that fact, and he thinks the grizzly will burst through at any moment. This man was safe the moment he fled into the shack. However, since he was ignorant of that fact, he trembled in terror. As Dr. Gillham points out, the poor man could have died of a fear-induced heart attack even though he was secure. Dr. Gillham’s premise is: If we do not understand who we are in Christ and our security in Him, we will act accordingly.” [“Romans 1-6 Devotionals & Sermon Illustrations,” subheading “Romans 6 – Freedom,” Precept Austin, updated November 10, 2016, https://www.preceptaustin.org/romans_illustrations_-_part_2]

That is what Paul wants the believer to know in this passage, that we are secure in Christ. By the connecting word “For,” verse 5 is given as the basis for our walking in newness of life (v. 4), that we do so in the security of our future resurrection (v. 5).

We are united with Christ in His resurrection, and this guarantees our future resurrection. God’s grace and the security we have in Christ is to motivate the believer to live unto God. We don’t need to live by fear, but instead, by grace. Having been justified by faith and baptized into Christ, we live with certainty, knowing that being in Christ, “we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection.”

The reason we know this is that we have been joined to Christ’s all-sufficient payment for sin at the Cross. This secures our freedom from sin. Thus, death cannot hold us, just as it could not and did not hold Christ, and He rose again. Being in Christ, sin has no power over us. The certainty of our future resurrection shows that we are, in fact, dead to sin and free from its power over us. Every believer retains the “old man” (v. 6) at salvation, but Paul teaches us that the power of that old nature was “destroyed,” broken, and defeated at the cross. Being joined with Christ’s death, Paul tells us that we are “freed from sin” and have liberty and power in Christ not to serve sin any longer.

The old man is like a chicken with its head cut off: it’s dead, but it still flops around and gives us trouble. But we have power over it. While the old man is still active within us experientially, positionally, before God, it’s crucified, dead, and buried. Thus, by faith God wants us to live according to the fact that it’s dead and buried and to live unto God in newness of life.

The issue of this chapter is living in sin. Paul is not teaching sinless perfection, that the believer can never and does never commit a sin. The issue Paul is talking about is that we have been enabled not to “live any longer therein” (v. 2). In other words, we have been empowered for sin not to be the master of us, that we not sin habitually, that sin does not reign in our lives as a lifestyle. Paul wrote about continuing in sin in verse 1, living in sin in verse 2, not serving sin in verse 6, and not letting sin have dominion or authority over us in verse 14.

We all fall into sinful attitudes, thoughts, and actions—the “hole in the street.” Paul’s teaching here is that when we place our faith in Christ as our Savior, we were joined to His death and thus joined to His mastery over sin. Now believers, through Christ, can have mastery over sin, and we don’t need to be a slave to sin, or be held down or held back by sin any longer. God doesn’t want us to accept bondage to sin, which pulls us down; He wants us to stand in our liberty from sin, and live unto God.

Our bodies are no longer helpless to sin. The power of sin is not to be the defining direction of our lives. Christ is to be the defining direction of our lives! We are crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20). The power of the old man, our body of sin, was destroyed in Christ. In Him, we are freed from sin, and the body can now become the instrument of righteousness to the glory of God (Rom. 6:13).

In our sanctification, God would have us live our lives manifesting Christ’s resurrection life and power, living a life of freedom from sin’s control. The believer has died to the old life of sin and has been raised to enjoy and live a new life of righteousness in Christ.

By Grace We Will Live with Christ

“Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him. For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God” (Rom. 6:8-10).

Paul wrote that “we believe that we shall also live with Him” (v. 8). Verses 9 and 10 support this belief in 5 steps.

