“Are we winning people to our church or to our Christ? If you knew that your “prospect” would join some church or denomination other than yours, would you still be as zealous to win him?”

~Vance Havner

“Some of the old mystics were really mistakes. They tried to be more saintly by hiding in caves. Living in a hole never made anybody holier.”

~Vance Havner

 “Too many come to church on Sunday with a full pitcher, and even God can’t fill something that is already full. Sometimes I watch them go out after the benediction and find myself saying, “He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away” (Luke 1:53).”

~Vance Havner

Prayer Is Not Enough

By Vance Havner

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
II Corinthians 7:14

It will readily be seen here that God requires four things, not just one. And He will not settle for a fourth of what He requires. If we are going to use this verse let us use all of it. Sometimes we make it sound as though a prayer meeting alone were sufficient to produce a revival. God has said more here than “pray.”

We are to humble ourselves – not pray for humility, but humble ourselves, “as a little child” (Matthew 18:4), “in the sight of the Lord” (James 4:10), “under the mighty hand of God” (I Peter 5:6). We are to seek God’s face, His favor, the smile of His approval. “When thou saidst, Seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek” (Psalm 27:8). Is that what your heart says?

And we are to turn from our wicked ways. That fourth note is rather subdued these days. “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).

Praying is not enough if God requires more. And in this sadly misused text He certainly does!

When The Lord Wouldn’t Answer

by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

In the various accounts of our Lord’s earthly ministry we find three occasions when He declined to answer those who appealed to Him or questioned Him.

First there is the Gentile woman of Matthew 15:21-28. Her daughter was possessed of a demon and in her trouble she appealed to the Lord to help her, “but He answered her not a word.” Finally, in His grace He did help her, but not until He had taught her the lesson that as a Gentile she had no claim on Him. As Romans 1:28 tells us, the Gentiles had been “given up” because “they did not wish to retain God in their knowledge.” In this connection we Gentiles should read carefully Ephesians 2:11,12 and see how utterly without hope we are apart from the grace of God.

Next there was a Jewess, in trouble of a different kind. She had been caught in adultery and was brought to Him for judgment (John 8:1-11). Unlike the Gentile woman, she belonged to the chosen race and possessed God’s holy Law, a distinct advantage — unless you are a lawbreaker. Our Lord, in grace, also helped her, but not until He had demonstrated that the Law is the great leveler of mankind, bringing all in guilty before God (Romans 3:19).

But finally we find how it was that our Lord could show grace — and do it justly — to sinners, both Jewish and Gentile, for in the third instance we find the Lord Himself in trouble. On trial for His life before the representatives of Hebrew and Roman law, He is accused of all sorts of wicked crimes. But on this occasion too, He declines to answer.

First Caiaphas, the High Priest, asked Him: “Answerest Thou nothing? What is it which these witness against Thee? But Jesus held His peace…” (Matthew 26:62,63).

Next Pilate, the Gentile judge, said: “Hearest Thou not how many things they witness against Thee? And He answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly” (Matthew 27:12-14).

Why did our Lord decline to answer and defend Himself? Because He had come into the world especially to die for man’s sins. Had the sinners of all ages been there to accuse Him of their sins, He would still have remained speechless, for He stood there as man’s representative, so that we sinners might be “justified freely by God’s grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).

“The Christian life is a matter of coming and going: “Come unto me…” (Mathew 11:28); “Go ye into all the world…””

~Vance Havner

Over Our Heads

April 12, 2015

Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to my neck.
I sink in the miry depths,
where there is no foothold.
I have come into the deep waters;
the floods engulf me. — Psalm 69:1–2

On January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 made an emergency landing in New York’s Hudson River after a flock of birds flew into the plane’s engines, causing both engines to fail. The landing, in which not a single life was lost, became known as “The Miracle on the Hudson.”

Yet, as smooth as the emergency landing seemed from the front of the plane, a more terrifying story was unfolding in the back of the plane which bore the brunt of the impact. The violent impact tore a hole through the bottom of the rear of the plane, allowing water to seep in. Flight attendant Doreen Welsh, the only crew member at the back of the plane, described how the situation went from bad to worse. After realizing that they had crashed into water and not on a runway, Doreen recognized that water was quickly seeping in and that the people around her were in shock, unable to move and disembark the quickly sinking plane.

