Yearly Archives: 2020

Divisions in Scripture

Posted on by Pastor John Fredericksen

An excerpt from the newly published book, Foundational Truths.

The Bible is the greatest book ever written! When properly studied, it can enable a sincere believer to “grow” spiritually (1 Pet. 2:2), be grounded in the faith (Rom. 16:25), gain victory over sin (Psa. 119:11), and be thoroughly “furnished” with all that is needed to become “perfect” (or spiritually complete and mature) in our daily walk (2 Tim. 3:16,17). No other book in the world can legitimately make such a claim or produce these results. Unfortunately, many believers do NOT know how to study the Bible in a way that will reap these kinds of blessings. The key that unlocks the truths of God’s Word is in understanding a consistent method of Bible study that God Himself emphasizes in 2 Timothy 2:15: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, RIGHTLY DIVIDING the Word of truth.” In this lesson, we will explore together the proof, importance, location, and identification of these divisions in Scripture.

Understanding Divisions Exist in Scripture

Recognizing divisions in Scripture is the key to understanding the Bible. The Bible is “The Word of Truth;” but unless it is rightly divided, we will not get accurate “truth” from its pages, and we will only get “truth” in direct proportion to how well we rightly divide it.

“Dividing” means to cut straight. To cut something naturally divides or separates it from what it was attached to. We can picture cutting a loaf of bread into several sections. What we divided off was certainly part of the whole loaf, but it can best serve the one who uses it if it is divided into various sizes and sections.

So it is with Scripture. God emphasizes the need to divide Scripture in 2 Timothy 2:15 if it is to best serve the purpose that He intends. So doing does NOT make any portion of Scripture less a part of the whole Bible, it simply makes it more useful. Since God is the one telling us to divide Scripture, He does not intend for us to use it as a whole, without divisions. God never intended for us to attempt to use His Word as one uninterrupted set of instructions for man without recognizing how divisions in His Word affect His instructions. The Scriptures are not a hodge-podge of stories, or information randomly put together. Nor is it like a novel with one continuous flow about the same people. Instead, God’s Word is divided into sections about different people, under different programs of divine instruction, at different times.

There is great order in God’s Word if we recognize key divisions. Those who fail to recognize these divisions cannot help being inconsistent in what they choose to obey and confused about what God expects of them. As we’ll see, each division in Scripture has important distinctions from the rest, which greatly affect our understanding and application. As H. I. Brown illustrated, recognizing these divisions is “like the multiplication tables; once learned, you use them daily” in your understanding of God’s Word.

However, as described in 2 Timothy 2:15, if we fail to rightly divide God’s Word, we’ll have reason to be ashamed. We’ll be “ashamed” before Him for our ignorance, wrong application, foolish practices, wasted efforts, stubbornness, and perhaps much more. Our goal as students of Scripture must be to be found “approved” of Him in how we handle this precious Book He’s entrusted to our care. To please God in this way will require each of us to become a “workman” (one who expends some effort to understand God’s Word) and to “study” (or be diligent and consistent in this approach) “to show [ourselves] approved unto God.”

The Bible gives these divisions a unique name; they’re called “dispensations.” Our English Bible uses the word “dispensation” four times: 1 Corinthians 9:17, Ephesians 1:10 and 3:2, and Colossians 1:25. Elsewhere in our New Testament, the same basic Greek word is translated “steward” in the Authorized King James Version. Literally the word “dispensation” means house management, an administration, or a steward, describing the way one would direct the affairs of his house. The word “steward” refers to a manager or administrator who was responsible for a household (i.e. Joseph in Genesis).

In our modern experience, we can comprehend the idea of a hospital administrator being responsible for how the hospital will be operated. We can also relate to a pharmacy dispensing or giving out prescriptions to different individuals. The pharmacy dispenses only as directed by the doctor, and it is governed by clear and ever updated regulations. Those receiving the prescriptions specifically intended for them are expected to carefully follow their directions without attempting to combine them with what was intended for someone else.

God has a very similar meaning for these words (dispensation and steward) as He uses them in Scripture. They reveal how God has managed the household of mankind in different ways throughout history, based on the specific instructions He dispensed to specific individuals or groups. 2 Timothy 2:15 is emphasizing that we’ll not need to be ashamed before God when we’re able to discern these divisions and instructions in His Word.

