Monthly Archives: August 2016

John 19:1-6 – The Heart of All Healing

Posted on by Pastor Ricky Kurth

 

Summary:

There isn’t anything that God can’t heal, so when men have a God-given gift of healing, there isn’t anything they can’t heal either (Acts 5:15,16). Since modern healers can’t claim this, we have to conclude they don’t have a God-given gift of healing. But John 19:1 is at the heart of all healing: the Lord’s scourging.

To scourge a man is to beat him with a whip. Jewish whips appear to have had one lash, as plows in those days had only one blade (Ps.129:3), but Romans whips were said to have many lashes, with bits of bone, or stone, or sharp pieces of metal in the tip to rip into a man’s flesh. We can’t trust history when it comes to this, but we know the Lord had more than one man whipping Him (Isa.50:6).

Our Pentecostal friends say there is healing in the atonement, based on Isaiah 53:4,5. Grace pastors object that this is talking about the healing of our souls, but we know it isn’t, for this passage is quoted in Matthew 8:16,17. This only makes sense, if you think about it. Christ died for our sins, so we don’t have to die, but sickness is what leads up to our deaths, so it makes sense that sickness would be healed by the things that led to His death. That is, the Lord’s stripes were the beginning of His death, so if His death saves us from death, then His stripes save us from sickness.

So there is healing in the atonement, just not in the dispensation of grace. Make sure you object to healers on the right ground, dispensational ground! You can do more harm than good if you deny what plain verses say.

Though Pilate knew the Lord was innocent, he scourged Him thinking that this would satisfy the Jews (Lu.23:13-16). Then to add insult to injury, he mocked Him with a crown of thorns (John 19:2). Thorns are associated with cursing (Gen.3:17,18), and a crown of thorns was associated with the Lord’s cursing (Gal.3:13). Crowns are associated with kings, of course, and so is the color purple (John 19:2 cf. Ju.8:26; Song 3:9,10). Scepters are also associated with kings (Esther 5:2), and to mock the Lord they gave Him a scepter made of a “reed” (Mt.27:29). Reeds are associated with weakness (Isa.36:6; Mt.11:7; 12:20). They were saying, “If this man is a king, He’s the king of a broken, bruised kingdom that shakes in the wind.”

You’d never mock the Lord like that. Or would you? They bowed before Him but didn’t really think He was their king. Do you bow before Him on Sunday, then live the rest of the week as if He really isn’t your king? You may think you are mocking God because He doesn’t judge sin in this dispensation, but “God is not mocked,” you will still reap what you sow (Gal.6:7). Like Israel, you will not only reap what you sow, but more than you sow (Hos.8:7). Israel wanted idols, so God let them be taken captive and surrounded by idols in Assyria. If you want to live in sin, God will give you up to as much sin as you want (cf.Rom.1:24-32).

Pilate said he found no fault in the Lord (Jo.19:4). Can you say the same? The world thinks anytime anything goes wrong it’s God’s fault. Lose your job, your home, it’s God’s fault. Lose your spouse, your child, that’s God’s fault too. Even some Christians think this, but God is not judging unbelievers or chastening believers today.

Any man who is a man wouldn’t go along with this mockery, but the Lord did (John 19:5) because He “despised the shame” (Heb.12:2).

How’d the people of God come to call for the death of the Son of God? The answer ought to chill you to the bone. They didn’t know their Bibles, even though they read them every Sunday (Acts 13:27).

Notice it was the chief priests that cried for the Lord’s death. That’s the way it has always been. It is not the thieves, hookers, whoremongers or murderers that do the most damage to Christianity, it is religious leaders. And the ones who have done the most to promote Christianity are nobodies like us. Thank you for standing with me “in the defense and confirmation of the gospel” (Phil.1:7).

Are There Physical Blessings Today?

Posted on by Pastor Paul M. Sadler

“Pastor Sadler, you referred to our having physical blessings today. What exactly do you believe those are?”

While we are primarily blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies (Eph. 1:3), God has also blessed us with physical things. The Bible that you hold in your hand is a physical book with a spiritual message.