  1. Verse 9a: We know that Christ rose from the dead. The work was done. Sin was dealt with completely at the Cross. Death could not hold Him in the grave.
  2. Verse 9b: We know that He “dieth no more.” Jesus Christ is life and He will never die again. He arose and lives forever. As the Lord said, “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore” (Rev. 1:18).
  3. Verse 9c: We know that “death hath no more dominion over Him.” Christ arose triumphant over death. Death is a defeated foe. Christ is master over death. Death has no dominion or authority over Him. He is the Destroyer of death.
  4. Verse 10a: We know, “in that He died, He died unto sin once.” He died unto sin once for all. He dealt with and paid for sin completely, powerfully, and perfectly, and the Father was satisfied.
  5. Verse 10b: We know, “in that He liveth, He liveth unto God.” He died and was raised from the dead. He lives, and He lives unto God.

“Knowing” and trusting all this is how we experience the present power of Christ’s resurrection in our life. God means for us to feel the firmness and truth of those five steps in our soul by faith. We have been baptized into and united with Christ’s death and resurrection. These things that are true of Christ are true of us in our union with Him.

  1. Christ was “raised from the dead” and, in Him, we were and will be raised from the dead. Death could not hold Christ because sin was paid for in full. Because we died with Christ, death will not hold us in the grave, and we will be raised. And we “shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection” (v. 5).
  2. Christ, being raised, “dieth no more.” Likewise, when we are raised, we will die no more. We have eternal life in Christ and we will live with Christ forever.
  3. Death has “no more dominion over” Christ. In Christ, death has no more dominion over us. We can live confidently for Christ without the spirit of fear. Christ won the victory over death and has authority over it. In Him, we have authority and victory over death.
  4. Christ “died unto sin once.” Having been crucified with Christ, we died unto sin once. The penalty and the power of sin have been dealt with once and completely in Christ. Now we go forward in life with this knowledge of already having died unto sin in Christ, and we live in our freedom from sin.
  5. Being raised, Christ “liveth unto God.” In Christ, like Christ, we live unto God.

Paul wanted the Body of Christ to believe and experience the confidence, power, victory, hope, security, and grace of these truths. Living by faith in them is what makes our union with Christ a powerful experience. Sin cannot enslave people who put their focus on their life, power, and future in Christ. Doing so, we will walk in newness of life.

By Grace We Should Yield Ourselves unto God

“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God” (Rom. 6:11-13).

These spiritual realities are to affect our lives by faith. Pastor C. R. Stam used to say, “What God has done for us by grace, we should appropriate by faith.”

In light of all these wonderful truths that are true of us by grace, Paul teaches us to “reckon…yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin.” “Reckon” means making a decision based on rock-solid reality. We are “dead to sin” in Christ. We should constantly view ourselves this way by faith. We should reckon ourselves to be what God has made us in Christ by grace.

If we fail to believe that sin no longer has power over us, we will be much more vulnerable to temptation, to live in sin, and allow it to rule and direct our lives. But knowing the truth that we are dead to sin in Christ, and then, by faith, reckoning it to be true and applying it to our hearts, we can live “dead indeed” to sin, and we can, by grace, live in victory over sin. This is practical sanctification.

We do not have to live habitually in sin or let it “reign” in our mortal bodies (v. 12). Instead, because the power of sin has been broken, we can, by faith, choose not to obey the lusts of the old man. The believer can instead obey God’s Word and let Christ reign in life.

Negatively, Paul wrote in verse 13 that we should not yield our members as instruments of unrighteousness to commit sin. Positively, Paul wrote we should instead yield ourselves unto God as people who are alive from the dead. Speaking of our “members,” with our eyes and what we look at, our ears and what we listen to, our mouths and what we say, our hands and what we do, our feet and where we go, our hearts and what we love, our minds and what we think about and the decisions we make, God wants these all to be “instruments of righteousness.” God wants us to be people who allow His righteousness to touch every area of our lives and who live alive unto God.

When asked the secret of his service for Christ, George Muller (1805-1898), known for his great faith and ministry to orphans, answered: “‘There was a day when I died,’ and, as he spoke, he bent lower, until he almost touched the floor. Continuing he added, ‘Died to George Muller, his opinions, preferences, tastes and will; died to the world, its approval or censure; died to the approval or blame even of my brethren or friends; and since then I have studied only to show myself approved unto God.’” [“The Secret of George Muller’s Service,” Webtruth, September 7, 2015, http://www.webtruth.org/great-quotes/the-secret-of-georgemullers-service.]