To be continued in Pastor Fredericksen’s newly published book, Foundational Truths

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.

Spiritual Babies – 1 Corinthians 3:1-8

Posted on by Pastor Ricky Kurth

 

Summary:

The Corinthians were still “babes in Christ” (3:1) five years after Paul started the church.  So why had they failed to grow?  Well, a baby won’t grow if you don’t feed it nourishing food, and spiritual babies won’t grow if they’re not fed the spiritual nourishment of God’s Word.  But Paul fed them the “milk” of the Word (3:2) for a year and a half (Acts 18:1,11), because that’s what babes in Christ need to grow (I Pet. 2:2), then followed up with them by writing them epistles (I Cor. 5:9; II Cor. 1:1).

So their problem wasn’t a lack of nourishment.  Their problem was similar to the one in Hebrews 5:11-14.  They hadn’t used what they learned from the Bible to help them discern good and evil, so the writer calls them babes too.  And we know the Corinthians had the same problem because Paul says they were “carnal” (3:1).  We know that word means sinful for Paul says they were carnal because there was “envying” and “stife” among them (3:3), and those are sins.

And they are very babyish sins.  Did you ever watch babies play?  When one picks up a toy, suddenly that’s the one the other one wants!  We call that envy.  And what does he do about it?  He strives with the other about it.  The Corinthians were showing their spiritual immaturity when they were envying—and so do we when we envy!

What were they envying?  Words (cf. I Tim. 6:4), the words of Paul and Apollos (3:4).  Christians are always striving about the words of preachers!  If you’re wondering where the “envying” comes in, compare what happened when some men began prophesying in Israel and Joshua objected.  Moses asked why he envied for his sake (Num. 11:27).

Now Moses didn’t envy those other prophets, and Paul didn’t envy Apollos.  He called him a fellow minister (3:5).  But when Moses said he didn’t envy those other men, that didn’t mean he felt they had the same authority he had.  He knew he was God’s man of the hour (Deut. 4:1,2), the one God chose to write the first 5 books of the Bible and give Israel the rules for the dispensation of the law.

And Paul knew he was God’s man of the hour for the dispensation of grace.  God gave him what to give us (I Cor. 11:23; 15:3), just as He gave Moses what to give Israel (Deut. 4:5).  That means if you wanted to follow God in time past you had to follow Moses as he followed Him, and if you want to follow God today you have to follow Him as Paul followed Him (I Cor. 11:1).

So in calling himself and Apollos both ministers, he didn’t mean they were equal ministers.  Paul was “the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles” (Rom. 15:16).

Here I need to point out that God didn’t give those other prophets anything He didn’t give Moses.  The difference was that God spoke to them in visions, but He spoke to Moses “face to face” (Num. 12:6-8).  And the Lord spoke to Paul face to face, by revelation, by revealing Himself to Paul directly (Gal. 1:11,12), but He spoke to the New Testament prophets in the Body of Christ “by the Spirit” (Eph. 3:2-5).

Paul “planted” the seeds of the gospel in Corinth (3:6) and Apollos watered those seeds by reinforcing what Paul taught.  But God has to give “the increase” because only God can give life, just as the only thing you bury in the ground that can give life are seeds.

But only the seeds of God’s Word rightly divided can give life.  God told Abraham if he got circumcised he could have eternal life.  Moses told the Jews if they obeyed the law they could have life (Lev. 18:5).  The Lord told the Jews if they got baptized they could have life (Mark 16:16).  Only Paul says you can have life by faith alone without works.  If you sow any of those other Bible seeds in the hearts of men today in the dispensation of grace, they won’t yield eternal life!

Finally, don’t forget that the Corinthians spoke in tongues (I Cor. 12-14), and yet Paul called them “carnal” and not “spiritual.”  Don’t ever let anyone who thinks he can speak in tongues tell you that it is a sign of spirituality, for God says otherwise!  And don’t feel unspiritual just because you can’t imitate the gift of tongues as some do.  The gift of tongues is a gift God is no longer giving to His people!

