Scripture Reading:

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honor thy father and mother (which is the first commandment with promise) that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.”
— Ephesians 6:1,2

In all likelihood mom and dad have been impressing upon you the importance of only dating and marrying those who are saved. You may think that they are being narrow-minded, but the truth is, your parents are looking out for your spiritual well-being. The Word of God is quite clear when it comes to the matter of separation:

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14).

Some Christian young people feel strongly that there is no harm in just dating the unsaved. But why become emotionally involved in a relationship that has no future? Furthermore, it is unfair to the unbelieving party who will never understand your reasoning for breaking off the relationship. We have seen too many tragic cases where these types of associations end up in unequally yoked marriages that fail. So, may we encourage our young people to heed the godly counsel of their parents, for in so doing, you will spare yourself a lifetime of heartache.

But where can a Christian young person find Mr. or Mrs. Right? Since faithful believers do not frequent worldly establishments your search must begin where the Lord’s people gather. You must take the initiative to regularly attend church services, conferences, youth groups and camp meetings. In the meantime, a young man should be working toward financial stability while the young ladies learn to cook. After all, there is a limitation to McDonald’s!

Scripture Reading:

“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.”
— 2 Corinthians 8:9

Whether the occasion is a holiday, a birthday celebration, or a graduation, it is customary to give a gift. While some gifts are given out of necessity, for the most part, a gift is an expression of our love. We normally bestow these tokens of our affection on those whom we feel deserve the honor. But God’s ways are not our ways. He gave the gift of His beloved Son to His enemies. That’s a true love story! Oh, the wonder of His grace that God sent His only begotten Son, the Son of His love, to save sinners like you and me while we were fleeing from the glory of His presence. Little wonder the Apostle Paul says, “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift” (2 Cor. 9:15).

The word “unspeakable” here has the idea of “indescribable.” The gifts I’ve received through the years were all describable. Some may have been a little harder to describe than others, but describable nonetheless! But the gift of God’s dear Son is indescribable. Who can explain the incarnation, how the eternal Son of God left heaven’s glory and took upon Himself the form of human flesh, yet was not tainted with our sin. Who can explain how Christ was wholly God and wholly human in one person? These wonders can only be received through the eye of faith.

The manger and the Cross stand at the two extremes of our Lord’s life, but they are connected by the tapestry of redemption. Hence, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” A love story that ends with a death is tragic; in contrast, the death of Christ is the greatest demonstration of love this world has ever seen. How much does God love you? He gave His only begotten Son to die on your behalf. You see, Christ wasn’t dying for His sin, He knew no sin; He was dying for your sins and my sins at Calvary. He was made sin for us that we might receive the righteousness of God in Him. Have you trusted Him?

Surely you would never think of paying for a gift; why, the giver would be highly offended — how much more so with God. The payment for your sins has already been furnished by the Giver; simply receive Him as a gift from God. If you have, then why not thank Him today for His unspeakable gift? After all, this is the Gift that includes all others!

Scripture Reading:

“And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” — Ephesians 3:19

The passage before us is a treasure chest of truth. Paul contrasts the spiritual knowledge of the believer (“to know”), with human knowledge (“passeth knowledge”). We are living in a time when a high premium has been placed on intellectualism. Technology is advancing so rapidly that a product is barely to the marketplace before it is obsolete. Human knowledge has progressed to the point where man has now created small micro chips, the size of a pencil eraser, that can store volumes of information. While man glories in his accomplishments in the area of high tech, God is still the infinite One in knowledge overall. I read recently that if man were to build a computer capable of performing the functions of the human brain (memory, reasoning, thinking, functional control, etc.) it would have to be the size of the Empire State Building. How would you like to carry that around on your shoulders? While human knowledge has benefited us all in areas of medicine, science, and travel, man through human wisdom can never know God nor understand the things of God (I Cor. 1:20,21).

Those who are saved, however, have at their disposal a spiritual knowledge that far surpasses human knowledge. Having the eyes of our spiritual understanding opened, we are now able to comprehend the Word of God. It is from God’s Word that we first learned of the love of Christ. It was Christ’s love for us that sent Him to Calvary to die for our sins, to redeem us back to God (Rom. 5:8). His love also keeps us secure, for as the Apostle says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (Rom. 8:35). The love of Christ constrains us or motivates us to serve Him. We can never repay what he has done for us, but out of gratitude for what He has accomplished for us we should desire to live for Him (II Cor. 5:14,15). With this knowledge of the love of Christ we can enjoy the fullness of God.

The following was our response to a friend who inquired if baptism would be practiced again in the future Tribulation.

It does appear that water baptism will play a role in the terms of salvation during the coming day of the Lord. We know, for example, the gospel of the kingdom will again be preached, which included this water ceremony (Matt. 24:14 cf. Mark 16:15,16). When baptism was practiced by John and the twelve it was to manifest Christ to Israel (John 1:31). This will again be needful during the future Tribulation period following the Rapture. Since Israel was to be a kingdom of priests it was essential for John the Baptist to baptize believing Israelites into the priesthood (Ex. 19:5,6; 29:1-4; Isa. 61:6). It will be necessary for this to be continued during the time of Jacob’s Trouble as well. As we know, in time past, water baptism symbolized the washing away of Israel’s sins. While this aspect of the water rite will be replaced with the understanding that believing Israel will be redeemed by the precious blood of Christ (I Pet. 1:18,19), baptism will still be observed as an expression of faith in Christ’s death.

It is our firm conviction that water baptism will again be practiced when God resumes the prophetic program in the coming day of the Lord. God will pick up right where He left off at Pentecost. What we witness in Acts Chapters 2 and 3 will be reinstated at the beginning of the Tribulation.

