“We have too many casual Christians who dabble in everything but are not committed to anything. They have a nodding acquaintance with a score of subjects but are sold on nothing. “Of course I’m interested in church—but with my club and my lodge and my golf and my bridge and my stamp collecting and my ceramics and my African violets, I just can’t get too excited about religion.” Our Lord had no place in His program for casual disciples. It was all or nothing.”
~Vance Havner
” Beware of being a religious poseur, trying to live up to a dramatized version of yourself.”
~Vance Havner
“It is possible to be a walking encyclopedia of Bible knowledge and know all the answers without knowing Him who is the Answer. It is possible to work in a travel office, sell tickets, hand out posters, and talk glibly of foreign lands without ever leaving the old home town. It takes more than a suitcase covered with foreign labels to make a world traveler. We can make a living by handling the things of God without knowing them first-hand. One can make a business of starting others toward the Promised Land without ever leaving Egypt.”
~Vance Havner
In this Edition:
The Secret Working of God — By A.W. Tozer
The Three “Cannot” — By Vance Havner
He Gave Thanks — By Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
The Triumphant Messiah: Psalm 2 — King James Version
The Value of Afflictions — By Pastor Ricky Kurth
Occupied With Praise — By A.W. Tozer
The Good News for Today — By Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
Teach No Other Doctrine — By Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
God’s Instructions 1 Timothy 6 — King James Version
Hinder Me Not — By Vance Havner
The Two Paths: Psalm 1 — King James Version
The Secret Working of God
By A.W. Tozer
I do believe in the secret and mysterious working of God in the human breast. I must believe it after finding the forgiving and converting grace of God in the Savior, Jesus Christ. My father and mother held high human standards, but completely without any thought of God. My parents appeared to be without any spark of desire after God; attitudes that were cold, earthy, profane. Can you tell me why, then, at the age of 17, as a boy surrounded by unbelief—l00 percent—I could find my way to my mother’s attic, kneel on my knees, and give my heart and life in committal to Jesus Christ? I cannot tell you why. I can only say that I know there is such a thing as the secret workings of God within the human being who has a sensitivity to hear the call of God. In my own case, I do have the testimony that my conversion to Jesus Christ was as real as any man’s conversion has ever been! My fellow man, if the Spirit of God is still tugging at your heart, thank God—and follow the light!
Verse
That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:7
Thought
I cannot tell you why. I can only say that I know there is such a thing as the secret workings of God within the human being who has a sensitivity to hear the call of God.
Prayer
Lord, may I always be sensitive to the still small voice that I heard when You called me to You.
The Three “Cannot”
By Vance Havner
He cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:26, 27, 33
If we hate not family and even our own lives; if we bear not our cross and come after Him; if we forsake not all that we have, we cannot be His disciples. He does not say we will be poor disciples, He says we cannot be His disciples at all. Tone it down all you will, the cleverest exegesis cannot do much with this threefold test. Why is it that we are so silent on such texts today? We have let down the bars and we take all comers. Our catch-all invitations gather in a motley mixture, a mixed multitude. Screen them with these three “cannots” and see how much wheat is left when the chaff is gone!
These words were spoken to a great multitude. We would be flattered by such a following, but our Lord immediately thinned His crowd. Is it not time we whittled down Gideon’s unwieldy band to a hard core of effectives? But, alas, this is the day of statistics, and we must make a good showing on the books.
He Gave Thanks
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
At the institution of the Lord’s Supper, as He took the bread and the wine, we read that he “gave thanks” (Matthew 26: 26,27; Luke 22:19,20).
Surely on this occasion He did not give thanks for food supplied! He was handling the symbols of His broken body and His shed blood. How we would like to know just what He said at this solemn moment; just what He gave thanks for!
This we shall never know in this life, but there are some basic facts we do know.
It was for love for sinful men that He was to die. He was to pay their debt of sin, and He looked forward to the time when, not only redeemed Israel, but the redeemed of every nation and dispensation will rejoice in sins forgiven and all that this entails for them. As He “gave thanks” in view of Calvary, He will then rejoice at the results of Calvary. The overflowing joy that will be the portion of the redeemed will be a greater joy to Him.
