Monthly Archives: August 2022

Gracia Abundante

Posted on by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

En una carta a su hijo espiritual, Timoteo, Pablo escribió, hace unos 1900 años, acerca de su conversión:

“habiendo yo sido antes blasfemo y perseguidor e injuriador, pero alcancé misericordia, porque lo hice por ignorancia en incredulidad. Y LA GRACIA DE NUESTRO SEÑOR FUE SOBREABUNDANTE…” (I Tim. 1:13,14).

Y sigue esto con la ahora famosa declaración:

“ESTA ES PALABRA FIEL, Y DIGNA DE RECIBIDA POR TODOS, QUE CRISTO JESÚS VINO AL MUNDO PARA SALVAR A LOS PECADORES, DE LOS CUALES YO SOY EL PRIMERO ” (Ver 15).

Al leer esta declaración de Pablo, aquellos que conocen sus Biblias recordarán inmediatamente las palabras de Rom. 5:20,21:

“…la ley entró para que abundase el pecado, PERO DONDE ABUNDÓ EL PECADO, ABUNDÓ MUCHO MÁS LA GRACIA; QUE COMO REINÓ EL PECADO… ASÍ REINARÁ LA GRACIA…”

Estos dos pasajes de la pluma de Pablo tienen una conexión más cercana de lo que puede parecer en la superficie. El Apóstol Pablo, una vez Saulo de Tarso, había llevado a su nación y al mundo a rebelarse contra Cristo. “En cuanto a Saulo”, leemos en Hechos 8:3, “hizo estragos en la iglesia”, y él mismo testificó a los gálatas: “Oísteis… cómo perseguí sin medida a la iglesia de Dios, y la asolaba” (Gálatas 1:13).

Sin embargo, Dios, en infinita misericordia, había salvado a Saulo, no solo por él mismo, sino para convertirlo en la demostración viviente de su gracia. Así, al escribir a Timoteo, el Apóstol continúa explicando:

“Sin embargo, POR ESTA CAUSA OBTUVE MISERICORDIA, PARA QUE JESUCRISTO MOSTRASE PRIMERO EN MÍ TODA SU CLEMENCIA, PARA EJEMPLO DE LOS QUE IBAN A CREER EN ÉL PARA VIDA ETERNA” (I Tim. 1:16).

Entonces, tomemos nuestro lugar con Saulo, el pecador, y encontremos la salvación por gracia a través de Cristo, el Salvador. “Cree en el Señor Jesucristo y serás salvo” (Hechos 16:31).

Porque nos amó

Posted on by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

¿Por qué el Señor de la gloria
Deja Su hogar celestial,
Para venir a la tierra y sufrir aquí
Por los males que Él no había hecho?

¿Por qué fue al Calvario
Para soportar la vergüenza y la pérdida,
Y dar su vida por los pecadores viles
Sobre la cruz maldita?

¿Por qué?…Porque nos amó,
Y anhelaba que pudiéramos ser
Los suyos propios, no solo ahora,
Pero a través de la eternidad.

Peter and the Jailbreaker – Acts 12:5-11

Posted on by Pastor Ricky Kurth

 

Summary:

Peter was sure he was about to be killed like James (v.2), but he was able to sleep (v.6), because he was comforted by verses like Psalm 3:2-5; 4:6-8. But just knowing your Bible doesn’t bring peace automatically. You have to learn to stay your mind on the Lord as well (Isa.26:3).

Peter must be in a deep sleep, for the light of that shiny angel didn’t wake him up. Angels aren’t described in the Old Testament, but they are in the New Testament, for the New Testament was the dawn of a new day for Israel (IIPe.1:19).

In verse 8, we’re not told what happened to the 2 soldiers Peter was sleeping between, but they probably fainted (cf. Mt.28:4). But Peter is free, thinking he saw “a vision” (Acts 12:9). That is, he thought he dreamed it (cf. Job 20:8).

We’re not told how the angel marched Peter through 16 soldiers (cf. Acts 12:4), but it was probably similar to how the Lord passed through the midst of men trying to kill Him (Jo. 8:59). And the “iron gate” (v.10) opened “of its own accord.”

But notice the angel doesn’t give Peter any instructions after he frees Peter (v.10,11). The first time an angel freed Peter from jail, he told him to go speak the words of eternal life to people (Acts 5:19,20), but not here. That’s because God was discontinuing His kingdom program through the 12 apostles, and starting up the grace program through the Apostle Paul. Paul was now in charge of speaking the words of eternal life, so the angel doesn’t recommission Peter to do so.