Earlier this year, my wife and I had an opportunity to visit the “Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible” exhibit at the Milwaukee Museum. When we entered the exhibit, we were given a small hand-held recorder about the size of a cell phone. As we made our way through the exhibit, we simply punched in the number of the display and were given an explanation of the scroll, book, or artifact and its significance.

In addition to the Dead Sea Scrolls there were numerous biblical artifacts that took you back in time to the days of our Lord. For example, there was a display of the coinage of the period that was embossed with an image of Caesar. This would have been the same type of coin the Lord pointed to when He answered the question of the Pharisees and the Herodians about paying tribute to Caesar (Mark 12:13-17). There was also an exhibit of oil lamps, one of which would have been the type used in the Parable of the Ten Virgins. It was interesting to see how the five wise virgins would have trimmed their lamps (Matt. 25:1-10).

The most fascinating part of the exhibit was the Dead Sea Scrolls, which incorporated the development of the English Versions of the Scriptures, as well as the Gutenberg Bible, the first Bible ever produced on a printing press. I personally accept by faith that we have the Word of God today. But for the skeptic or critic who questions the Word of God, the Dead Sea Scrolls clearly show the providential care of God.

For example, the oldest copy of the Torah prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls would have been about the 10th Century. The Torah is the first 5 Books of the Hebrew Bible ascribed to Moses. Archeologists date the Dead Sea Scrolls between the 1st Century B.C. and the first half of the 1st Century A.D. They were discovered in caves on the sheer rock face of the northwest shore of the Dead Sea by a Bedouin shepherd in 1947. Despite the vast period of time between these two sets of manuscripts there is an amazing continuity, especially in regard to sense. For example:

The English translation of Deuteronomy 8:19 from the 10th Century (Hebrew Masoretic Text) states:

“I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.”

When the Scholars translated this same passage from the Dead Sea Scrolls manuscripts it came out as follows in English:

“I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.”

Hopefully, you will have an opportunity to visit this exhibition which is touring the country; it is well worth your time.

Scripture Reading:

“And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints.”
— Jude 14

About two weeks prior to teaching the Dispensation of Conscience in my Dispensational Survey class at the Berean Bible Institute, I raised the following question to the student body. What is the significance of Enoch being addressed as “the seventh from Adam”? The entire class drew a blank — they were stumped!! Although it may seem rather insignificant at first glance, the Holy Spirit has added this phrase for good reason. In fact, this phraseology is only used in reference to Enoch.

A number of the students gave some thought to the matter and even ventured a couple of explanations, which were true, but not the answer I was looking for. Finally, one student eventually got two or three hints out of me and came up with the answer. Upon arriving at the fourth and fifth chapters of the Book of Genesis, I explained to the class that there were two Enoch’s before the days of the great flood. Therefore, we must carefully distinguish between the Enoch who descended from Cain, and the Enoch who was the “seventh from Adam” (Gen. 4:16-18 cf. 5:22-24). The first Enoch walked in the way of Cain — his descendants were morally bankrupt.

God would have us follow the example of Enoch, the seventh from Adam, who walked in the way of faith. Thus “Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found [implying everyone searched for him], because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God” (Heb. 11:5). In addition, the path of the coming Redeemer would pass through Enoch, the seventh from Adam, not Cain’s Enoch (Gen. 3:15). So then, a seemingly insignificant phrase suddenly helps us better appreciate that:

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16).

Scripture Reading:

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:58

Probably the most commonly asked question of a seven year old is, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Usually the little one is so frozen with fear that the one inquiring must resort to a form of interrogation: “a doctor, lawyer, policeman; I know, a fireman!” These are noble professions indeed, but why are children almost never encouraged to pursue the ministry? Is the Lord’s work any less meaningful? Are the callings of pastor, evangelist, missionary and Christian counselor unworthy of our childrens’ consideration? Parents do well to remember that there is no higher calling in life than the Lord’s service.

Sadly, our young people are so preconditioned to aspire to worldly professions that the ministry is not even a viable option. Timothy’s mother had no way of knowing whether or not God would call her son into full-time service. But to her credit, she trained Timothy from a small child in the Scriptures to prepare him for the things of the Lord. Shortly after his conversion to Christ, he was called into the ministry where he delivered many from a Christless eternity (2 Tim. 1:6).

During those formative years we need to encourage our young to seek the face of the Lord as to what area of Christian service the Lord might use them. Perhaps you have a quiver full of teenagers who don’t know what vocation to pursue. What better place to search for an answer than to have them attend the Berean Bible Institute here in Milwaukee.

“Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” — 2 Tim. 2:1,2

If we were to ask the average Christian to write down what they expect in a spiritual leader the list would probably read something like this: A man of God must have completed college and seminary. He should be eloquent and be able to articulate his thoughts well, enthusiastic, insightful, creative, and have a good sense of humor. In addition, he should not have too many shortcomings, and be well dressed.

Interestingly, just the opposite was true of the spiritual leaders found in the Scriptures. Most of the giants of the faith in biblical times were unlearned and ignorant men by the world’s standard. The Bible is a who’s who of shortcomings: Noah’s drunkenness, Moses’ speech impediment, David’s adulterous ways, Peter’s denials, Paul’s repulsive appearance, etc. Nevertheless, God used these souls mightily to the pulling down of strongholds. As it has been said, “God took a handful of nobodies and made somebodies in His sight.”

While we are an advocate of higher education, intellectualism is not a prerequisite to be used of the Lord. God has accomplished great things through those who merely had a willing heart. Timothy, for example, wasn’t educated at the Ivy League Schools of Jerusalem, nonetheless, God chose him to carry the torch of grace after Paul’s martyrdom.