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If you have a question for Dave and Tom to respond to in a future Contending for the Faith, stay with us, we’ll have our contact information at the end of the program. You are listening to Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. Now our final segment.
UNDERSTANDING THE SCRIPTURES
We resume our excursion through the Book of Acts, here again are Dave and Tom: This is our Understanding the Scriptures segment, we are in the Book of Acts Chapter 20, and we’re going to pick up with verse 32. Acts 20:32 , “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” “I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel.” Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.” Dave, I probably shouldn’t say this, but I will—The apostle Paul is not into The Secret .
Dave:
Well, I think he opposed it.
Tom:
I would say! “I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel.” And he is working for his necessities of life. Not that he didn’t appreciate those who gifted him in many ways.
Dave:
Right. Yeah, well, of course you could say that all the way through here. He’s not into The Secret he certainly is opposing it. Verse 32 begins, “And now, brethren, I commend you to God.” Well, what God is that? Well, it’s the God of the Bible, the God—By the way, Tom,—who has proved that He is God by His doings with Israel . Hundreds of prophecies about Israel have all come true or are in the process of coming true. And you can look at the daily news, look at the Middle East , and there we have the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. The fulfillment of Bible prophecy in Christ, and the teachings of the Word of God. No one can deny this is the Bible, I mean we have all the proof you could ever want. Okay. So we know who the true God is. The Creator of the universe and He says repeatedly, I am God, and there is n one else. In Isaiah, I think it’s the end of chapter 43, maybe it’s 44, He says: Is there a God beside Me? I know not any. God says, I created this universe and I’ve looked everywhere in the universe that I made, you know what? I can’t find another God, I am the only one. And then He talks about them worshipping their idols of gold and silver and so forth. So—“I commend you to God” this is the God Paul is talking about, “To the word of His grace.” Wow! As you pointed out, Tom, grace has no part in The Secret . They try to fit it in there but it doesn’t work.
Tom:
Well, even in the scripture there’s a difference between law and grace.
Dave:
Of course. It its grace is no more works, and the law gives you things to work for. If it’s by works, it’s not grace. Paul says you can’t put the two together.
Tom:
Dave, also throughout, particularly the Old Testament— I know you hate this word negative and positive because they really have no place in the Bible, but God judges— We talked about righteous judgment, and when they sinned God brought judgment, He brought punishment, He raised up other nations to scourge, basically His instruments, which were really deterrents could make the Israelites obey His rules, His laws.
Dave:
Tom, if God doesn’t fulfill His promises about judgment and punishment, how can I believe what He says about blessing? You have two sides to this. Well, he says: “I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up.” Jesus said: Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. This is like food. Doctrine, people despise it today. Doctrine is the container of truth, this is God’s Word, and so God’s Word will build us up. And the problem, Tom, which we have often pointed out is, most—well, do I dare say most? I think we could say most, most Christians are suffering from spiritual malnutrition. They don’t read the Bible, they don’t feed upon the Word of God, they don’t obey it and live it. And it’s able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all men which are sanctified.
Tom:
And sanctified does not mean canonize the saint, it means just set apart for God, we are a unique people, according to Titus, a peculiar people, it says.
Dave:
“To give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” That’s an interesting clause there, after all, am I not saved, am I not assured of heaven, I believe in Christ? Well then, how is reading the Word going to give me an inheritance? Because it’s going to build me up in my faith; allow me to live a more fruitful life for the Lord, which will benefit me as in a heavenly reward, I think that’s what he’s talking about. What is this inheritance? Well, we’ve been made heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ, heaven is our home, we are going to live with Christ in the Father’s house of many mansions. So, I would say this is the inheritance. It’s a heavenly inheritance, it’s not something on this earth. Then he says, “I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel.” I’m not in this for money, Paul says. He would be in bad shape if he were. He didn’t—see whether it’s Frederick Price, or it was Kenneth Hagin before he died, or Robert Schuller— possibility thinking or Norman Vincent Peale— positive thinking.
Tom:
Yeah, the prosperity gospel.
Dave:
Yeah, but you should be driving a Rolls Royce, says—
Tom:
Well, they said Jesus wore designer clothes, remember? His clothes were one piece, that made it designer clothes. So you really had more money than many people, according to them.