Video of this sermon is available on YouTube: Spiritual Babies – 1 Corinthians 3:1-8

Did Paul See the Lord?

Posted on by Pastor Ricky Kurth

“When Jesus was teaching Paul, was he seeing Him, or how did he learn exactly?”

Paul answers this question when he wrote, “I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord” (2 Cor. 12:1). We know that “revelations” are the revealing of things that were kept secret, for Paul says he received “the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret” (Rom. 16:25). Similarly, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 1:1) is a book that reveals “the wrath of the Lamb” (6:16) that was kept secret in the “meek” way the Lord lived on earth (Matt. 11:29; 21:5).

The writer of Revelation wrote, “I John…am your…companion in tribulation…and in the kingdom” (1:9). Neither the tribulation nor the kingdom that John went on to describe had yet begun, but he was the “companion” of his readers in both those things, for he was with them “in the Spirit” (v. 10) in a virtual reality sort of way. That is, the Lord gave him a realistic vision of the future and told him to write down what he saw (1:11,19).

In the same way, Paul says the Lord revealed the mystery to him by revelation (Gal. 1:12) and said that He would continue to reveal it in more “visions” (2 Cor. 12:1). He then went on to describe one of those visions (vv. 2-4), one that seemed so real he couldn’t tell if he was “in the body, or out of the body” when it happened (v. 3).

But we know that this is how the Lord revealed the mystery to Paul, for he says that in that vision he “heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter” (v. 4). Those were words that had to do with the mystery, words of grace that weren’t lawful to speak under the law, such as the reversal of the diet laws of Leviticus 11 in 1 Timothy 4:4,5.

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.

Why Do I Have to Go to Church?

Posted on by Pastor Ricky Kurth

One Sunday morning, a wife went to wake her husband to tell him it was time to get ready for church. He replied, “I don’t want to go.” When she asked, “Why not?” he retorted, “I’ll give you two good reasons. First, the people of our church don’t like me, and second, I don’t like them.” His wife replied, “Fair enough. But I’ll give you two good reasons why you should go. First, you’re 39 years old, and second, you’re the pastor!”

Children sometimes dislike going to church, for they fail to understand the importance of regular church attendance. But this should not be the case for mature adult Christians. It’s true that we live in an age when God’s people can access sound Bible teaching by means of radio, television, the internet, and other venues. But none of these avenues of ministry can take the place of the warm, in-person fellowship that is found in the local church.

We know that the Apostle Paul understood the importance of such fellowship, for he wrote,

“Furthermore, when I came to Troas…I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother” (2 Cor. 2:12,13).

Paul speaks here of the serious adverse effect it had on him when he was deprived of the fellowship of a fellow believer who was very dear to him. And he begins these verses with the word “furthermore” because fellowship was also the subject of the preceding context, although this is not readily apparent. So let’s back up to verse 6 to see how the apostle began this discussion:

“Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many.”

Here Paul was speaking about the man who had committed unspeakable fornication in Corinth (1 Cor. 5:1), the one he said should be put out of the assembly (v. 2,13) lest sin like that spread like leaven throughout the congregation (v. 6). By the time he wrote his second epistle to the Corinthians, he was delighted to hear that they had followed his instructions and had disfellowshipped that brother. However, he was dismayed to learn that they were then refusing to restore fellowship to the man after he repented! That explains why Paul told them that the punishment they had dutifully inflicted upon the man was “sufficient,” and why he added,

“So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow” (2 Cor. 2:7).

The fornicator had obviously sorrowed unto repentance, or Paul wouldn’t have instructed them to forgive him and readmit him to their fellowship. But if they didn’t follow this second instruction as faithfully as they had followed his first one, there was a strong likelihood that this sorrowful brother would be “swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.”

Clearly, Paul understood how much the fornicator needed to be surrounded by the loving fellowship of his church. And whether the members of his church knew it or not, they needed the fellowship of the repentant fornicator! Paul made that clear when he said in verse 12, as it were, “Furthermore, even I Paul need fellowship,” adding that he had “no rest” apart from it. Surely if even the great Apostle Paul needed fellowship, it is certain that the Corinthians needed it too—and so do we!