When we observe the Lord’s Supper, we are partaking of physical elements, the bread and the cup, which convey a spiritual message (I Cor. 11:23-26).

“For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer” (I Tim. 4:4,5).

The very food we eat everyday would also be classified a physical blessing. Notice that “every creature of God is good”; that is, every piece of beef, chicken, pork, fish or shellfish we eat is good and not to be withheld as unclean today. Under grace, eating a ham sandwich is acceptable. Paul adds that it is set apart by God in accordance with His Word and prayer, a clear indication that we are to offer thanks to the Lord for what we have at every meal.

The apostle instructed Timothy, “having food and raiment let us be therewith content” (I Tim. 6:8). While we are clothed spiritually in Christ’s righteousness, I wouldn’t advise leaving home physically unclothed. Our very clothing is a physical blessing.

In the context of prayer, Paul prayed that he might have the Lord’s prospering on his physical journey to visit the saints at Rome (Rom. 1:9,10). “In everything [not just some things and not just spiritual things] give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (I Thes. 5:18).

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.

John 18:37-40 – King Bluetooth

Posted on by Pastor Ricky Kurth

 

Summary:

Bluetooth technology, which unites wireless devices, is named after the king that united the Danish tribes into one nation, and introduced them to Christianity, a king whose nickname was King Bluetooth. This made him a good illustration of our King, who united us when He saved us and introduced us to Christianity. Our King is on trial for His life here in John 18:37, but when asked if He were a king, He answers cagily. He knew He wouldn’t have a kingdom till His second coming.

Of course, Pilate knows nothing about a second coming, and couldn’t grasp the concept of a king whose subjects wouldn’t fight to protect their king (v.36), so he presses the Lord. He responds by saying He was born to bear witness to truth, not raise up an army to protect Himself, and that all who were of the truth heard His voice and joined His kingdom.

Pilate must have thought that the Lord was taking a shot at him for not being a king who would bear witness to the truth of the Lord’s innocence, so he retorted, “What is truth?” (v.38). He’d heard so many lying defendants and conniving prosecutors he couldn’t be sure who was truth-fully innocent, and he wasn’t about to anger this mob just because he thought the Lord was innocent. You can tell he really didn’t want to know what the truth was, though, for he asked the question and quickly left the Lord to tell the Jews he found no fault in Him.

He then reminded the Jews that if they thought the Lord was guilty of something that they had a custom where he could release guilty men. He said this because He knew they were just envious of Him (Mt.27:17,18), and wanted to release Him. If you think envy is just a little sin, notice how the littlest of sins can lead to the greatest of sins!

Matthew tells us that Pilate reminded them of the prisoner release program because of his wife’s dream (27:18,19). People wonder if God gave her this dream. He sometimes spoke to unbelievers in dreams (Gen.20:3; 31:24), but would He tell her this in a dream? Didn’t He want the Lord to die for us? Well yes, He did, but He has never wanted any man to do wrong, even if it suited His purpose. He knew Pilate would condemn Him, but may have told him not to do so in this dream, just as He knew Pharaoh wouldn’t let Israel go, but told Moses to tell him to let them go (Ex.3:18,19). We can’t say God ever wants men to do evil, or they would have an excuse on Judgment Day.

Robbers were considered terrible people (Job 30:5), but they cried for one over the Lord (John 18:40), a murdering, insurrectionist thief (Mark 15:7). Barabbas was a type of the Antichrist, who will be a murderer (Rv.13:15,16) and an insurrectionist (Dn.7:25), who will steal the kingdom as Absalom did, with flattery (IISam.15:3-6; Dn.11:21). In this, he will be like his father the devil, who committed insurrection against the king of the world when he murdered him (John 8:44) when he caused him to disobey Genesis 2:17, thereby stealing his kingdom.

Barabbas means “son of the father, making him a type of Antichrist, who will claim to be the Son of the Father, Israel’s Christ. In crying for him over the Lord, the Jews typified how Israel will cry for Antichrist, a thief and a robber (John 10:10), over Christ. Matthew calls Barabbas a “notable” thief (27:16), just as a “notable” king will produce Antichrist (Dan.8:5-9).