Dave:
He was so wealthy he had a treasurer. Well, I don’t want any of that, Paul says, because it passes away, and I’m not out to get something from you people. I’m here to serve you. And to prove that, he says, You know these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. He worked as a tent maker. He must have been a pretty good tent maker, and he was able to earn enough money on the side to support not only him, but his team. So, he wasn’t in an ivory tower by any means. He was beaten and stoned and scourged everywhere he goes. Verse 35: “I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Well, if I can give even the widow’s mite, and Jesus said she put more in there than all of them. He said, I don’t have much to give. Well, give what you have. And we’re not asking—please, don’t anybody out there misunderstand, we are not hinting for you to give to our ministry. Now we do need something to pay for the radio, but we never ask anyone because we ask the Lord. We are doing the Lord’s will, He’s going to provide, and through His people, but He says we should labor and work and remember, it is more blessed to give than to receive. And I think any bum on the street, you know, and there are some people out there I feel sorry for them, I don’t know how they got into that condition. How much was their fault and how much was “the breaks”, so called, but I think they would all wish that they could give rather than having to beg. So that goes with—you know, that certainly is true, but he’s speaking from a spiritual standpoint, to be able to give as the Lord has given to us. We have nothing, Tom, I love the hymn: Not have I gotten but what I have received, grace has bestowed it, since I believed. Boasting excluded, pride I abase. I’m only a sinner saved by grace. All I can give is what the Lord has given me, and if He has been that gracious to me, I surely ought to try to pass it on.
Dave and Tom will resume their discussion on the topic of salvation next week, we hope you can join us. This is Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. And now to tell you more about our ministry, here is TBC Executive Director Tom McMahon: The name, The Berean Call, is taken from the Book of Acts, chapter 17, verses 10 and 11, where we find the apostle Paul entering the synagogue in the Greek City of Berea after he had just come from Thessalonica. To these Bereans he preached that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah sent from God. They were commended for being noble, or fair minded, not only for their willingness to hear what Paul had to say about the matter, but more specifically because they searched the scriptures daily to find out whether or not what the apostle was saying was found in God’s Word. That’s what we hope to encourage through this ministry. Our mission is to alert believers in Christ to unbiblical teachings and practices impacting the church. We want to exhort believers to give greater heed to biblical discernment and truth regarding what they are accepting as spiritual. Hopefully, we can help mobilize believers in Christ to action in obedience to the scriptural command to earnestly contend for the faith found in Jude 3. And finally, our prayer is that we can be used of God to stimulate Christians to look to the Bible alone as their rule of faith, authority and practice in living lives pleasing to our Lord and Savior.
Gary :
If you would like to expand your knowledge of God’s Word we offer a wide variety of items that we hope you will find helpful, from books and tracts to audio and video recordings, CD-ROM, our website and much more. For a complete list of materials or to get a copy of today’s broadcast, write to us at PO Box 7019 , Bend , Oregon 97708 . Call us at our toll free order number 877-882-4253, that’s 877-88Bible, or visit our website at www.thebereancall.org . If you would like a copy of this broadcast on compact disk, ask for Program #2707, and be sure to mention the call letters of this station. And now, if you would like to watch Dave and Tom, our weekly broadcast is available on DVD, ask about a subscription when you contact us. You can also download both audio and video podcast at our website. We are planning our 2 nd annual prophecy conference for this August 9 th through the 11 th here in Bend . The Judgment Day Conference will again feature Dave and Tom. plus special guest archeologist and Middle East expert Randall Price, former Israeli General Shimon Erem, and former PLO militant Walid Shoebat. All the information is at our website, or ask about registration when you call or write. Get a pen or pencil ready, we’ll repeat our contact information in just a moment.
Next week we continue our series of programs addressing the popular new spiritual trend known as “The Secret” and if you ask and believe will you receive? In Religion in the News, Free Thinking Vacation, we’ll take a look at that story and address the question: Why did God create the unsaved? We hope you can tune in. If you have questions or comments about this program we urge you to contact our offices. Search the Scriptures Daily Radio Ministry is made possible by God’s grace, your prayers and your financial support. I’m Gary Carmichael, and for Dave, Tom and everyone here at The Berean Call, I would like to thank you for joining us, and invite you to tune in again next week. Until then, if you desire to know God’s truth, search the scriptures daily. For more information about The Berean Call, write to us at PO Box 7019 . Bend , Oregon 97708 , Call us toll free at our order number 877-882-4253, that’s 877-88Bible, or visit our website at www.thebereancall.org .
