Monthly Archives: February 2018
Healing in a Synagogue and a Home
Payday Someday
While our children were growing up, by God’s gracious provision, our family had a small janitorial business to supplement our financial needs. We always took the children even if all they were able to do was gather the wastebaskets. One day, the girls were less than enthusiastic about their participation. So, without really thinking it through, I told them: “If you work hard with a good attitude, when you graduate high school, mom and I will buy you a car.” I only promised that once but, they never forgot it, nor would they let me forget, nor allow me not to follow through on my promise.
Our Heavenly Father has a fantastic promise for every blood-bought believer. Referring to the time when we graduate from this life into eternity, 1 Corinthians 3:8 says: “…every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.” With absolute certainty, we are assured the Lord will handsomely reward us for service done for the Lord Jesus Christ after salvation. Reconfirming this confidence, the Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:58: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
As we meditate on this encouraging promise, we should also comprehend one key related truth. Any reward will be proportionate to our effort in service. As stated above, everyone will be given reward “…according to his own labour” (1 Cor. 3:8). If we choose to do little or nothing for the Lord after salvation, this will be reflected in little reward received. Second Corinthians 9:6 states it this way: “…he which soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” As a high school yearbook reflects one’s participation in school, or lack thereof, our records in eternity will correspond with our service and reward. That makes it important for us to busy ourselves now with activities that will matter once we reach eternity. We can serve Christ by inviting or transporting folks to church, presenting the gospel, handing out gospel tracts, serving in the church nursery, teaching the Scriptures, assisting in youth ministries, giving faithfully, doing follow-up on visitors, befriending newcomers to church, and much more. The limit on serving Christ is only our imagination and our willingness.
Don’t be among the foolish who serve only self in this life. Choose to do something today to further the cause of Christ. Remember, there will be a payday someday.
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 is now available on Alexa devices. Full instructions here.
God’s Plan to Glorify the Temple – Haggai 2:6-9
Summary:
The Jews in Haggai’s day were discouraged that the new temple wasn’t as big as Solomon’s temple, so God planned to glorify it by shaking the nations down for their money to finance it, the way a bully shakes down a classmate (2:6-8) When the mountain of the Lord’s kingdom is established (Isa. 2:2) the nations “shall flow unto it” (v.6). Isaiah mentions their “silver and gold” because God plans to shake them into bringing it to Israel (Isa. 2:21). But an earthquake alone usually doesn’t separate men from their money, so God will shake heaven and earth (Hag. 2:6 cf. Joel 3:16,17).
But how would it encourage the Jews in Haggai’s day to know that God didn’t plan to glorify their temple until after they died? Well, doesn’t it encourage you to know that God is going to glorify the temple of your body until after you die if the Rapture doesn’t come first (Phil. 3:21,22)? If that doesn’t encourage you, you need to grow up (Eph. 4:15) and stop looking for instant gratification in this life.
But if all that’s true, why’d Haggai say the Lord would glorify the temple in “yet a little while”? Well, that phrase can mean a few moments (Lu. 22:56-59) or weeks or months (John 7:33) or thousands of years (Heb. 10:37), as it does here in Haggai 2 (cf. II Pe. 3:8).
God will only have to shake the nations “once” because that shaking will remove the world’s kingdoms (Heb. 12:26-28). After that their kingdoms will become the Lord’s kingdoms (Dan. 2:44; Rev. 11:15) and there will no further need to shake the nations.
“The desire of nations” (Hag. 2:7) is not Christ, it is money, and all the things money can buy (Eccl. 6:2). A stream of it will come to Jerusalem so steadily they’ll never be able to close the gates (Isa. 60:7-11). This will go on for eternity in New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:22-25).
It is wrong when a bully shakes down a classmate for his lunch money, but it isn’t wrong for God to shake down the nations, for their money is His (Hag. 2:8). By virtue of the fact that God is the Creator of all things, He owns all things (Ps. 50:10-12). Men don’t know that now, but they will when it comes time to glorify the temple, just as the Jews knew when it came time to build Solomon’s temple (I Chron. 29:14-16). In the same way, the money you give to the Lord is His! Just like the body you give Him (Rom. 12:1 cf. I Cor 6:19,20). If you don’t give Him the body He owns, you’re not rendering to God what is God’s (Mark 12:17).
Solomon was the richest man who ever lived, how could the new temple be grander? It’ll be glorified with the combined wealth of everyone on earth (Isa. 2:7).
But how could God call the millennial temple “this latter house” when “this house” in the context is temple in Haggai’s day that was destroyed in 70 ad? Well, if the house of your body is destroyed, you have a resurrection body (II Cor. 5:1). It’s so sure that you’ll have it that God says you “have” it now, since He promised it to you (cf. Rom. 4:17). But your resurrection body will be your body (cf. Job 19:26,27), just far more glorious (I Cor. 15:37,38). Well, if God can call your resurrection house “your” house, even after it is destroyed, He can call the millennial temple “this house”, even though that house was destroyed in 70 ad.
All of this is symbolic of the difference between the Old and New Covenants. Just as the glory of the new temple will exceed the glory of the old temple, the glory of the New Covenant will exceed the glory of the Old (II Cor. 3:7-10). The Law was glorious, it upheld the high, perfect standards of God. But it condemned everyone, for no one could keep it. But the New Covenant of grace exceeds the Old Covenant in glory because it upholds the high standards of God, but gives believers perfect righteousness because of the blood of the New Covenant! The Law has no glory at all by comparison with that, just as Solomon’s temple will have no glory at all compared to the glory of the millennial temple.