But why did God spare Peter, but allow James to be killed? There’s two answers. First, when the 12 were deciding whether Paul’s new ministry to the Gentiles was legit, Peter had to stand up and testify for him (Acts 15:7-11). But God allowed James to die because He wanted to make James and Peter types of the Lord’s resurrection, like the birds that lived and died (Lev.14:4-7), and the goats (Lev.16:3-10).

The Lord predicted James would be killed (Mark 10:35-40). The “cup” there was the Lord’s death (cf.Mt.26:39), as was the “baptism” (Lu.12:50). The word “baptism” in the Bible means identification. In the Bible’s first baptism, Pharaoh’s army was closing in on the Jews, so they said, as it were, “We’re with Moses,” and followed him into the Red Sea (ICor.10:1,2). They didn’t get wet (Ex.14:22). They were identified with Moses in the sea. And when James was killed he was baptized—or identified with—the Lord in His death.

James and Peter were types of Tribulation saints, some of whom will be killed, and some of whom won’t. But all Tribulation saints will be able to sleep in their cells, for they’ll know that they’ll someday safely enter the kingdom (Ps.4:8).

You too can sleep in your darkest hour, because you too have been identified with the Lord in His death when you believed (Rom.6:4), and so you can have the peace of knowing you’ll be identified with Him in His resurrection (Rom.6:5).

But God won’t break you out of jail. That doesn’t mean He doesn’t care about you. He just shows His care in a different way—a way you can see develop in Acts. He opened Paul’s prison door and released his chains like He did for Peter in Acts 16:26, but later He let Paul rot in jail two whole years (28:30). But He showed He cared by allowing “all” who wanted to visit him to come and minister to him (Phil.4:10, 18). Paul was “content” with that (Phil.4:11). Are you content when God doesn’t save you from your difficult circumstances, but ministers to you through His saints instead?

God told the Jews that someday their iron gate would open (Isa.45:1-3) and they’d rejoice in His riches. That first part happened when they were released from Babylon, but the second part won’t happen until the kingdom. Then they’ll think they’re dreaming (Ps.126:1-3) and sing God’s praises. And so will you someday when all your prisons are past!

A video of this sermon is available on YouTube: “Peter and The Jailbreaker” Acts 12:5-11

La Biblia en el suelo

Posted on by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

“…Has engrandecido Tu Palabra sobre todo Tu nombre” (Sal. 138:2).

Cuando pasé por mi estudio la otra noche, noté que había dejado una Biblia tirada en el suelo junto a una silla. Mientras estudiaba, lo había dejado momentáneamente para consultar un libro de referencia y había olvidado retomarlo.

Ahora, cuando vislumbré fugazmente ese bendito Libro que yacía allí, me molestó; de hecho, me molestó lo suficiente como para hacerme volver atrás, recogerlo y ponerlo donde pertenecía.

Entonces comencé a preguntarme por qué un asunto tan trivial me había preocupado. ¿Fue porque recordé que papá nunca permitiría que nada se pusiera encima de la Biblia? ¿El mero sentimiento había confundido mi pensamiento?

Seguramente la Palabra de Dios está para siempre asentada en el cielo y ese libro tirado en el piso era solo papel, tinta y una cubierta de cuero. ¿O era? ¿No fue también la Palabra de Dios dada a nosotros? Y como tal, ¿no era representante de Dios mismo? Si la bandera de nuestro país debe ser tratada con honor y respeto; si es un sacrilegio tratarlo como mera tela, ¡cuánto más lo es en lo que se refiere a la Santa Biblia!

No, no fue solo el ejemplo de papá lo que me vino a la mente cuando vi la Biblia allí: ciertamente no fue solo eso. Más bien era un pasaje de las Escrituras que a menudo nos recordaba; las palabras inspiradas de David citadas arriba:

“Has engrandecido tu palabra sobre todo tu nombre”.

Sin duda, Dios quiere que usemos Su Palabra como un libro de texto del cual aprender Su voluntad. No es señal de reverencia por este gran Libro dejarlo intacto en el estante. Nos haría usarlo y estudiarlo, tal vez subrayando pasajes importantes y marcando conexiones significativas. Pero con todo esto nunca debemos olvidar tratarlo con la reverencia y el honor debidos a la Palabra escrita de Dios.