The Jews chose a murderer (Acts 3:14,15) and were perse-cuted to death for the next 2,000 years, rather than choosing “the prince of life” who could have given them life eternal. What a picture of the Tribulation, when the Jews will choose Antichrist, who will give them death for eternity.

Maybe you’ve been thinking Barrabbas is a type of us. He deserved to die, but the Lord died for him. We deserve to die, but He died for us. That’s true, but did He also die for Antichrist’s sins? See Hebrews 2:9! If you think you can’t be saved because you’ve sinned too greatly, you haven’t sinned greater than Antichrist! So “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved! (Acts 16:31)

The Second Trumpet

Posted on by Pastor Paul M. Sadler

“And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed” (Rev. 8:8,9).

The blast of the second trumpet sends an object hurling out of the heavens that will destroy a third part of marine life, as well as a third part of the ships at sea. The Holy Spirit is careful to add that this heavenly body was “as it were a great mountain.” In other words, it was not a mountain as such, but had characteristics like a mountain—it was immense and had the appearance of solid rock. This could well be a description of an asteroid, which has many of the same features.

An asteroid can range from a few feet in diameter to hundreds of miles across and everything in between. There are tens of thousands of them, orbiting the sun in what’s called a band asteroid belt. It is well known that asteroids frequently pass by the earth, normally at great distances. Here it seems apparent that the finger of God will supernaturally alter the course of one of these heavenly objects. If a large asteroid were to pass through our atmosphere, we would probably describe it the same way that John did, as a mountain burning with fire.

The Apostle John then observed that this massive missile was cast into the sea. In all probability, this is the Mediterranean Sea since the second bowl judgment of Revelation 16 will be far more extensive and destructive to the oceans of the world. It has been said, “The steps of God from mercy to judgment are always slow, reluctant, and measured.” At this stage of the trumpets, God’s judgments will still be tempered with mercy so as to give men an opportunity one last time to repent and turn to Him in faith; the full scope of His fury will be unleashed later, in the bowl judgments. The surface area of the Mediterranean Sea is roughly nine hundred sixty-five thousand, three hundred (965,300) square miles, a third of which would be three hundred twenty-one thousand, seven hundred sixty-seven (321,767) square miles. Once again, to give you some idea as to the extent of this second judgment, the area of the Mediterranean affected would be greater than the State of Texas.

An asteroid, or whatever this enormous object is, falling into the Mediterranean Sea will be catastrophic. John is very careful to point out that before the death of marine life, “the third part of the sea became blood,” reminiscent of Egypt again, when God supernaturally turned the water into blood (Ex. 7:20). Multiply that miraculous event a hundredfold, and you have some idea of the severity of this judgment. Men will undoubtedly look on in horror as the sea turns to crimson.

The apostle then adds, “And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died.” The death of marine life will not cause the bloody sea; to the contrary, the bloody sea will kill the marine life. Creatures of the sea such as fish, dolphins, and turtles will be unable to survive in these conditions. The result will be death on a grand scale! If you’ve ever gone fishing, you know that one dead fish on the water’s edge is enough to drive you to another fishing spot. Imagine millions of fish floating on the surface of the water; the stench will be unbearable, as it was in Egypt (Ex. 7:21).

“And the third part of the ships were destroyed.” An asteroid a mile wide, hitting the earth at 30,000 miles per hour would produce 10 to 50 million times the energy of the atom bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima during World War II. It would “flatten everything for 100 to 200 miles out from ground zero.” The carnage will be incomprehensible as many shipyards will be totally wrecked. Those ships at sea within the range of this blast will capsize and be swept away by the ensuing tidal waves. The aftermath of this judgment will devastate the fishing industry and hamper world shipping and trade on an unprecedented scale. It will be a financial disaster for hundreds of ports of call that rely on tourism.

