Seguidores de Hombres

Hay una tendencia en nuestra naturaleza humana a ir a los extremos, y algunos le dan una devoción extrema a un líder espiritual. Puede haber una creencia en la inerrancia de aquel que eligen seguir. Si hay alguna doctrina poco sólida en sus enseñanzas y creencias, a menudo se oculta debajo de la alfombra debido a la lealtad a un hombre en lugar de a la Palabra.

“Porque mientras alguno dice: Yo soy de Pablo; y otro, soy de Apolos; ¿No sois carnales? (1 Corintios 3:4).

Como lo hicieron los corintios, todavía encontramos miembros del Cuerpo de Cristo defendiendo a un líder espiritual sobre otro. Esto produce división y contención en la Iglesia (1 Cor. 1:10-12). Es importante que recordemos que no importa cuán efectivo o elocuente sea un maestro de la Biblia, él es solo humano; comete errores y tiene defectos y debilidades. Siempre debemos ser bereanos en lo que se enseña de la Palabra de Dios (Hechos 17:11), incluso en lo que enseñan aquellos en quienes confiamos.

“¿Quién, pues, es Pablo, y quién es Apolos, sino ministros por los cuales creísteis, como el Señor dio a cada uno?” (1 Corintios 3:5).

Los predicadores y maestros de la Palabra son “ministros” o servidores para traer personas a Cristo y establecerlas en la fe. No es prudente elevar a los sirvientes al rango de amo. Si bien debemos “tenerlos en muy alta estima por amor a causa de su obra” (1 Tesalonicenses 5:13), nuestra devoción pertenece al Señor Jesucristo. Si seguimos a un hombre mortal, nos dirigimos a la desilusión. Pero nunca seremos decepcionados cuando mantenemos nuestros ojos en el Señor.

En el otro lado de la moneda, el pecado, el egoísmo y el orgullo pueden llevar a algunos pastores y maestros a desear seguidores, aceptar la adoración y establecerse como la autoridad en las Escrituras. Debemos estar atentos a este tipo de actitud entre los líderes espirituales. El verdadero pastor es alguien que señala a las personas, no a sí mismo, sino al Señor, “para que en todo tenga Él la preeminencia” (Col. 1:18). Los líderes piadosos desean que el pueblo de Dios siga a Cristo, Su Palabra y la sana doctrina.

“Yo planté, Apolos regó; pero Dios dio el aumento. Así que, ni el que planta es cosa alguna, ni el que riega; sino Dios, que da el crecimiento” (1 Corintios 3:6-7).

Pablo muestra por qué nunca debemos gloriarnos en un hombre en el ministerio. Enseña que el siervo que planta las semillas del evangelio no es nada. Asimismo, el siervo que riega las semillas del evangelio es nada. El hombre no tiene el poder de producir vida o fruto espiritual. “Pero Dios”, el Dios que da el crecimiento, la vida y el fruto en el ministerio, Él es todo. Por lo tanto, nuestro enfoque no debe estar en seguir a este líder o a ese hombre. En la Iglesia, debemos ser uno en nuestro deseo de seguir al Señor y dar al Dios del aumento el honor y la gloria que Él merece.

“Así que, nadie se gloríe en los hombres” (1 Corintios 3:21a).


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El propósito eterno de Dios

¿Alguna vez has considerado cuidadosamente las primeras palabras de la Biblia? “En el principio creó Dios los cielos y la tierra.” ¿Por qué no dice simplemente que Dios creó el Universo? ¿Por qué el cielo y la tierra?

A medida que avanzamos en la lectura encontramos la respuesta a esta pregunta, porque la Biblia enseña claramente que Dios tiene un doble propósito; uno que tiene que ver con la tierra y el otro con el cielo. El primero es el tema de la profecía, mientras que el segundo es el tema del “misterio”, o secreto, revelado a San Pablo y a través de él. (Ver Hechos 3:21; y cf. Romanos 16:25). El primero concierne a Israel y las naciones; esta última “el Cuerpo de Cristo”, la Iglesia de la vocación celestial.