Doreen describes how the ice cold water went from waist-high and then all the way to her neck. At that point she fully believed that her life was about to end. She had no way of knowing that the front of the plane was free of water and that hope lie ahead. Then suddenly, as passengers did move forward, Doreen realized that she might live after all, and indeed she did.

I think that what Doreen Welsh went through on a physical level, many of us experience on a spiritual, mental, or emotional level. As David wrote in Psalm 69, “Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me.”

Sometimes, life can be so overwhelming that we literally feel as though we are sinking. The situation seems impossible and it feels as though in just a few more moments we will be in over our heads, never to emerge again. But Psalm 69 reminds us that no matter how hopeless the situation may seem, there is always hope for salvation.

At the beginning of the psalm, David prayed that God would save him from the waters that threatened to engulf him. By the end of the psalm, David was certain that God would save him. We read in verse 30, “I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.”

Remember, when you feel like you’ve been treading water for way too long, or that the water is up to your neck threatening to engulf you, miracles do happen. Hold on and hold out for God. Never give up on His salvation.

With prayers for shalom, peace,

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

Not Dying For Lack Of Love

by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

It has been said that “the world is dying for the lack of a little bit of love.” When this statement is examined in the light of Scripture, however, it is found to be the exact op- posite of the truth. Listen to what God’s Word says about this:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

“God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans  5:8).

“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (I John 4:9,10).

Many about us are dying in their sins, but not “for the lack of a little bit of love.” It is rather because they reject the great love that God has manifested to us in His Son. We are told in John 1:10,11 that “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” This is the problem: men are rejecting His love. “And this is the condemnation,” says John, “that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light” (John 3:19).

But while others reject Him, you may accept Him as your Savior and know the joy of sins forgiven and of everlasting life, for “as many as received Him, to them gave He the power [Lit., right] to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1:12).

“The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand.
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on Him” (John 3:35,36).

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

Supposing

By Vance Havner

But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey.
Luke 2:44

Joseph and Mary supposed Jesus was with them when He was not. How many religious groups and movements run on for years long after Jesus has dropped out from the procession!

How many churches still carry on their programs, their Sunday-by-Sunday uprisings and downsittings and yet, like Samson, wist not that the Spirit of the Lord has departed!

And all because so many of us go on many a day’s journey after we have left Jesus far behind, so far as the conscious sense of His presence and blessing is concerned. We sing the same songs, say the same prayers, give the same testimonies, but men see Him not in their lives because His presence is only a supposition.

It will not do to proceed on a supposition. We must make sure of Jesus or we travel in vain. Nothing is so futile as religious activity that only imagines the Lord’s presence. We might well inquire, “Is the Lord among us or not?” It is wrong to doubt His presence when we may be sure of it, but it is foolish to imagine His presence when there is proper occasion to doubt it.

Slavery And Liberty

by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

We thank God for Abraham Lincoln and for his part in emancipating the negro slaves in the United Sates. Yet, in a deeper sense, there is a slavery from which we all need to be emancipated.

The children of Adam are slaves by birth. Partaking of his fallen nature they find it an uphill fight to do right and easy to do wrong. No mother has ever had to teach her child to tell lies, or to steal or to disobey. Every child does these things naturally. All, by nature, are slaves to sin.

Some, on the other hand, have sought to make themselves slaves to the Ten Commandments in order to overcome their natural tendencies toward evil, but this does not produce the desired results. God did not give the Law to help us to be good, but to show us that we are bad and need a Savior. In Romans 3:19 He says that He gave the Law “that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become [be exposed as] guilty before God” and in Verse 20 He says that “by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

Only believers in the finished work of Christ are liberated from sin and its results. This does not mean that it is not possible for them to sin, but that it is now possible for them not to sin — to have victory in any given case. “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law but under grace” (Romans 6:14).

In grace Christ died to pay for our sins and in response to that grace believers seek to live for Him, just out of sheer love and gratitude for what He has done for them. This is the secret of victorious living, and God would have us keep it that way. Galatians 5:1 says:

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

Yet, he also cautions believers, who enjoy this wonderful liberty:

“Take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak” (I Corinthians 8:9).