As we are already witnessing, the Lord will be like a mighty man of war in the day of battle, with a military strategy that will make the warmongers of this world tremble (Isa. 42:13). With just two blasts of the trumpets, He will decimate trade and commerce on both land and sea.

This article is an excerpt from Volume 2 of Pastor Paul Sadler’s commentary on the book of Revelation.

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.

John 18:28-36 – Morning People

Posted on by Pastor Ricky Kurth

 

Summary:

The Lord’s trial was at night, so when they brought Him to Pilate “early” (18:28,29) that means they were up all night trying to find something to pin on Him. Compare that to how His disciples couldn’t stay up with Him to pray an hour (Mt.26:40)! Sad, but most Christians can watch TV all night, but fall asleep if the preacher preaches an hour.

The Lord’s trial before the high priest ended with a charge of blasphemy (Mt.26:63—27:2) and He was sent to Pilate for sentencing (Jo.18:29). The Jews couldn’t enter Pilate’s judgment hall or be defiled (John 18:28 cf. Acts 10:28), but after condemning an innocent man this was straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel (Mt23:24). They were famous for this kind of religious hypocrisy (Mt.27:6)!

But modern Christians are no better. They are more wor-ried about the correct age and manner to baptize someone than in living a holy life. They are more worried about speaking in tongues than speaking the gospel. Even grace believers are often more worried about whether you are Acts 9 or 13 than they are about speaking the message graciously. There’s plenty of religious hypocrisy among us!

Pilate answered the door so early because there was a mob at his door that was impossible to ignore (Mark 15:1; Luke 23:1). When he asked the charge, the Jews accused the Lord of being a “malefactor” (John 18:30), i.e., a crook. If a judge today asked the charge and the prosecutor said, “We wouldn’t have brought him to court if he weren’t a crook,” the case would be dismissed! They couldn’t charge him with thievery or Pilate would have asked what he stole, nor could they charge Him with murder, for he’d have asked who He killed.

When he heard no charges, Pilate figured the Lord was guilty of breaking some Jewish law (John 18:3cf. Acts 18:12-16). But if it was unlawful for the Jews to execute a man as they claimed (John 18:31), why had they tried to kill Him so often (John 10:31 cf. Acts 7:59)? They meant “unlawful” according to the law of Moses. That’s what the word “unlawful” meant every time they used it. They were saying that they couldn’t stone a man on the Passover holy day, and they were anxious that He die right away. He had eluded capture so often in the past that they feared He might escape.

But there’s no way they could have stoned Him, since He predicted He would be crucified (John 3:14; Matthew 20:18,19). That’s why John said that the Jews said this to fulfill Scripture (John 18:32).

Where’d Pilate get the idea He was king of the Jews? (18:33)? The Jews hadn’t mentioned anything about this, but a week earlier that’s what the multitudes cried (Luke 19:37,38), and Pilate would certainly have heard about these treasonous words. You can’t say things like that without being charged with treason (cf.Acts 17:7).

The Lord couldn’t say He wasn’t a king, for He was one, so He asked Pilate if this was his idea or hearsay (John 18:34). He must have been thinking Pilate was a closet Jew (cf. Acts 26:67), for the prophets predicted a king would come (Jer.23:5) and if a Jew believed that Jesus was that king, he also believed He was the Son of God (John 1:49), and that was enough to save a man. Pilate denied being a Jew (18:35).

John 18:36 is used by our opponents to say that Christ never meant to establish a physical kingdom on earth, just as they use John 6:15. However, the Lord wouldn’t let them make Him a king in John 6 because He had not yet paid for the right to be king of the world, and the same was true in John 18.

Notice the Lord said that “now” His kingdom wasn’t of this world (18:36). That implies that someday it would be. We know that the Lord meant to establish a literal kingdom here on earth because He taught the disciples to pray for it (Mt.6:9,10). So He was giving Pilate a lesson in “rightly dividing the word of truth” (II Timothy 2:15). But now He’s admitted He has a kingdom, so Pilate again asks if He were a king (18:37).

Berean Searchlight – August 2016

Posted on by kevin
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