Algunas personas se sorprenden al saber que no hay una sola promesa en todo el Antiguo Testamento acerca de ir al cielo. Allí todo el panorama es terrenal, con el Mesías reinando como Rey (Jeremías 23:5; et al). Cuando nuestro Señor apareció en la carne, los ángeles gritaron: “Paz en la tierra” (Lucas 2:14). Él mismo dijo que “los mansos” “heredarán la tierra” (Mateo 5:5). Enseñó a sus discípulos a orar: “Hágase tu voluntad, como en el cielo, así también en la tierra” (Mateo 6:10).

Incluso en Pentecostés Pedro declaró que después de “la restauración de todas las cosas” Dios enviaría a Jesús de regreso a la tierra y los tiempos de refrigerio “vendrían de la presencia del Señor” (Hechos 3:19-21).

No fue sino hasta la conversión de Pablo que aprendemos que ahora todos los creyentes en Cristo son “bautizados en un solo cuerpo” (I Cor.12:13), y Colosenses 1:5 y muchos otros pasajes paulinos, hablan de “la esperanza puesta para ti EN EL CIELO”. De hecho, ante Dios, a los creyentes ya se les ha dado una posición “en los lugares celestiales” y son “bendecidos con toda bendición espiritual EN [LOS] LUGARES CELESTIALES en Cristo” (Efesios 1:3; 2:4-7).

Sin embargo, las profecías sobre el Reino todavía se cumplirán y Cristo reinará en la tierra y traerá los “tiempos de refrigerio” prometidos. Gracias a Dios, este mundo no será para siempre un lugar de guerra y derramamiento de sangre, enfermedad y muerte, miseria y aflicción. De hecho, en ese tiempo, el cielo y la tierra se abrirán el uno al otro, y así se cumplirá el doble propósito de Dios: “Para que en la dispensación del cumplimiento de los tiempos Él pueda reunir todas las cosas en Cristo…” ( Efesios 1:10).


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The Separation of Paul & Barnabas – Acts 13:1-5

Summary:

Pretty much all we know about these leaders (v.1) is that they are all Jews, for those are Jewish names. One might even have been kin to Paul (Rom.16:21). This reminds us that the church in Antioch was started by Jews who preached the Word “to none but the Jews only” (Acts 11:19-26). They preached the word of the kingdom gospel (Lu.9:2), the kingdom of heaven on earth (Dan.2:44), the gospel the Lord Himself preached by saying it was “at hand” (Mark 1:14,15).

The kingdom didn’t begin, however, because the Jews rejected their kingdom when they rejected their King and stoned His prophet, and God put the kingdom on hold and sent Paul to preach the gospel of grace instead (Acts 20:24). People who believed that gospel will be raptured to heaven, not live in the kingdom on earth. And since Paul preached that gospel in Antioch for a year, we know there were Body saints in Antioch as well as kingdom saints.

We know the leaders were all kingdom saints though, for they “ministered to the Lord” (Acts 13:2), which usually means they brought Him sacrifices (Ezek.43:19). But sacrifices could only be offered by priests in Jerusalem, not by elders in Antioch, so we know those leaders were ministering to the Lord by praying instead (cf.Ps.141:2). And as they were praying, the Spirit said to separate Saul and Barnabas from themselves (Acts 13:2).

Paul was separated from the warm, comfortable “womb” of apostate Judaism when he got saved (Gal.1:13-16), but God also wanted him separated from the true Judaism of these kingdom saints (Acts 13:2). That’s because Judaism was a religion for one nation, the nation Israel, while God sent Paul to preach “grace” to “all” nations (Rom.1:1,5). Paul had been preaching grace to all nations for years, but he had been doing it alongside kingdom saints. Here, God was separating him to this ministry. It’s only men who mix them!

This was Paul’s ordination (cf.ITim.2:7). The leaders in Acts 13:1 are probably mentioned by name because they were witnesses to his ordination who signed his ordination certificate. We know Paul had one, because he was angry with the Corinthians for insisting on seeing it (IICor.3:1). When Acts 14:25 calls what happened here a recommendation, that tells us that that’s all an ordination is, a letter saying a church recommends a man for the ministry. We “com-mend” a man by putting him in God’s hands by prayer (Lu.23:46; Acts 14:23), then we recommend him to others.

Barnabas was a kingdom saint (Acts 4:36), but he was ordained with Paul to remind people we have a connection to the kingdom church. Paul’s gospel was a mystery (Col.1: 25,26), but it has a connection to the kingdom message (cf. Rom.1;1,2). So God had Paul ordained by a church filled with Body and kingdom saints, then sent him to preach grace with a kingdom saint.