Does Revelation 3:16 Teach You Can Lose Your Salvation?

Posted on by Pastor Ricky Kurth

“Does Revelation 3:16 teach you can lose your salvation?”

The letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2,3 are not written to us today, they are written to Tribulation churches. John prefaces Revelation by explaining that he was their “companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom” (1:9), and then went on to describe the Tribulation and the kingdom of heaven on earth in the ensuing chapters. That is, he saw a vision of the future and was their companion in those things in the virtual reality sort of way that such prophetic visions afforded the prophets.

In describing the Tribulation, the Lord said,

“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Matt. 24:12,13).

Iniquity will begin to abound when the beast issues his mark, and believers won’t be able to buy food or raiment without it (Rev. 13:16,17). Believers in that day must help other believers with these things to be saved (Matt. 25:31-46; James 2:14-17), and they must continue to help them “unto the end” (Heb. 6:10-12) of the Tribulation (cf. Matt. 24:3) to be saved (24:13,14). If they let their love for their brethren wax cold, they won’t continue to help them, and this will show they never “believed to the saving of the soul” (Heb. 10:39), forcing God to spew them out of His mouth (Rev. 3:16).

In our day, believers should help others with these things (Gal. 6:10), but our salvation doesn’t depend on it!

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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Belén y el Calvario

Posted on by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

“Dulce Nombre desciende del Cielo arriba,
Para ganar el tierno y profundo amor de nuestro corazón;
Como lo prueban Belén y el Calvario:
Jesús mío.” ¡Cuán verdadero es este antiguo himno! Belén y el Calvario sí prueban que el Señor Jesucristo vino del cielo para ganarnos para sí.

La declaración de San Pablo de que “Cristo Jesús vino al mundo para salvar a los pecadores” (I Tim.1:15) abarca tanto a Belén como al Calvario. En Belén, Cristo mostró su amor por el hombre, no simplemente viniendo a estar con nosotros, sino haciéndose uno de nosotros.

Lucas, “el médico amado”, escribió el famoso “Evangelio según San Lucas” para mostrar cuán verdaderamente hombre era el Señor Jesucristo. Aparte del pecado, nuestro Señor experimentó todas las emociones, las penas, las alegrías, los dolores, los placeres que nosotros hacemos. El Hijo de Dios en realidad se convirtió en el Hijo del Hombre para que los hijos de los hombres pudieran convertirse en hijos de Dios.

Pero Su vida por sí sola no pudo salvarnos. Su santidad solo expondría nuestro pecado y nos condenaría. Es por esto que el Apóstol Pablo declara que “Cristo MURIÓ por nuestros pecados” (I Cor.15:3), y que “TENEMOS REDENCIÓN POR SU SANGRE, EL PERDÓN DE LOS PECADOS, SEGÚN LAS RIQUEZAS DE SU GRACIA” (Ef. .1:7).

Aquellos que creen esto y confían en Cristo como su Salvador personal se regocijan en la verdad del poema anterior. Sus corazones han sido ganados para el Bendito que vino del cielo a Belén y al Calvario porque Él los amaba.

Preaching Christ in the Shadows

Posted on by Pastor Ricky Kurth

Recently I asked my trainer at the gym if I could start shadow boxing. He said, “Sure! Knock yourself out.”

Speaking of shadows, in Acts 7, Stephen was on trial for his life before the Jewish Council for preaching Christ. Some false witnesses had charged him with blasphemy, so when they gave him a chance to address the council, you’d think Stephen would have taken the opportunity to defend himself. Instead, he took the opportunity to preach Christ some more!

But he sensed that the mere mention of the Lord’s name might keep them from allowing him to continue to speak, just as the mere mention of the word “Gentiles” would later keep them from allowing Paul to continue (Acts 22:21,22). So he decided to preach Christ from the shadows, from the types found in their Old Testament Scriptures. That would serve to provide the additional benefit of proving to those unsaved Jews that their Scriptures were all about Jesus Christ. Besides, he knew they loved hearing the history of their nation, so he knew he would have their undivided attention if he rehearsed it.

Let’s begin our study by reading what the high priest asked Stephen about the charge of blasphemy that had been leveled against him.

“Then said the high priest, Are these things so?

“And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,

“And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee” (Acts 7:1-3).

