Berean Bible Society

Poor Ziggy

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Poor Ziggy!

by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
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Ziggy is said to have been the world’s largest male Indian elephant in captivity and had a reputation for being mean. But Ziggy got careless one day here at Chicagoland’s Brookfield Zoo and fell into the deep moat in front of his cage.

It was no fun to be trapped there for 31 hours in an uncomfortable position with both tusks broken and head bleeding, unable even to move.

Cranes, tow trucks and other pieces of equipment were employed in vain. They could not even move Ziggy’s 7-ton (That’s 14,000 lbs.!) hulk to a more comfortable position. Finally, though, someone thought of building a ramp by pouring gravel — 42 tons of it — into the moat, and Ziggy was freed.

When we learned about Ziggy’s sad plight it reminded us of the fall of man. Through sin man has fallen into trouble and misery and cannot extricate himself. When he deceives himself into thinking that he can surmount the situation by his own efforts he soon learns that he is vainly trying to pull himself up by “his own bootstraps” and his outlook only continues to darken.

Like Ziggy, fallen man needs help from the outside. Trying, hoping, deciding, determining, vowing, looking on the bright side — none of these prove successful; he needs a Savior.

How blessed, then, to know that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” and that “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”!

Once we acknowledge our condition as fallen sinners and call upon Him to save us, He is quick to respond.

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To the Reader:
Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that many of them first appeared as newspaper articles. We hope that you’ll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

The Water Of Life

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The Water Of Life

by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
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For almost twenty-four hours, recently, Chicagoans had to boil their drinking water! Millions of small fish had jammed the water intakes far out in Lake Michigan, and had died there. It was, of course, a major operation to clear them all away and to make sure that Chicago’s drinking water was uncontaminated.

It is of the utmost importance, always, that the water we drink is pure and fresh, and this is no less so where spiritual matters are concerned. The Bible has much to say about stagnant water, and foul water, and poisoned water, but the water which God would give to us is called in Scripture, “the pure water of life,” doubtless because it is so wholesome and refreshing.

Perhaps the reader will recall the picture our Lord drew for that fallen Samaritan woman at the well of Sychar. John 4:10-14 tells how he and this woman had discussed Jacob’s well. Somehow she seemed to sense that He was contrasting her vain pursuit of pleasure with eternal life, when He said:

“Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him, a [fountain] of water, springing up into everlasting life” (Vers. 13,14).

How true this is! The pleasures of this world do not satisfy. Men go on “pursuing pleasure” to keep from being bored, but the everlasting life that God gives to those who trust in Christ is a never-ending source of refreshment and joy. Also, it provides the greatest incentive to serve Him. Those who possess the joy of sins forgiven and of peace with God naturally long to serve and please Him, and God desires no service except that which springs from genuine gratitude and love.

“We love Him because He first loved us” (I John 4:19).

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To the Reader:
Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that many of them first appeared as newspaper articles. We hope that you’ll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

The Supreme Critic

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The Supreme Critic

by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
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About 1900 years ago St. Paul wrote to Timothy, with regard to the sacred Scriptures:

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

This truth has been confirmed by overwhelming evidence, and those who have tried, through the centuries, to overthrow the Bible have been about as successful as a man trying to overthrow the Rock of Gibraltar with a pea shooter.

Furthermore, the Word of God towers above the clergy as well as above the laity. The Bereans were called “noble” because they put the words of even the great Apostle Paul to the test of Scripture, to see if he taught anything contrary to it.

That blessed Book is the Supreme Critic. If we overlook vital doctrine, it is the Book that will “teach” us. If we handle the Word deceitfully, it is the Book that will “reprove” us. If we go astray in our conclusions, it is the Book that will “correct” us. Where moral questions are involved, it is the Book that will “instruct us in righteousness.” Well do we remember when we were first convicted by the Bible as the written Word of God — and we have never ceased to thank God for the blessed results.

This Book condemns men as sinners before a holy God, but presents salvation free and complete through the vicarious death of Christ at Calvary.

“Christ died for our sins” (I Cor. 15:3).

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

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To the Reader:
Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that many of them first appeared as newspaper articles. We hope that you’ll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Bible Test

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Bible Test

by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
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A Bible test was sprung recently on five classes of college-bound 11th and 12th graders in an American public school.

Some thought Sodom and Gomorrah were lovers; that the Gospels were written by Matthew, Mark, Luther and John; that Eve was created from an apple; and that the stories which Jesus told were called parodies.

Eighty to ninety percent of the students could not complete the most familiar quotations from Scripture.

The teacher, Thayer S. Warshaw, was understandably upset and rightly asked: “Is the student to study mythology and Shakespeare and not the Bible? Is it important for him to learn what it means when a man is called an Adonis or a Romeo, yet unimportant for him to be able to tell a Jonah from a Judas?”

This writer’s heart is with that teacher and all who are awake enough to see that the Bible is disappearing more and more from American life. How can we expect anything but juvenile delinquency, the rapid general rise in the crime rate, the growing divorce rate, increasing dishonesty at every level of business and social life — how can we expect anything but these conditions when the Bible is flaunted and despised? This departure from the Word of God is bound to get us deeper and deeper into trouble.

But whatever the conditions about you, you may have the joy and peace and light that comes from that Blessed Book. The Bible tells us frankly that “all have sinned” (Rom.3:23) and that“the wages of sin is death” (Rom.6:23) since a just God must deal with sin. Ah, but it tells us also that “Christ died for our sins” (I Cor.15:3), and that the believer may have “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”(Rom.5:1).

Read the Bible, especially the Epistles of Paul, who was raised up to proclaim “the gospel [good news] of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). You will never cease to thank God for having given your attention to this wonderful Book.

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To the Reader:
Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that many of them first appeared as newspaper articles. We hope that you’ll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.