The Jews “fasted” (Acts 13:3) to show God they were serious about something (cf.IISam.12:13-18). Fasting is also associated with solemnity (Joel1:14), and Paul’s ordination was a solemn occasion. The laying on of hands (Acts 13:3) spoke of associating yourself with someone or something, as when the priest associated Israel’s sins with that goat (Lev.4:15). Ever after Paul’s ordination, he was associated with the leaders in Antioch. That church became his base of operations in Acts. In Bible days, the laying on of hands could also impart the Spirit to men (Acts 8:17, and the power to heal (Mark 16:18). But in the dispensation of grace, we can only impart a recommendation to a man by laying hands on him.

Acts 13:3 says that those leaders sent Paul away, while verse 4 says the Spirit sent him away. That’s because that’s how the Spirit works in the dispensation of grace, through the local church (ICor.5:4). Today, God works through the power found “in us” (Eph.3:20), i.e., us members of the Body.

A video of this sermon is available on YouTube: “The Separation of Paul and Barnabas” Acts 13:1-5

The Broken Tablets

Suppose you are driving down the highway. You go around a curve and there in the median is a state policeman with his radar gun. What’s typically your first reaction? Let off the gas and maybe step on the brake. Why? Because he is the law and you’re immediately aware that you may be breaking the law, and you don’t want to get caught. The police car is an instant judge on your life.

In the same way, the law of God makes us conscious of our sin and judges our sin. As Paul wrote in Romans 7:7, “I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Further, in 1 Timothy 1:8, Paul tells us, “But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully.” We are not under the law but under grace today (Rom. 6:14); however, there is a good use of the law under grace. The law gives us a knowledge of sin and demonstrates that we’re all sinners and have fallen short of God’s righteous standard (Rom. 3:20,23). The lawful use of the law under grace is to produce the conviction of sin and an understanding of a person’s need of God’s grace through the finished work of the Savior.

In the account of the golden calf, we learn that, while Moses was up in the heights of Mount Sinai receiving the law, the instructions for Israel’s worship, and the blueprints for the tabernacle, the people were down below creating their own form of worship and breaking the very law that Moses was receiving. Moses demonstrated their breaking of God’s law in a very vivid and dramatic way, by casting down and physically breaking the stone tablets of the ten commandments.

Breaking the Commandments

“And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

“And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

“And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

“And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had  made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

“And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord. “And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play” (Ex. 32:1-6).

Approximately forty days prior to all that, Moses had gone up on Mount Sinai to receive the law (Ex. 24:18). Before he left, Moses had delegated authority to Aaron and Hur to lead in his absence (v. 14). After Moses had been away for over a month, the people became impatient. Giving up on his ever returning, the people turned to their temporary leader, Aaron, and demanded that he make them an idol. Instead of leading and restraining the people, Aaron went along with them.

The Apostle Paul reminds us that accounts like this in Israel’s history are “ensamples” for us, the Body of Christ, “and they are written for our admonition” (1 Cor. 10:11). Under grace, we are waiting for Someone as well (1 Thes. 1:10); we are waiting for Christ and His glorious return for us at the Rapture. While we wait, Aaron is a reminder to us of the danger of spiritual leaders going along with what the majority of the people and the popular culture want, instead of leading people according to what God desires.

The people in this account were mistaken in what they thought they needed. They thought they needed an idol, but what they really needed was to trust the Lord and wait on Him. While we wait for Christ to come for us, the Church needs strong leaders devoted to God’s Word no matter the cost, because that is what people need the most.

The people told Aaron to come and make them gods “which shall go before us” (Ex. 32:1). They were not just requesting gods but gods to lead them. They were ready to leave Mount Sinai, and not having Moses to guide them, they asked Aaron to make gods that might go before them and show them the way.

The Israelites wanted a visible, tangible object to follow. They imagined that a visible god formed by their own hands that they could see was better than the Lord, Jehovah God. So in their faithlessness, they exchanged the glory of the true and living God for the image of a baby cow!