“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13).

“Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth” (Romans 14:22).

Overcoming Nature

April 10, 2015

But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. — Exodus 14:29

A note to our readers: The Jewish celebration of Passover began on April 3 and will be observed through April 11. During this time of Passover, we will offer daily devotional reflections tied to this very special observance. Since some of the days during the Passover celebration are non-working days, the devotions were prepared for you in advance.

We are all born with a unique nature. For better and for worse, we have certain tendencies, both strengths and weaknesses. Usually we are most successful when we operate in the realm of our strengths. But there are also times when we are called to overcome our natural weaknesses which might otherwise hold us back from the life that we want to live. Sometimes, we need every bit of strength that we have to go against our nature so that we might move forward in our lives.

In the climactic moment of the Exodus story, the sea parts and the Israelites walk through on dry land. The sea, which by nature is cohesive, flowing, and without boundaries, was suddenly concrete like walls, “But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.”

The Jewish sages make a beautiful comment that the sea went against its nature because of the bones of Joseph which were present during the parting of the sea. If you remember, Joseph had made the Israelites promise to bring his bones out of Egypt when they were leaving, and they made good on their promise. In Psalm 114:3 we read: “The sea looked and fled . . .” But what did the waters see?

According to tradition, it was the bones of Joseph, and it was a powerful reminder of someone who went against his own nature. When Joseph was a young man, the beautiful and powerful wife of his master, Potiphar, tried to seduce him. However, Joseph went against his human tendencies, resisted temptation, and fled from Potiphar’s wife. In his honor, the sea went against its nature and fled as well, creating a path for the Israelites to freedom and redemption.

I came across another piece to this story. We know what inspired the sea, but who inspired Joseph? One answer is that he got it from his mother, Rachel, who went against her own nature on what should have been her wedding night. Although Rachel was deeply in love with Jacob and had waited seven years to marry him, she went against her nature and allowed her older sister Leah to pass herself off as Rachel and become Jacob’s bride. Rachel was selfless and fled from her own desires for the sake of her sister’s happiness and dignity.

In all these situations – Joseph, Rachel, and the sea – going against nature was temporary, but completely necessary. Similarly, we are called at times to go against our nature for a higher purpose. Let us be encouraged to summon our strength and part with our nature if only for a moment. A moment of self-sacrifice can lead to a lifetime of salvation.

With prayers for shalom, peace,

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

There Is No Difference

by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

Twice in the Book of Romans, once in Romans 3:22,23, and once in Romans 10:12,13, God uses the phrase, “There is no difference.”

First it is used in con-nection with the guilt of man. Religious Jews, as well as godless Gentiles; cultured moralist, as well as degraded savages, are proved guilty before God.

In the first three chapters, their privileges and responsibilities are fully discussed, and their arguments are carefully considered. Then comes the awful verdict:

“THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE: FOR ALL HAVE SINNED AND COME SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD.”

Must we not all bow our heads in shame and admit that the indictment is true? Must we not acknowledge that our condemnation is just? There may, indeed, be differences as to the nature or the degree of our sins, but in this there is no difference: that we all have sinned. And a just and holy God must condemn sin.

It is refreshing, however, to find the phrase used a second time in connection with salvation. Again religious Jews as well as godless Gentiles are included, but this time, how gracious the declaration!

“FOR THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE…FOR THE SAME LORD OVER ALL IS RICH UNTO ALL THAT CALL UPON HIM. FOR WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED!”

In the matter of sin, God cannot be partial. He cannot be lenient with certain classes or groups whose advantages have been greater. All have sinned, and all must stand condemned.

But neither does He show partiality in the matter of salvation. The rich or cultured or religious are not preferred before others. The illiterate or immoral are not excluded. The Law condemns all, but Christ died to save all, that we might be “justified freely by His grace.”

Friend, are you saved? Are you right with God? You can never hope to be accepted if you approach Him in your own merits, but if you come in the merits of Him who bore your sins, you cannot be turned away. “FOR THE SAME LORD OVER ALL IS RICH UNTO ALL THAT CALL UPON HIM, FOR WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED.”