Thus Paul’s words in Hebrews 12:2 give us cause to rejoice in true thanksgiving of our Lord’s finished work of redemption on Calvary cross:
“Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
“What I believe about God is the most important thing about me.”
~ A.W. Tozer
The Triumphant Messiah
Psalm 2 — King James Version
1Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
3Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
4He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
5Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
6Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
7I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
8Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
9Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
10Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
11Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
12Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
The Value of Afflictions
by Pastor Ricky Kurth
Let’s face it, none of us likes to suffer pain, afflictions, or tribulations. Because of this, God’s people can often be found on their knees, asking God to shield them from these unpleasant things, or remove them once they become part of their lives.
And yet the overwhelming testimony of Scripture is that afflictions are good for us! Consider just this small smattering of verses that describe the spiritual value of afflictions:
“And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers” (II Chronicles 33:12).
“Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept Thy Word….It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn Thy statutes” (Psalm 119:67,71).
When God’s people are not afflicted, they tend to forget Him. Speaking of the people of Israel, God said,
“…when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery” (Jeremiah 5:7).
“According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten Me” (Hosea 13:6).
Speaking of God and Jeshurun (Israel), Moses said,
“He made him…eat the increase of the fields…suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs….But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked…then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation” (Deuteronomy 32:13-15).
When God speaks to us in the absence of afflictions, we tend not to listen:
“I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear” (Jeremiah 22:21).
There’s just something about afflictions that draw us closer to God! No wonder Paul said, “we glory in tribulations” (Romans 5:3), “knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope” (v. 4). Once we learn God’s grace is sufficient for all our needs, we can say with Paul:
“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities…for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (II Corinthians 12:9,10).
Occupied With Praise
By A.W. Tozer
It is surely an erroneous supposition for humans to think or to believe that death will transform our attitude and dispositions. This is what I mean: if in this life we are not really comfortable talking and singing about heaven and its joy, I doubt that death will transform us into enthusiasts! If the worship and adoration of God are tedious now, they will be tedious also after the hour of death. I do not know that God is going to force any of us into His heaven. I doubt that He will say to any of us, “You were never very interested in worshiping Me while you were on earth, but in heaven I am going to make that your greatest interest and your ceaseless occupation.” Controversial? Perhaps, but in the heavenly scene John describes, the living creatures crying “Holy, holy, holy!” rest neither day nor night. My fear is that too many of God’s professing people down here are resting far too often between their efforts to praise and glorify the living God!
Verse
They rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty.Revelation 4:8
Thought
If the worship and adoration of God are tedious now, they will be tedious also after the hour of death.
Prayer
Lord, give me the will to worship You now as I will worship in heaven.
The Good News for Today
May 8, 2015
“‘But the Levitical priests, who are descendants of Zadok and who guarded my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me, are to come near to minister before me; they are to stand before me to offer sacrifices of fat and blood, declares the Sovereign LORD. They alone are to enter my sanctuary; they alone are to come near my table to minister before me and serve me as guards.’” — Ezekiel 44:15–16
The Torah portion for this week is Emor, which means “speak,” from Leviticus 21:1–24:23, and the Haftorah is from Ezekiel 44:15–31.
The bad news is that we are living in an increasingly volatile world that has lost its moral compass and godly values. We face spiritual destruction internally as so many people turn away from God and run after material things. We face destruction of the values which we stand for on a global scale as extreme terrorism spreads its long tentacles to every continent in the world. As Jews, we feel this moral decline more powerfully as anti-Semitism continues to rise steadily all over the world and Israel faces threats of complete annihilation.
Today, five-year-old Jewish children in the United Kingdom are being trained to respond to a possible terrorist infiltration into their schools. In France, pious Jews are taking off their yarmulkes out of fear of being attacked. In the United States, anti-Israel movements have taken college campuses by storm. The clarity of what is right and who is right is lost on the majority of our world.
But here’s the good news: The decline in society’s morality is our opportunity to shine. It’s a chance to stand out from the crowd before God and to prove who we are and what we believe. The good news is that God doesn’t forget the good deeds of the righteous, and He rewards those who stand up for what is right.