Finally, God says “in this place will I give peace” (Hag. 2:9). That land that has known less peace than any other spot on the planet throughout history will not only have peace, it will be the source of peace for the rest of the world.
Grace Hath Appeared To All Men
A Great Catch of Fish
This Evil Age
“Is our grace age, which Paul calls ‘this present evil world [age]’ (Gal. 1:4), worse than the time of Nimrod or what is seen in Romans 1:18-32?”
This age is evil. Every dispensation or age in man’s history has been evil. Every age has demonstrated that the heart of mankind “is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9), that people are sinners in need of the Lord. I don’t think our age is worse than the time of Nimrod or what is seen in Romans 1:18-32, but rather very similar. Romans 1:18-32 sounds like a commentary on our times! Mankind doesn’t change. Mankind has been evil, is evil, and will be evil.
News of mankind’s wickedness shouldn’t completely shock the believer. Rather, it should immediately remind us of people’s need for Christ and His salvation, and our need to be “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:16). Faith in Christ brings new life and can bring transformation to people’s lives, so that they might live “in all goodness and righteousness and truth” (Eph. 5:9).
Paul calls it “this present evil world” to impress upon us the glory of our deliverance from it by Christ and His Cross. Galatians 1:4 shows us “Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world.” Knowledge of this hope is to cause us to react with thanksgiving and praise to our Savior, “To Whom be glory for ever and ever” (Gal. 1:5), and “that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Cor. 5:15).
To the Reader:
Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:
"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."
To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.
Two Minutes with the Bible is now available on Alexa devices. Full instructions here.
A Temple That Paled By Comparison – Haggai 2:1-5
Summary:
It had been 70 years since Solomon’s temple was destroyed, but there were some “left” in Israel (v.1) who remembered it. We know they were discouraged that the new temple wasn’t as big because they “wept” when they saw the foundation (Ezra 3:12).
They were also discouraged by the king’s order to cease building the temple. But Zechariah, who was raised up with Haggai to encourage the Jews (Ezra 5:1,2), predicted the “mountain” of Persia’s king would flatten before Israel’s governor Zerubbabel (Zech. 4:7) — and he did!
But Zerubbabel didn’t level that mountain by lifting his hand against the authority of the king. He just reminded him that a previous king had ordered the temple built, and when the king checked, he found that it was true (Ezra 6:1-3), and knew that that command couldn’t be altered (Dan. 6:8).
That’s why Zechariah went on to predict that Zerubbabel would finish the temple (Zech. 4:8,9). But for that to happen they would have to learn not to despise “the day of small things” (v.10), and instead “be strong” (Hag. 2:4). That’s the secret to overcoming discouragement!
“The people of the land” (v.4) is a phrase that appears 52 times, and refers to the land of Canaan. Jews and Arabs fight over which people are the people of the land, but God promised it to Abraham and his seed “for ever” (Gen. 17:8).
But Abraham took his time about going there (Gen. 12:1), and by the time he got there, Satan had filled the land with his people — and Moses called them “the people of the land” three times (Gen. 23:7-13). Moses knew God promised the land to Abraham, but he knew God recognized the “squatter’s rights” of the Canaanites. People who occupy a land have legal right to it until the rightful owner evicts them.
But Joshua served an eviction notice when he led God’s people into Canaan and God enforced His promise to Abraham to give him the land. After that, the phrase “the people of the land” referred to the Jews — until they were taken away captive to Babylon. Then some new squatters moved in, and we know God recognized their rights because He called them “the people of the land” (Ezra 4:4; 10:2,11).
The land still belongs to Israel, but God won’t enforce His promise to them until the Lord returns, any more than He’ll enforce His promise that Jews should rule the world until then. So until then, we should be concerned with who owns the Jews’ hearts, not who owns their land (Rom.10:1).
By the way, Haggai called the Jews “the people of the land” at the same time Ezra called the Canaanites by that name to remind them they are the true owners of the land and had the right to build a temple on it. Plus, this chapter is a type of the kingdom. The chapter began on the day of Tabernacles (2:1 cf. Lev. 23:39), a type of the kingdom. It was the last of Israel’s feasts, like the kingdom is the last thing on their program. It’s called the feast of “ingathering” (Ex. 23:16), and that’s how the kingdom will start (Mt. 24:31).
God’s command to “be strong” was not for them to defy the king’s order, but to be strong in faith (cf.Rom. 4:19,20 cf. Josh. 1:6). To be strong and know that the king’s order wouldn’t be overturned by their might or power (Zech. 4:6,7) but by God. But the people would have to shout grace to the headstone (4:7), i.e., the cornerstone of the temple (cf. Ps. 118:22). The word “shout” should remind you of how some “shouted” when the temple foundation was laid (Ezra 3:11-13). It was their shouts of praise and thanksgiving that would bring the foundation forth to a temple (Zech. 4:7). Grace is God doing for us what we can’t do for ourselves, and that’s what their shouts were asking God to do — overturn the king’s order. Shouts also brought down Jericho’s walls (Jer. 6:5-20), God doing it for them!