That is the testimony of one who lived “alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (v. 11). That’s what sanctification by grace is all about. May that be our testimony for the glory of God!


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Jacob Went Down to Egypt – Acts 7:15-28

 

Summary:

When Stephen said that Jacob went down to Egypt (v. 15), that was a type of how Christ went down to Egypt (Mt. 2:13-15).  But why does Matthew quote a verse there about Israel coming out of Egypt (Hos. 11:1) and apply it to Christ?

It was because Christ was the true Israel.  God parted the Red Sea for the “vine” of Israel, and brought them out of Egypt and planted them in the land to receive fruit from them (Ps. 80:8,9).  But she became an “empty vine” that brought forth fruit to herself (Hos. 10:1).  Of course, God only accepts perfect fruit, so Christ became the “true vine” (Jo. 15:1), and brought forth perfect fruit to God.  And so did all whom He filled with His Spirit (Acts 2:4) when they were unable to sin (I Jo. 3:9; 5:18). But that only happened after the Lord died and was brought back from the dead, as we see pictured when Acts 7:15 says Jacob died and was brought out of Egypt into the land (v. 16).

God promised to multiply Abraham’s seed exceedingly (Gen. 17:2) but 200 years later he still had only 70 souls (Gen. 46:26; Ex. 1:5).  But God kept His promise (Acts 7:17), and then a new king arose in Egypt that forgot how Joseph saved Egypt (Acts 7:18).  He feared Israel so enslaved them, thinking hard work would diminish their numbers (Ex. 1:8-12).

When that didn’t work, he became less subtle and ordered that Hebrew baby boys be cast in the Nile (Ex. 1:22 cf. Acts 1:19).  In this, Pharaoh was a type of the antichrist, who will start out subtly by being a man of peace, then will persecute and kill God’s people outright as Pharaoh did.  God will send two witnesses to oppose Antichrist (Rev. 11:3), as he sent Pharaoh two witnesses (Ps. 105:23-26).  Moses was another type of Christ, as Stephen goes on to say (Acts 7:20,21).

When Moses was born, Pharaoh tried to murder all the Hebrew baby boys, a type of Christ’s birth (Mt. 2:16).  Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the world (Acts 7:22), as the Lord was (Mt. 16:2, 3; Lu. 4:23).  When Stephen added that Moses was also “mighty in words and deeds,” that must refer to the words of Scripture, something that was also true of the Lord (Lu. 24:19; Jo. 7:46).  Moses began his ministry to Israel when he was 40 (Acts 7:22) while the Lord was 30 (Lu. 3:23), but Hebrews 11:24, 27 says Moses began “when he was come to years.”  The Lord came to years earlier since men in His day didn’t live to 120 like Moses did.

Moses may have lived in Pharaoh’s house, but he knew who “his brethren” in Israel were (Acts 7:23), as did the Lord (Heb. 2:11,16).  Moses could have been ashamed to call those slaves his brethren, but he wasn’t.  The Lord could have been ashamed to call those slaves to sin brethren, but He wasn’t.

Moses could have been the next king of Egypt, which would have made him king of the world, for Egypt ruled the world.  But he “refused” to receive it from Pharaoh’s hand (Heb. 11:23, 24).  The Lord could have been the next king of the world, but He too refused it at Satan’s hand (Mt. 4:8, 9).

When Moses saved one of his brethren by killing one of their enemies (Acts 7:24), he became that man’s savior.  That’s a picture of how the Jews expected Christ to save them from their enemies (Lu. 1:68-71), something the Lord will do when He slays the antichrist to save them.  But Moses’ brethren threatened to expose his murder and get him killed because they “understood not” that he came to save them (Acts 7:25), just as the Jews killed the Lord because they didn’t understand that He came to save them.