Three-Way Faithfulness

By Vance Havner

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.
II Timothy 4:7

Paul was faithful to the faith: “I have kept the faith.” Not only is faith itself a fight (“fight the good fight of faith”), but we are also to contend for the faith. So he was also faithful to the fight: “I have fought a good fight.” And he was faithful to the finish: “I have finished my course.”

Some are faithful to the faith, sound in belief, orthodox in doctrine, but are not faithful to the fight, do not contend for the faith. But Paul was “set for the defense of the Gospel,” and because some have not been so minded, apostasy has taken over many a church and school. Still others are faithful to the faith and to the fight, but they give up the battle and do not endure unto the end; they are not faithful to the finish. We grow weary in well-doing all too soon. Paul did not soften up in old age and drift into that smiling tolerance which so many today think is a mark of broadminded maturity.

We are in deep need of three-way faithfulness, to the faith, to the fight, to the finish.

Reflections on Ephesians

by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

There is no epistle in which we find more about the grace of God than that great and wonderful epistle of Paul to the Ephesians! It is one of his prison epistles and, interestingly enough, he was actually and literally in jail for telling a secret, the secret of the mystery (Ephesians 6:19,20). Evidently he had a great deal of opposition in trying to make this secret known. That’s rather unusual, isn’t it?

The Ephesian epistle was probably written about 64 A.D., and was evidently sent by the hand of a man named Tychicus (6:21,22), along with two other letters, one to the Colossians (Colossians 4:7-9), and that to Philemon (Colossians 4:7-9 cf. Philemon 10-12). Never, never were more valuable documents entrusted to human hands!

Now, in the earlier epistles of Paul, we learn a great deal about dispensational change and development, but in Ephesians we have arrived, and find ourselves on the highest, broadest spiritual ground. Here the Holy Spirit reveals to us, in all their fullness, those blessed truths which distinguish this dispensation from others.

For example, the mystery or the sacred secret is here revealed in all its fullness. He says that this secret is now made known (1:9) through him (3:1-3), but it is for all to see (3:9), for it concerns our close relationship to Christ (5:30,32). And since Satan will oppose the proclamation of this secret, boldness is needed to proclaim it (6:19,20).

In this epistle, the one Body of Christ, the Church of this dispensation, is emphasized throughout. The whole body, he says, is the fulness, the complement, the fulness of Christ (1:23). He says God is making one new man today (2:15), reconciling Jews and Gentiles to Himself in one body (2:16), a joint body (3:6), in which we are to keep the unity of the Spirit (4:3,4). The Body, he says, must grow up, and it must build itself up in love (4:11-16). Christ is the Head of the Body, and its Savior (5:23), and we are the members (5:30). How close that brings all believers to each other! How close it brings us to Christ!

Our position in the heavenlies is prominently brought out in this epistle. We read that, immediately upon conversion, we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies (1:3). We’re told that God’s power in raising Christ from the dead and exalting Him far above all is now extended to us-ward who believe (1:19-21). Positionally, he says, we’ve already been raised from the dead and seated in the heavenlies (2:6). Now, he says, it is ours to occupy this position by faith, as a witness to the principalities and powers in the heavenlies (3:10). Hence we must wrestle with the rulers of the darkness of this age, wicked spirits in the heavenlies (6:12). And for this, he says, we’re going to need the whole armor of God (6:10,11).

In this epistle, all is grace. Read Ephesians and see how it is permeated with grace. Even the salutation speaks of grace and peace (1:2). Compare that with what we read about the second coming of Christ to this earth, where He will come to judge and make war (Rev. 19:11). Grace and peace is the exact opposite of judgment and war! Thank God He hasn’t declared war yet. He hasn’t visited this world in judgment yet. He still offers to sinners everywhere, and to saints, of course, in greater measure, grace and peace.

Now the doxology—oh, what a doxology of grace! The doxology in the Ephesian epistle is the longest of all of Paul’s doxologies, and in the original it is his longest sentence. We’re blessed because we are chosen by God the Father to the praise of His glory (1:4-6). We’re made accepted in the Son to the praise of His glory. We’re sealed by the Spirit to the praise of His glory. Glory to the triune God! Glory for His grace!