When Stephen begins by addressing the Jewish council as “brethren” and “fathers,” it shows that while they considered him an enemy, he considered them to be family. Is that how you think about brethren who falsely accuse you of things? It’s hard, I know, but it’s what Stephen did, and it’s what God would have us do as well (Rom. 12:14).

Next, when Stephen said that “the God of glory” had appeared to Abraham, that would have gotten those Jews to thinking, because God wasn’t called “the God of glory” until long after Abraham was dead (Psa. 29:3). That means you’d have to read that title back into those early verses about Abraham. And that’s what Stephen is about to do with Christ! He’s going to read the Lord back into those verses about Abraham as well.

Abraham Cast a Long Shadow

For instance, when God sent Abraham to Canaan, telling him, “Get thee out of thy country,” it was a picture, a type—an Old Testament shadow—of how “God sent forth His Son” (Gal. 4:4). God had His Son leave the country of heaven, and sent Him to earth to pay for our sins.

As Stephen noted, Abraham lived in Mesopotamia, the location of the Garden of Eden. So in the beginning of his life, Abraham lived in the place that was the beginning of life on earth. That’s a picture of where God’s Son lived “in the beginning” in Genesis 1:1, before He began to create life on earth and in heaven. We know from Scripture that it was “in the beginning” that God planned our redemption, before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). That’s when He told His Son that He would have to get out of His country in heaven to go to a new land on earth.

When God told Abraham to leave “his kindred” behind, it was a picture of how the Lord had to leave His kindred behind, His Father and the Holy Spirit. When we’re told he left “his father’s house” (Gen. 12:1), that would have included his servants (cf. 15:1-3), a type of how God the Son left His servants as well—all the angels who ministered to Him in heaven. In other words, the Lord would have to leave all the comforts of home behind—just as we see pictured in the type of Abraham. That’s how Stephen began preaching Christ from the shadows.

Now it’s possible that the Jews on that council would miss those types that we can easily spot with the benefit of hindsight, as we look back at them with completed Bibles in our hands. But Stephen is just getting started in preaching Christ from the shadows. If those Jews hadn’t caught on to what he was doing yet, we know they soon did. There’s a reason they stoned Stephen at the end of his lengthy oration, even though he never once mentioned the name of Christ. They knew he was preaching Christ from the shadows of their Scriptures.

A Tale of Two Fathers

We see another shadow as Stephen went on to say of Abraham,

“Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell” (Acts 7:4).

When Abraham obeyed God and came to the place where God asked him to go, it foreshadowed how the Lord came to the earth, the place where God had asked Him to go. Of course, before Abraham got to the place where the Jewish council now dwelt in Jerusalem, he spent some years in Charran—just like the Lord spent some years in Bethlehem and Nazareth before coming to Jerusalem to initiate His ministry.

In other words, Abraham waited in Charran until his father died to ultimately go where God told him to go, just as the Lord waited until His earthly father Joseph died to ultimately go where God told Him to go in Jerusalem. We know Joseph was dead at the end of the Lord’s ministry, for He asked John to care for His mother with His dying breaths (John 19:27). That’s something He wouldn’t have had to do if Joseph had still been alive.

But we know Joseph was dead at the very beginning of the Lord’s ministry, for after He performed His first miracle, John wrote:

“This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee.… After this He went down to Capernaum, He, and His mother, and His brethren, and…went up to Jerusalem” (John 2:11-13).

You’ll notice that the Lord’s mother and brethren are mentioned in this trip to Jerusalem, but Joseph is conspicuous by his absence. So it is safe to extrapolate that the Lord waited until His father Joseph was dead to begin His ministry, for that’s when we read things like,

“Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him” (Matt. 3:13).

That’s when the Lord first came to the area where the Jewish council now dwelt in Jerusalem, after His father was dead—just as we see pictured in Abraham.

The Inheritance to Come

Next, Stephen continues with the story of Abraham in Acts 7:5 where, speaking of what God gave Abraham in the promised land, we read:

“And He gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet He promised that He would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him….”

Abraham was promised the land of Israel for an inheritance— that’s why it’s called the promised land! But he didn’t receive his inheritance during his first trip to that land. He won’t receive it until his next trip there in the resurrection. That’s why it says of him in Hebrews 11:9,

“By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles.…”

Abraham lived in tents because he couldn’t put down roots in a land that he didn’t officially possess yet! Doesn’t that remind you of what we read about the Lord during His first trip to the earth?