One of the reasons they didn’t realize Moses came to save them from the enemies they were striving with was that they were striving with one another (Acts 7:26).  Similarly, one of the reasons the Lord’s brethren didn’t receive Him is that they were striving amongst themselves between the Pharisees and Sadducees and Herodians.  God has always commanded that His people love one another, and if you’re not obeying Him, you limit God’s ability to teach you new truth (Psalm 119:100).

Moses’ brethren refused to receive him (Acts 17:27), a type of how the Lord’s brethren refused to receive Him (Lu. 19:14; John 1:11).

Video of this sermon is available on YouTube: Jacob Went Down to Egypt – Acts 7:15-28

She’s A Keeper!

A woman answered her door one day to find two policemen on her porch.  One of them asked if she was married, and if they could see a picture of her husband.  After she showed them one, the other officer said, “I’m very sorry, Ma’am, but it looks like your husband has been hit by a truck.”  She replied, “I know, but he’s a good provider, and he helps me with the housekeeping.”

Well, as I’m sure you ladies would agree, that woman’s husband sounds like a keeper.  But speaking of keeping house, the Apostle Paul wrote that “young women” with “husbands” and “children” should be “keepers at home” (Titus 2:3,4).  And as you may know, this phrase is the subject of much controversy among Christian wives and moms, most of whom desire to understand it clearly so that they can obey it.  So in this Two Minutes, we’re going to begin a study of Paul’s words here, a study so exhaustive that we’ll have to finish it in later editions.

To begin with, the phrase “keepers at home” is sometimes said to mean that a woman can never have any kind of life outside of the home.  But that’s not how the word “keeper” is used in our language.  For example, zookeepers leave the zoo every night, and barkeepers have a life outside the tavern as well.  Even goalkeepers in hockey and soccer are allowed to leave the goal, even though they are the keepers of the goal.

And that’s how the word keeper is used in Scripture as well.  The “keeper of the prison” in Philippi (Acts 16:27) went home to his wife and children every night (v. 34).  So the phrase “keepers at home” cannot mean that a mom with young children cannot have a life outside the home.  So what does it mean?

Well, what do you say we let God tell us what this phrase means by seeing how He uses the word “keeper” in Scripture?  First, the primary job of the keeper of the prison in Philippi was to keep the prisoners from escaping.  And when a mom has young children, it’s her job to keep them from escaping!  The reason I put chains on my doors at home wasn’t just to keep bad guys out, it was to keep my children in.  Once my young daughter learned how to negotiate the doorknob, she was halfway down our driveway before my wife caught up to her!

But there are other kinds of keepers in the Bible. “Abel was a keeper of sheep” (Gen. 4:2), and it is the job of shepherds to feed and care for the flock.  It is similarly the job of women who are keepers at home to feed and care for their children.  In most homes, Mom is the one who is primarily responsible for making sure the kids are fed, and “Dr. Mom” is the first line of defense against all the bugs that children tend to contract before their immune systems are fully developed.

The Bible also talks about doorkeepers (Ps. 84:10), and keeping the door of a home involves more than just chaining the doors at night.  The psalmist prayed,

“Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips” (Ps. 141:3).

Moms have to “keep” watch on what young children say.  Who can forget the image of Ralphie eating a bar of soap in A Christmas Story, a film that is popular around the holidays.  If you’re a young mom who isn’t sure how to keep your kids from using crude language, my mom did it by never swearing in front of us kidsI vividly remember a first grade class trip to the park wherein I saw my first four-letter words written on the walls of the viaduct we walked through that day.  I probably remember it so well because I read those words aloud as we passed through, causing my classmates to gasp.  They knew what those words were, for they heard them at home—but I had not.  You see, my mom was a keeper, as are all moms who keep their children from learning profanity, lying, and all other forms of “corrupt communication” (Eph. 4:29).

And that’s just some of what Paul had in mind when he said young moms should be “keepers at home.”  Be watching for more studies on this important and sensitive subject down the road.

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.


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Berean Searchlight – April 2020


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