I say all this because grace believers know that the Apostle Paul never commands us to go to church. Even if you believe that Paul wrote Hebrews, as some do, the exhortation we read in Hebrews 10:25 to assemble with the saints is not in the imperative mood in the Greek text, and it is not an imperative statement in English either. That means it is
not a command.

But while Paul never commands us to go to church, he assumes that we will want to attend church regularly. He prefaced a rebuke that he gave to the Corinthians with the words,

“For first of all, when ye come together in the church…” (1 Cor. 11:18).

Do you see how Paul just assumed that even the carnal Corinthians would want to gather together regularly with other saints to study God’s Word, sing His praises, and fellowship with one another?

If you are thinking, “Pastor, you don’t understand. My church is filled with knotheads, difficult people with whom I find it really hard to get along.” If so, that’s all the more reason to go to church! You see, you can never learn to demonstrate the grace of God in your life without difficult people to be gracious to! There is no better place to learn to reflect the gracious nature of God in your life than the local church.

The church is also a great place to learn how to demonstrate forgiveness, mercy, and longsuffering. I mean, if you never go anywhere where people give you grief, how are you ever going to learn how to display the same forgiveness, mercy, and longsuffering that God extends to us when we grieve Him?

And aren’t we talking about the greatest of God’s attributes? Don’t you want opportunities to display the mercy, longsuffering, and grace of God, and in so doing testify to the depth of the tremendous work that He has done in your life?

If you think about it, these grand attributes are actually the only attributes of God that we can display. Not a single one of us can demonstrate God’s omnipotence, His omnipresence, or His omniscience, but we can all learn to exhibit His grace—but only if we are surrounded by difficult people who test our ability to display these virtues.

When Paul declared that he had no rest in his spirit when denied the fellowship of Titus (v. 13), we know that this was an unrest that he felt deeply, for he prefaced his words by saying,

“Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus…” (v. 12,13).

Here Paul implies that the absence of the fellowship of his coworker affected him so severely that he didn’t enter an open door of opportunity to preach the gospel. It is evident from this that the absence of his fellowsoldier’s fellowship must have shaken him to his very core. We know this to be so, for this is the only time Paul failed to enter an open door. Why do you think God would allow this dark blot on his otherwise unimpeachable record if not to teach us the importance of fellowship?

Take some time to read the stirring list of things that Paul endured in the ministry in 2 Corinthians 11:23-33. As you read each item in this poignant register, remind yourself that the beatings that Paul endured didn’t stop him from entering open doors, the stonings didn’t stop him, the shipwrecks didn’t stop him — NOTHING stopped him. But a simple lack of fellowship stopped him dead in his tracks.

This year it is stopping baseball players dead in their tracks. Sports analysts know that the encouragement of a stadium full of fans gives a team what’s known as “home-field advantage.” But the coronavirus concern that prompted major league baseball to ban fans from the stands has nullified that advantage. Home teams are only winning .505% more of their games than visiting teams, barely an advantage at all. Obviously professional athletes need the encouragement of their fans, and we need the encouragement of one another!

Our need of fellowship is just one of many reasons the Bible emphasizes the importance of the local church over and over again, in many different ways. We know that establishing grace churches is what God sent Paul to do, for he spent his life doing it. He then followed up that church-planting ministry by writing most of his epistles to local churches.

The local church is where the Scriptures are read (Col. 4:16) and taught (1 Cor. 4:17), and spiritual men are ordained to the ministry (Acts 14:23) to feed God’s Word to His people (Acts 20:28). It is where disputes among brethren are settled (1 Cor. 6:4) and the poor are given aid (1 Tim. 5:1-10). It is where the gospel is preached to the lost (1 Cor. 15:1-4) and saints are edified by the teaching of God’s Word (1 Cor. 14:12). It’s where spiritual leaders care for the spiritual needs of God’s people (1 Tim. 3:5), who in turn support God’s work in their area by giving of their finances (1 Cor. 16:1,2; Phil. 4:15). It is also the place where God’s people “show the Lord’s death til He come” by observing a communion service (1 Cor. 11:23-26), and it’s where the Lord’s servants serve Him and His people (Rom. 16:1). The local church is, in short, “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15).