Aaron acquiesced to the people’s appetite for idolatry and told them to bring him the golden earrings in the ears of their wives, sons, and daughters (Ex. 32:2). Exodus 12:35 informs us that, as the Israelites left Egypt, the Egyptians lent them “jewels of silver, and jewels of gold,” and so “they spoiled [plundered] the Egyptians” (v. 36). This is where they had acquired these golden earrings that Aaron requested. The people willingly brought their gold earrings to him and Aaron then melted them down. That gold was used by Aaron to fashion an idol cast in the shape of a calf.

After the golden calf was forged, it was hailed by the people as the gods which brought them up out of the land of Egypt (Ex. 32:4). Earlier on Mount Sinai, when the covenant of the law was established with Israel, the Lord said these words in His absolute authority as Israel’s God: “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (Ex. 20:2). In Israel’s impatience and unbelief, they were attributing their deliverance from Egypt, not to the Lord, but to this golden cow that they made with their own hands.

After completion of the idol, Aaron built an altar before it and declared the next day “a feast to the Lord” (32:5). A feast to THE LORD! Aaron mixed the worship of the true and living God with the worship of a piece of metal. And the people loved it! This feast to the Lord was a combination of worshiping a golden calf and bringing offerings to it, as well as drinking, eating, and dancing. It was a mixture of everything they wanted.

Aaron led the people in breaking God’s first three commandments: (1) they had put another god before Him (Ex. 20:3); (2) they had made a “graven image” (20:4-6); and (3) they had taken “the name of the Lord [their] God in vain” (20:7).

The Israelites rose up at the crack of dawn on the day of the feast. The anticipation of sin and false worship got them out of bed early. The Israelites offered burnt and peace offerings on the altar before the golden calf. Then they ate and drank, “and rose up to play.” The “play” is explained later in chapter 32, in verses 19 and 25, which describe their dancing and the people being naked.

A Memorable Object Lesson

“And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.

“And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.

“And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.

“And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.

“And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it” (Ex. 32:15-20).

When Moses initially went up on Mount Sinai, the Lord had told him, “Come up to Me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone…And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God” (Ex. 24:12-13). Moses obediently went up on the mountain, taking Joshua with him, to receive the tables of stone.

In Exodus 31:18 we learn that the Lord “gave unto Moses, when He had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.” Moses descended the mountain with these two tablets of the Ten Commandments. As he did, Joshua was confused and troubled by what he heard at the base of the mountain. He thought the camp below was under military attack because of the shouts he was hearing.

The Lord had already told Moses what was taking place in the camp (32:7-8), so Moses told Joshua that it was not the voice of them that shouted for mastery, and it was not the voice of them that cried from being overcome. In other words, those were not the sounds of battle from those who were conquering or those who were being conquered. Moses told Joshua that he was hearing the sound of singing.

As Moses and Joshua drew near to the camp, Moses saw the calf and the dancing. The combination of idolatry and immorality caused Moses’ anger to wax hot. In righteous anger, Moses threw the two stone tablets down and shattered them. He broke the tablets of the law as a witness to what the people had already done. It symbolized how Israel, in her heart and by her actions, had broken the law and their covenant with Jehovah God.

Moses did not break the commandments when he cast the tablets down at the foot of the Mount; Israel had already broken them when they desired the golden calf and worshiped it. The breaking of those two stones, which were “the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God” (32:16), was a demonstration of the seriousness of Israel’s sin.

Moses broke the tablets and then he proceeded to destroy the golden calf. First, he burned the calf. Second, he reduced it to powder. Third, he spread that gold dust on the water of a brook coming out of the mount. And fourth, he made the people drink that water (Ex. 32:20; Deut. 9:21).

By drinking that water, Moses forced the children of Israel to identify with their terrible
sin. And as one commentator put forth, “In this manner the thing they had worshiped would become a product of their own waste, the very epitome of worthlessness and impurity.”

Leadership Accountability

“And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?

“And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

“And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf” (Ex. 32:21-24).

Moses called what the children of Israel had done “so great a sin” (v. 21). It was a great sin for a number of reasons. First, because of who committed it: God’s chosen people. It was a great sin because God’s chosen nation fashioned a golden calf and worshipped a false god.

Second, because of where they committed it: at Mount Sinai where God’s presence was residing. His glory had been revealed in the mount, and it was here that Israel had entered into a covenant with Him. The people had witnessed the lightning, thunder, and the quaking, smoking mount (Ex. 19:18; 24:17).