We read individual things, too, about the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All throughout this epistle, everything emanates from the Father. The Father is always the source. The Father has chosen us (1:3,4) according to the good pleasure of His will (v. 5), according to the riches of His grace (vv. 6,7), according to His good pleasure (v. 9), according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will (v. 11), according to the working of His mighty power (v. 19), and according to His eternal purpose (3:11). There’s more about that in the epistle, showing that everything finds its source in the will of God.

Then we see how our salvation centers in the Son. He’s always the second person in the Trinity. His place is always in the midst. We read, for example, that we’re blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ (1:3), and have redemption through His blood (v. 7), in whom we are greatly enriched (v. 11), in whom also we are saved (v. 13), and sealed (v. 13). Think of that! We are in Christ, and because of His finished work, the believer is sealed until the day of redemption.

Then we come to the Spirit. It all comes down to us through, or by the operation of, the Spirit. We’re sealed by the Spirit (1:13), and we have access to God the Father by the Spirit (2:18). We are an habitation of God through the Spirit (2:22), and we’re strengthened by the Spirit (3:16). We must not grieve the Spirit (4:30), but rather bear the fruit of the Spirit (5:9). We must be filled with the Spirit (5:18), use the sword of the Spirit (6:17), and we must pray in the Spirit (6:18).

What a tremendous, tremendous epistle!

The Mystery of Iniquity

By Vance Havner

Reprinted from Mr. Havner’s book  “Havner’s Reflections on Prophecy”

The second chapter of 2 Thessalonians gives us in clear outline the schedule of events in the last days. The Thessalonians became worried and though the day of Christ’s return was already present. Paul comforted them by giving in detail the course of events at the end of the age.

We are told first that “the mystery of iniquity does already work.” It is better translated “mystery of lawlessness” and nothing is more evident than the fact that we are in the midst of it today. It is a period of unprecedented crime. Our jails and penitentiaries are filled. Suicide, murder, divorce, immorality, kidnapping, theft, arson—all these infest the land and fill the newspapers. The devil is waging a worldwide campaign which will head up presently in the “man of sin.” He is increasing the war spirit. He is making lukewarmness to abound in our churches. Through the false theories of evolution and higher criticism he undermines religious faith. He floods the land with false prophets. He is fast making ready the overthrow of government. It is all the mystery of lawlessness.

Next there must come an apostasy, “a falling away first.” One does not have to strain his eyes to see the churches departing from sound doctrine to fables; seminaries sending forth preachers and teachers who deny the faith; church members so identified with the world that no line of demarcation is any longer visible. Fads and isms, worldliness and indifference, modernism and Laodiceanism, have played their part. The apostasy is upon us.

This chapter tells us next (verse 7) that the tides of lawlessness are being hindered or “let” by someone who is eventually to be removed. Do you pick up your newspaper some morning expecting to read that the bottom has completely fallen out of society? Sometimes one wonders who we can last another week without the dam breaking and the floods of lawlessness completely inundating the land. Well, here is the reason: the Holy Spirit is holding back the evil until the time is ripe. Then He will be removed, we believe at the time the believers are taken away as described in 1 Thessalonians 4. Then we believe God will begin dealing with Israel nationally again, and His Spirit will operate much as He did in the Old Testament.

We read further that when the Restrainer is removed, the man of sin will be revealed. He is the antichrist in whom all evil will head up. We read in this chapter that he will oppose himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped so that he as God will sit in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. This harmonizes with the account of the antichrist given in Daniel 9:27 and is the abomination of desolation spoken of by our Lord in Matthew 24:15.

But Paul tells us that this man of sin and son of perdition is to be destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming. Revelation 19:20 also tells us about his doom in the lake of fire. So here we have the order of the last days, the mystery of iniquity, the apostasy, the removal of the Restrainer, the manifestation of the man of sin and his destruction at Christ’s return.

What is our duty in the light of these things? Verse 15 of our chapter tells us. We are to stand fast and hold the traditions. “Traditions” is not a popular word today. Men ridicule those bound by “traditionalism.” But let us stand by the faith once for all delivered. We are on the winning side. Eternity will vindicate each blessed tradition in His Word.