In this week’s Haftorah reading from the book of Ezekiel, the prophet singled out a particular family of priests — a family by the name of Zadok, which incidentally means “correct” or “righteous.” The prophet explained that while all the other priests turned away from God as the nation of Israel strayed from God, only this family remained loyal. This family alone refused to follow the crowd and remained faithful to God. As a result, the other priests were banned from entering God’s sanctuary and performing the main services of the Temple. However, the Zadok family was rewarded with the great privilege of being the exclusive ministers in the house of God. One can only imagine the awesome reward that they received in the afterlife.
I want to encourage us all to join the family of Zadok. Be a beacon of light in a sea of darkness. Don’t be afraid to say what is right and do what is moral and ethical. Speak out to your friends, family, and community about the importance of supporting Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East – a region of the world that is falling more into the hands of extreme terrorists every day. While we pray for the day when all people will recognize God, today is our day to demonstrate that we are loyal, unshakable, faithful servants of the Lord.
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
Teach No Other Doctrine
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
In strong language the Apostle bids Timothy to “charge some that they teach no other doctrine”; no other doctrine, obviously, than that which he had taught them. In 1 Timothy 6:3-5 he closes his epistle by saying:
“If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ… from such withdraw thyself.”
In these passages the Apostle emphasizes the importance of fidelity to that heaven-sent message committed to him by revelation; that message which he says in Titus 1:2,3 was “promised before the ages began” but made known “in due time… through preaching which is committed unto me…”
Ever since Paul’s day religious leaders have substituted other messages for that committed by the glorified Lord to Paul. The law of Moses, the Sermon on the Mount, the “great commission,” and Pentecost have all been confused with God’s message and program for the dispensation of grace. This is what has bewildered and divided the Church and ripened it for the apostasy.
With all the confused thinking about the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount fifty years ago it was little wonder that modernism swept so many off their feet with its teachings about Jesus of Nazareth, the Man of Galilee, following his footsteps, social betterment, political reform, etc. Multitudes were so taken up with the social gospel, so eager to help make the world a better place to live in, that they did not even notice or believe that the modernists denied the very fundamentals of the Christian faith.
But the new evangelicalism of our day is still more dangerous. It is big. It is well financed. It is popular. It is subtle. Perhaps its greatest danger lies in the fact that while claiming to be “conservative,” it minimizes the importance of the fundamentals and the danger of apostatizing from them.
Thus the inspired words of the Apostle Paul: “Charge some that they teach no other doctrine,” are more urgently needed in our day than they were in his.
1 Timothy 6 — King James Version
Instructions to Servants
1Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. 2And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort.
Reject False Doctrines
3If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; 4He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, 5Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
Contentment in Godliness
6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 9But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Fight the Good Fight
11But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. 12Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. 13I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; 14That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: 15Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; 16Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.
A Charge to the Rich
17Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; 18That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; 19Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
Final Guidance
20O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: 21Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen. {The first to Timothy was written from Laodicea, which is the chiefest city of Phrygia Pacatiana.
Hinder Me Not
By Vance Havner
Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way.
Genesis 24:56
Abraham’s servant needed plenty of guidance. A man looking for a wife for himself needs all the illumination he can get, but this servant was looking for a wife for somebody else! Being in the way, as he put it, the Lord led him and he found the right girl. Now the subtle temptation to tarry awhile arises. It looks innocent enough, but he is on his guard. It is dangerous to linger. He will be on his journey. “Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way.”
We are often faced with the tempter’s suggestion to tarry, linger awhile, take it easy. But if the Lord has prospered our way we had better be going. Layovers at Satan’s suggestion become layoffs, and we fail of our mission. The diligent servant who is about his master’s business will take no holiday when he should be up and about and on his way home.
It would have been pleasant to enjoy the hospitality of Rebekah’s kinfolk and they meant well, no doubt. But the most innocent and well-intentioned can spell havoc with God’s timetable.
“Rise, let us be going.”
The Two Paths
Psalm 1 — King James Version
(Matthew 5:3-12; Luke 6:20-23)
1Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
4The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
5Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
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