“Do not live in yesterday for it is past. Learn its lessons, then forget the things which are behind.”

~Vance Havner

The Divine Design

By Vance Havner

But he [chastens us] for our profit…
Hebrews 12:10

The flame shall not hurt thee—I only design Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

Sometimes God Chastens us and sometimes Satan sifts us.
God’s purpose is to burn up the dross and refine the gold. Satan hopes to winnow out the wheat and leave only the chaff, but God can turn it around the other way. At any rate, our Father takes no pleasure in our sorrows and grief. His only design is to refine us. Alas, there is often so much dross and so little gold, so much chaff and so little wheat, so much wood, hay, and stubble, so little gold, silver, and precious stones! We may not have much left when He is finished with us, but a little gold is better than tons of chaff. It is a good day when we give up trash for treasure.

“The old masters of the deeper life found the way straight and narrow with a cross now and a crown hereafter.”

~Vance Havner

The Significance Of The Resurrection

by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

In his great Epistle to the Romans, the Apostle Paul introduces himself immediately as “a bond-slave of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle,” to proclaim God’s good news about Christ.

Paul’s “gospel of the grace of God” was essentially about the Lord Jesus Christ. He was always talking about Christ. His epistles are filled with Christ. Christ, in his message, was everything. This is in striking contrast to much of our modern preaching and evangelism, which is not Christ-centered, but man-centered.

The gospel Paul proclaimed was God’s good news about Christ and His power and glory in defeating Satan, overcoming death, and paying for sin of everyone in the world who would believe upon Him, and have Christ indwell them, renew them, by His being nailed to a tree to then overcome death and arise on the third day.

This is why the Apostle calls his message “the good news of the glory of Christ” (II Corinthians 4:4). To enter experientially into the truth of this good news is the greatest blessing one can possibly experience.

In Verse 4 of his introduction to the Roman Epistle, the Apostle declares that Christ was powerfully declared to be the Son of God “by the resurrection from the dead.”

The resurrection of Christ had been both prophesied and proclaimed as a historical fact before Paul, but to Paul was committed a special message of good news concerning the resurrection. In his God-given message, Christ was raised from the dead to demonstrate that as God the Son He had paid the full penalty for sins that would have sunk a world to hell. Thus the Apostle writes to Timothy, his son in the faith:

“Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.

“Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David [this is how Christ had formerly been known] was raised from the dead according to my gospel, wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even unto bonds” (II Timothy 2:7-9).

Read the Epistles of Paul and see how salvation by grace through faith always hinges upon the finished work of Christ for our redemption. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

Don’t Dote On Personalities

by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

When Paul instructs Timothy to charge his followers not to “give heed” to “endless genealogies” (I Timothy 1:4), he refers to the status symbol of the personality of his day.

Recently this writer was informed by a correspondent from an eastern state that it appeared that he might be related to a Revolutionary general named Stam — and, did we wish him to investigate further! We replied that we were far too excited about where we were going to care much about where we had come from!

While there are some in our day who are very proud of their ancestry and have coats of arms displayed in their homes, the average Christian probably, has never had his family tree traced back very far. But in Paul’s day genealogies were very important, even among believers. One’s family relationships meant a great deal. If you were a second cousin to Christ or even a third cousin to Peter you “had it made.” You might be crude, or stupid, or even wicked, but all this was overlooked: you were closely related to Christ Himself or to the Apostle Peter and all were ready to give you audience.

Actually, the personality cult is still with us in the Church today though it manifests itself in different ways. We live in a day of mass communications, when the faces of prominent men and women are seen again and again in newspapers and magazines and even their personalities come through to us over radio and television. Thus it is the prominent “Christian” politician, athlete, actor, beauty queen, or even former gangster who commands the attention today. Those who arrange evangelistic campaigns often seek to engage such personalities to attract crowds. Such prominent figures, though perhaps actually saved, may be very much “of the world,” dishonoring their Christian calling every day, but their presence draws crowds and their shallow testimonies are used to justify their public participation in the work of the Lord.

The new evangelicalism has borrowed many prominent personalities from the world to help swell its audiences, while the old prayer that the witness may be hid behind the cross is to all intents and purposes considered passe.

No Other Gods

By Vance Havner

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exodus 20:3

Our Lord made it clear that all other loves must be as hate compared to our love for Him (see Luke 14:26). This does not mean we love dear ones less, but that we love Him more. We must not water down this word until it loses its meaning. A departed dear one can become an idol at whose shrine we worship—so can our work, our reputation, our pleasures, some human friendship, our possessions. We must live as though these did not exist, so far as our supreme love and loyalty are concerned. When anything else eclipses our devotion to Jesus Christ, it must go and sometimes God takes it. He will not share the throne room of our hearts with anyone or anything else. But when He is first and last, all other legitimate and proper interests and affections find their places. But they must never hold the status of gods or idols.