“And Jesus saith…The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head” (Matt. 8:20).

Does that sound like the Lord received His inheritance during His first trip to Planet Earth? We know He won’t receive it until the arrival of the kingdom in the regeneration, just as we see typified with Abraham.

If you’re wondering what His inheritance was, Hebrews 1:1,2 says,

“God…hath…spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds”

Someday the Lord will inherit “all things,” including the “worlds” He created—including this world. But He will only receive His inheritance in His resurrection— just as Abraham will receive his inheritance after his.

When the Lord returns, He and his spiritual seed (the Jews who believed on Him) will “inherit the earth” (Psa. 37:11,22) in the kingdom of heaven—just as Abraham’s seed won’t receive their inheritance until the kingdom comes (Acts 7:5).

Double Trouble

But before the Lord’s spiritual seed can inherit the earth in the kingdom, they’ll have to go through the Tribulation. Abraham’s seed also had to go through some tribulation before they could get to the land God promised them, something we see as Stephen continues his narration of Abraham’s life story:

“And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years” (Acts 7:6).

God told Abraham that his seed would have to suffer bondage to Pharaoh in Egypt before getting to their inheritance in the promised land, just as the Lord’s spiritual seed will have to suffer bondage to the Antichrist in the Tribulation before getting their inheritance in the kingdom.

What happened to Pharaoh and his people in Egypt after the time of Israel’s bondage was through? In case you forgot, Stephen reminds us as he went on to say of the Egyptians,

“And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve Me in this place” (Acts 7:7).

Did God “judge” the nation of Egypt before Abraham’s seed got to go to their inheritance? Just ask Pharaoh and his Soggy Bottom Boys! Will the Lord judge the Antichrist before His spiritual seed gets to go to their inheritance in the kingdom? Just ask the birds who will feast on the flesh of the beast’s armies (Rev. 19:17-19)!

Now the reason Abraham’s seed had to go through that time of bondage in Egypt was due to something we read about in Genesis 15:13,16, where God told Abraham,

“…thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years… for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”

Compare that to what we read about the Antichrist in Daniel 8:23,24:

“…when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance…shall…destroy… the holy people.”

Abraham’s seed couldn’t go to their inheritance in the land until the iniquity of the Amorites was full, and Christ’s spiritual seed won’t get their inheritance in the kingdom until the transgressions of the Antichrist and his cronies are full.

If you’re not convinced that those 400 years that Abraham’s seed suffered in Egypt were a type of the Tribulation, do a study of the 10 plagues that ended those 400 years. You’ll see that those plagues will match the judgments that will fall in the Tribulation. The waters turning to blood, the frogs, the locust, the darkness—it’s all coming again when that fateful day befalls the earth.

Your Typical Savior

Of course, Abraham and his seed needed a Savior to save them from their sins if they wanted to rise from the dead to inherit the promised land, for without salvation there can be no resurrection to eternal life. We see this pictured in Acts 7:8, where Stephen tells us about something else God gave Abraham:

“And He gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs.”

Abraham’s son Isaac was also a type of Christ our Savior, when He was obedient unto death when His father went to sacrifice him in Genesis 22.

Did you ever wonder why God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision before Isaac’s birth? It was because God had promised him a son, but when He took so very long to give him a son, Abraham got tired of waiting and had a son with his wife’s maid. That happened in Genesis 16, and God gave him the covenant of circumcision in Genesis 17. That was God’s way of looking at Abraham’s illegitimate son and saying, “What’s this? I didn’t ask for this. I don’t accept this! And I’ll show you what I think of this. Cut the head off the member that produced this son.”

And that part of the shadow of Abraham’s life was a type of how God promised the Jews a Messiah, but since they rejected Christ as their messiah, they are going to be plenty tired of waiting for their Christ by the time the Tribulation arrives. So the seed of Abraham will someday produce their own messiah in the Antichrist, just as we see foreshadowed when Abraham fathered Ishmael.

The Shadow of Joseph

But Isaac was the seed of Abraham that counted with God. And as it says in Acts 7:8, Isaac begat Jacob, who begat the twelve patriarchs. That brings us to another beloved figure in Israel’s history who was also a type of Christ:

“And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him” (Acts 7:9).

Joseph was a type of Christ in countless ways. He once said,

“…I seek my brethren….And Joseph went after his brethren… And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him” (Gen. 37:16-18).