Third, because of when they committed it: not long after their deliverance from Egypt by the mercy and power of God. They had seen and experienced the miraculous plagues God brought against Egypt, the remarkable parting of the Red Sea, and God’s provision of food and water as they traveled to Sinai.

Because Aaron had been placed in charge while Moses was gone, Moses held him responsible for what had taken place in the camp. Aaron tried to pass the blame on to the people rather than admitting his own complicity in this sin. Aaron’s feeble attempt to exonerate himself included telling Moses that he knew what these people were like and that they had a propensity to do evil.

Then Aaron told Moses, “And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf” (32:24). Aaron explained that the golden calf had just popped out of the fire all by itself. Amazing! Aaron was shocked too! And I can imagine Moses saying, “You mean to tell me, Aaron, that you collected the people’s gold, then you threw it in the fire, and a calf formed and walked out?”

However, in this chapter we read that Aaron “fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf” (v. 4). What Aaron told Moses was an out-and-out lie. If Aaron had stood against the people and taken a stand for the Lord and done what was right, he wouldn’t have needed to lie. Instead, in defending his actions, he added sin on top of sin.

Who Is on the Lord’s Side?

“And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)

“Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him” (Ex. 32:25-26).

Some of the people were still carrying on without moral restraint and with licentious behavior, which was a direct result of Aaron’s lack of leadership. So Moses stood in the camp gate and called out, “Who is on the Lord’s side?”

“Who is on the Lord’s side?” was an opportunity for Israel to reaffirm their commitment to the Lord after their great sin. When Moses made this call for loyal followers of Jehovah, the tribe of Levi responded. They were on the Lord’s side.

What about you? What is your answer this question by Moses? In this current culture that is devoid of any moral restraint, will we determine to take our stand on the Lord’s side? Have we made a settled decision to be on the Lord’s side and follow what is good and right according to His Word? In the midst of so many teachings which mix truth with error and follow the traditions of men, will we take our stand on God’s Word, rightly divided? When the world has gone crazy, will we resolve to be on the Lord’s side and follow Him by faith?


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Berean Searchlight – September 2022


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Faithful Stewards

“Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful” (1 Cor. 4:1-2).

Earlier in this letter Paul wrote, “God is faithful, by Whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Cor. 1:9). God is always faithful in His nature and actions (Deut. 7:9; Lam. 3:22-23).

The instructions in God’s Word for us to be faithful is a call to be like Him, to be imitators of God (Eph. 5:1). Mankind, however, in the weakness of the flesh, is prone to wavering, being changeable, unstable, and disloyal. Therefore, faithfulness is a fruit that God works out through our lives as we walk in the Spirit.

Paul stated, “Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ.” The Greek word translated “ministers” means a servant, but literally an under-rower. It refers to one who was an oarsman on a large, ancient galley ship. This brings to my mind the 1959 classic movie, Ben-Hur, and how Judah, the character played by Charlton Heston, was a galley slave and oarsman unjustly condemned to the flagship of the Roman Consul Quintus Arrius. Under-rowers were slaves under the authority of a man who coordinated their individual efforts to row and propel the ship forward.

An under-rower was a servant under authority, much as each believer is a servant under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, except that we gladly and willingly serve Christ, our Lord and Master. We are Christ’s servants and, by His grace, He uses us to row and move the ship of His church and His cause forward in this world.

First Corinthians 4:1 teaches that believers are both servants and stewards, “stewards of the mysteries of God.” In Luke 12:42, “the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise STEWARD, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?”

A steward is a servant who is the manager of a household. The Greek word translated as steward is oikonomos and is related to the Greek word for “dispensation,” oikonomia, meaning the administration or management of a household. Sometimes in your Bible, the Greek word for dispensation is translated as “stewardship” (Luke 16:2-4).

A steward was in charge of the administration of his master’s property. He devoted his time, talents, and energy to looking after his master’s interests rather than his own. A steward supervised the master’s property, fields, vineyards, clothing, finances, food, and the other servants. And he would dispense and give out things to the household as they were needed. He would also protect the assets and possessions of his master. All this shows that much responsibility was placed on a steward.