So if you haven’t returned to church after the Covid-19 concern caused such a massive upheaval in the fellowship of God’s local churches, I would encourage you to rejoin your local assembly as soon as you feel comfortable doing so. I say this because I know that once our routine of going to church is broken, it’s sometimes hard to get back on track.

I know that it’s tempting to just sit home and watch grace pastors and teachers expound God’s rightly divided Word in the comfort of your own home. I thank God that these days even smart phones can ensure that the sound teaching of our grace pastors is no longer limited to those who can actually darken the doors of their churches. There are many stranded grace believers who depend on these infinitely valuable extended ministries to grow in the faith. But these avenues of ministry must never be allowed to take the place of participation in a living, breathing group of sanctified saints when it is available.

Many years ago, when contributing Searchlight writer Dave Stewart was pastoring a local church, some grace believers visited his church and explained that they lived nearby but didn’t attend his church, for they could learn the Word from the ministry of grace pastors and teachers who had online ministries. Dave replied (more graciously than this, I’m sure!), “Whatever gave you the idea that the reason to go to church is to see what you can get out of it? The reason to go to church is to see what others can get out of you, as you learn how to give of yourself to them and aid the Lord’s work in every possible way.”

And so it is. Even if you are not among the proverbial movers and shakers in your local church, your very presence there is an encouragement to other congregants—especially to your pastor! Nothing brings more cheer to the heart of a pastor who has spent twenty or thirty hours preparing his message than to look out and see grace believers who hunger to hear the Word taught. So why not make plans right now to return to the warmth of your church’s fellowship this Sunday. You’ll be eternally glad you did!

You can receive More Minutes With the Bible every week in your email inbox. This list features longer articles, including both original content and articles that have appeared in the Berean Searchlight.

What’s In A Name? – Acts 9:36-43

Posted on by Pastor Ricky Kurth

 

Summary:

“Tabitha” (9:36) was a Hebrew name, the Greek Gentile translation of which was “Dorcas.”  All names have meanings, and Tabitha means “beauty,” while Dorcas means “gazelle.”  So both names mean kind of the same thing, for gazelles are beautiful animals.

But the meanings of names in the Bible often have spiritual significance.  This woman was a type of the nation of Israel.  You see, when the people of Israel did good works like they did under King Solomon, He made sure they were beautiful in the eyes of the other nations.  But when they did bad works instead, He allowed the Babylonians to destroy their beautiful city and take them captive (Lam. 2:13-15).

But they were beautiful as long as they were doing good works, as we see symbolized by Dorcas, whose name means “beauty,” and who is said to have been “full of good works” (9:36).  She lived in Joppa, another name for beauty, making it a symbol of Jerusalem.  She was beautiful and lived in a beautiful city—just like the people of Israel when they were doing good works!

But the beauty of Israel died when they got so sinful God allowed Babylon to destroy Jerusalem and take them captive, and it died again when they crucified Christ and stoned Stephen in Acts 7, something we see symbolized when Dorcas died here in Acts 9:37. God wanted to restore a beautiful kingdom to them, like they had when they were doing good works under Solomon (Acts 1:6), but all hopes of that died when they stoned Stephen, as depicted with Dorcas’ death.

The “upper chamber” they laid her in was a type of heaven.  That’s where all Israel’s hopes and dreams of the beautiful kingdom God wanted to give her went after they rejected it.  And that’s where they are to this day (I Peter 1:3,4), as we see pictured when they laid Dorcas in an upper chamber.  Their kingdom is vested there in Christ, as we see it vested in Christ on Palm Sunday (Lu. 19:38 cf. Mark 11:10).  We see this again when the Lord told some unbelievers the kingdom was within them (Luke 17:21).  He meant the kingdom they asked about (v. 20) was right in their midst vested in Him (cf. the words “within you” to Deut. 28:43,44).

When Dorcas died, her loved ones didn’t bury her, they sent for Peter to raise her from the dead (9:38-40).  That’s a pic-ture of how Israel’s hopes of a kingdom were dead, but they weren’t dead and buried!  All the nation needs is a resurrection—the kind we see pictured when Peter raised Dorcas!