Doesn’t that remind you of how Christ said, “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” among His brethren in Israel (Luke 19:10)? Joseph’s brethren coveted his part of their inheritance, just as the Lord’s brethren coveted His. Matthew 21:38 says:

“…when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill Him, and let us seize on his inheritance.”

The religious leaders in Israel wanted to rule God’s people, so they conspired to seize the Lord’s right to rule Israel from His hands while He was conducting most of His ministry “afar off” from Jerusalem. Not long after He began His ministry, we read:

“…the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him” (Mark 3:6).

You probably remember why Joseph’s brethren wanted to kill him. “His brethren envied him” (Gen. 37:11 cf. Acts 7:9). Hey, isn’t that why the Lord’s brethren wanted to kill Him too (Matt. 27:7,18)?

No Blood On Their Hands

Next we read of Joseph,

“…when Joseph was come unto his brethren…they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours…” (Gen. 37:23).

What a picture of how we read of the Lord Jesus that “they stripped Him” (Matt. 27:28). Of course, it was the Roman soldiers who did that. The Jews didn’t want His blood on their hands, so they got the Romans to do their dirty work—just like we read about Joseph when his brother Reuben said to his brethren,

“…Shed no blood…lay no hand upon him…and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites…and they brought Joseph into Egypt” (Gen. 37:22 cf. v. 28).

Joseph’s brethren sold him to the Ishmeelites, the enemies of Abraham’s seed in Isaac, and let them do their dirty work—just as the Lord’s brethren sold Him to the Romans, the enemies of Abraham’s seed in Christ’s day, to let them slay the Lord.

Aren’t God’s types amazing? You may want to share this article with a Jewish friend, to explain to him how our faiths are joined. Then you may want to dig into the rest of Acts 7, for we’ve just touched on the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the typology of Stephen’s message that day. A study like that might be a blessing to you both.

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Evitar bebidas fuertes

Posted on by Pastor Paul M. Sadler

“¡Ay del que da de beber a su prójimo, que le pone a prueba tu odre y lo embriaga!”
— Habacuc 2:15

Hay muchos pasajes en la Palabra de Dios, como el anterior, que son eternos y trascienden todas las dispensaciones de Dios. Si bien la industria del licor hace todo lo posible para que la gente crea que beber es una forma inofensiva de pasar un buen rato, los hechos son diferentes. Tienen mucho cuidado de no publicitar nunca al conductor ebrio que mata a personas inocentes o las casas que han sido destruidas por bebidas fuertes. Pero una voz en la multitud dice que unos cuantos tragos sociales nunca le harán daño a nadie. La mayoría de los alcohólicos en recuperación, sin embargo, cuentan una historia muy diferente de cómo su deslizamiento hacia una vida de embriaguez comenzó con una bebida social. “El vino es escarnecedor, la sidra alborotadora; y cualquiera que por ellos yerra, no es sabio” (Prov. 20:1).

Hace un par de años, conducía por Apollo, Pensilvania, donde vi unos restos retorcidos al costado de la carretera. Al reducir la velocidad, descubrí que era un automóvil, o al menos lo que quedaba de él. Aparentemente, alguien sobrevivió al accidente porque había latas de cerveza colocadas estratégicamente al lado del automóvil junto con un letrero en el parachoques trasero que decía: “Y nos dijeron que nos íbamos a divertir”. ¡Alguien mintió!

Mientras que el mundo se refiere al alcoholismo como una enfermedad, la Palabra de Dios llama pecado a la embriaguez. No es una enfermedad, es una cuestión de elección. Oh, el dolor y la angustia que han causado los hombres y mujeres descuidados que se han entregado a la traición de este pecado. La respuesta no se encuentra en el fondo de una botella, la respuesta es Cristo. Sólo Él puede librar al borracho de su embriaguez.

Por lo tanto, una vida entregada a Dios es la solución a la esclavitud de este terrible pecado. A lo largo del año, las reuniones sociales a menudo traen consigo una fuerte tentación de unirse a la multitud. Para aquellos que luchan con esta tentación, es importante recordar que la victoria ya es tuya a través de Cristo Jesús nuestro Señor. ¡Simplemente reclámalo! Entonces vive un día a la vez, por la gracia de Dios, porque Su gracia es más que suficiente (II Corintios 12:9). ¡Amén!

Berean Searchlight – August 2022

Posted on by kevin
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