Likewise, to us, there is given much spiritual responsibility. As stewards of the mysteries of God, we are to dispense the revelation of the mystery to those of the “household of God” (Eph. 2:19). Paul wrote earlier in 1 Corinthians, “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory” (1 Cor. 2:7). As stewards, we dispense; we give out the truth to others and faithfully make known the wisdom of God in a mystery.

Stewards in Paul’s day were put in charge of the master’s precious belongings, and likewise, we have been put in charge of a treasure: “the glorious gospel of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:4,7) and the riches of God’s grace revealed to and through the Apostle Paul in the mystery. Stewards faithfully protected their master’s treasure, and so we must keep and guard the truth of the mystery. As Paul challenged Timothy, “Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing [treasure] which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us” (2 Tim. 1:13-14).

In 1 Corinthians 4:1, Paul refers to the “mysteries of God,” speaking of the previously unrevealed truths embodied in “the mystery,” the body of truth revealed to Paul for this present dispensation of grace. In other words, we are to be standing for and making known the many facets of the mystery (Rom. 11:25; 16:25; 1 Cor. 15:51-53; Eph. 1:9; 3:3-5,9; 5:32; 6:19; 1 Tim. 3:16).

Great responsibility was entrusted to a steward in Paul’s day, and the most important quality of a good steward was faithfulness. This was “required in stewards.” And, likewise, along with the great responsibility we have been given as stewards of God’s truth, we are required to be faithful and trustworthy. We are called to be faithful to the Lord and His revelation of the mystery, unwavering and refusing to compromise the message, teaching it consistently without apology, standing for it, and rising up to defend and protect 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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Ayuda en tiempo de necesidad

Nuestros periódicos de Chicago, recientemente, publicaron dos interesantes artículos de primera plana; uno sobre Timothy Nolan, un policía de Chicago que pidió ayuda en vano mientras luchaba contra dos matones. Sesenta personas se pararon, observándolo luchar por su vida, pero ninguno de ellos lo ayudó o incluso se molestó en llamar a otro policía. Simplemente se pararon y observaron.

El otro artículo era sobre una niña de doce años, llamada Susan Benedict, que había venido de Clinton, Wisconsin, para visitar Chicago. Mientras Susan estaba sentada en la estación de autobuses Greyhound en Clark y Randolph, un ladrón agarró su bolso y salió corriendo. Tal vez fue porque era una dulce e indefensa niña de doce años, pero en cualquier caso, alrededor de una docena de personas que presenciaron el incidente, siguieron al ladrón hasta que uno agarró a un policía, quien atrapó al ladrón y le devolvió el bolso a la pequeña. chica.

Es algo muy aterrador no poder encontrar ayuda cuando se necesita desesperadamente, y es igual de maravilloso tener ayuda cuando se necesita.

Gracias a Dios, Él siempre está listo para ayudarnos en nuestra necesidad más profunda: la salvación de nuestras almas. ¿Tienes miedo de que tus muchos pecados te hayan colocado en una posición más allá de la ayuda, que hayas pecado demasiado como para que Dios te perdone? Entonces escucha a Ef. 1:7, donde el Apóstol Pablo dice, por inspiración divina:

“Tenemos redención por medio de la sangre [de Cristo], EL PERDÓN DE LOS PECADOS SEGÚN LAS RIQUEZAS DE SU GRACIA”.

ROM. 5:20,21 dará más aliento en este sentido:

“…DONDE ABUNDÓ EL PECADO, ABUNDÓ MUCHO MÁS LA GRACIA, PARA QUE COMO EL PECADO HA REINADO PARA MUERTE, ASÍ REINARÁ LA GRACIA, por la justicia, para vida eterna, por Jesucristo Señor nuestro.”

Pablo sabía esto por experiencia, porque él era el líder de la rebelión del mundo contra Cristo, pero fue salvo en un momento por la gracia de Dios. Por eso dice:

“Palabra fiel y digna de ser recibida por todos: que Cristo Jesús vino al mundo para salvar a los pecadores, de los cuales yo soy el primero” (1 Timoteo 1:15).

Si Dios salvó al “principal de los pecadores”, seguramente está dispuesto a salvarte a ti, “porque todo aquel que invocare el nombre del Señor, será salvo” (Rom. 10:13).


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