When it says they brought Peter into that upper chamber (v. 39,40), that’s a picture of how the Lord went to heaven to get the kingdom and return (Lu. 19:12-15).  That’s where He went after He died and rose again, but someday He’ll return with the kingdom to raise saved Jews to enter it.  “Lydda” (v. 38) was the Greek form of the Hebrew city of “Lod,” which means nativity or generation.  That’s a picture of the re-generation of resurrection that the Lord will give the Jews when He returns (Mt. 19:28)—but only Jews who did good works like Dorcas!

Remember, we’re saved by faith without works (Tit. 3:5), but Jews under the law were saved by faith plus works of righteousness (Ps. 15:1,2) like animal sacrifices (Deut. 33:19 cf. Ps. 4:5; 51:19).  They also worked righteousness by obeying the sabbath, the feasts, and other parts of the law (Lu. 1:6).  Then the Lord added another work they had to do to be saved, sell all they had and give to the poor (Lu. 18:18,22).

That’s called an “alms” (Lu. 12:33 cf. Acts 3:2,3), and Dorcas is said to have done “almsdeeds” (9:36).  So she didn’t make coats and garments (v. 39) for herself, but for the poor to be saved, making her a type of Jews in the Tribulation (James 2:14-17).  Job was a type of this (Job 31:19-22).  He had to go through some tribulation, but was rewarded in the end, just as Jews will have to go through the Tribulation but will be rewarded in the end—if they did the good works of clothing the needy like Job and Dorcas did!

When it says Peter “presented” her to her family, that’s a picture of Jude 1:22-24, where Jews who had “compassion” on the needy and clothed them will be “presented” to the Lord and His host to enter the kingdom.

Video of this sermon is available on YouTube: What’s In A Name? – Acts 9:36-43

Time to Grow Up

Posted on by Pastor Kevin Sadler

“And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able” (1 Cor. 3:1-2).

When we trust Christ as our personal Savior, we undergo “regeneration” (Titus 3:5) or new birth. At that point, we are babes in Christ. There is joy when one is saved and born into the family of God, but there is sorrow, and rightfully so, when one remains a babe and doesn’t grow spiritually. The Corinthians were failing to grow in Christ, and this grieved the heart of Paul. He longed for that joy of watching babes in Christ, whom he had led to the Lord, “henceforth be no more children…and…grow up into Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ” (Eph. 4:14-15).

Natural babies and “babes in Christ” have similar characteristics. Babies are dependent and unable to feed themselves. They often get into trouble and make a mess. They need to be watched closely and demand a lot of time and attention. They have no control and no concern for others. They fuss, cry, and want their way. These are natural things that are typical and expected of babies, but when believers like the Corinthians, who were no longer new to the faith, exhibited characteristics like this, something was wrong, and it was time for them to grow up.

Paul pointed out to the Corinthians, “I have fed you with milk, and not with meat.” The Word of God is our spiritual food. We receive spiritual nourishment through taking in God’s Word by reading, studying, and hearing it taught. Just as much as we need physical nourishment to live and grow, we need spiritual nourishment through the regular intake of God’s Word to live and grow.

Like newborns, babes in Christ begin with milk. The milk of the Word “be the first principles of the oracles of God” (Heb. 5:12), or the elementary things of God’s Word. As newborns grow, however, they need solid food. So it should be with babes in Christ that, as they grow, they should begin taking in the meat of the Word and be able to receive “the deep things of God” (1 Cor. 2:10).

God calls each believer to grow and mature in Christ by His Word (2 Tim. 3:16-17). And when it comes to our spiritual growth, we should never think that we’ve arrived. “When Pablo Casals reached 95, a young reporter threw him a question: ‘Mr. Casals, you are 95 and the greatest cellist that ever lived. Why do you still practice six hours a day?’ And Mr. Casals answered, ‘Because I think I’m making progress.’”1 May we never stop making progress in God’s Word rightly divided!

1. “Making Progress,” February 2, 2009, https://bible.org/illustration/making-progress.

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 – October 2020

Posted on by BBS Webmaster
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