Treasure Chest

Bill Barnett began his teaching career in Texas. He served as head of the high school Science Department and coached several sports. However, God wanted him in full-time Christian ministry. After finishing seminary, he was called to a church in Alabama. For the past eighteen years, he was a successful pastor… When I was nine…

What is the difference between the condemnation and damnation of the Great White Throne Judgment and the commendation and praise of the Believer’s Judgment? THE BEMA OR AWARDS SEAT OF CHRIST The first future judgment derives its name from two passages where the term “Judgment or Bema Seat of Christ” appears: “For we Believers will…

To know the Person is to know th the Power [of living this new life]; for Christ is one and the same, “For he that is dead is freed from sin (the old man). Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him: … (for) I am crucified…

[John Stevens recounts his close brush with suicidal death. Instead, he was brought to salvation and new life in Christ! Here is an excerpt from his testimony…] When morning came, the new sun arose on the most beautiful sight that I had ever seen. Never before had I seen a world like the one that…

“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are holding to your faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless indeed you fail to meet the test! (2 Cor. 13:5-6 RSV) An Outer Change That is what Paul says he wants these Corinthians to ask themselves, “Does Christ live in…

“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are holding to your faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” (2 Cor. 13:5-6 RSV) An Inner Change Is Jesus Christ in you? Paul exhorts every individual in the church to ask himself that…

Most Christians know Christ died for their sins and they know that they have peace with God. The load of sin is gone and a home in Heaven is sure. What happens now is perhaps the biggest tragedy in the Christian life. Having received a past and a future salvation they now set out to…

The Apostle Paul is very clear in writing to the church at Corinth: “And such [ungodly people] were some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, ye are Justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11). Consider the different aspects of God’s…

Suffering in Light of God’s Sovereignty Paul’s testimony in the thorn-in-the-flesh passage–along with other passages–introduces the truth that no suffering is able to reach us apart from it being the will of God. In some Christian circles the theme of God’s sovereignty is much discussed. Controversies rage, for example, over the theme of our election…

Someone has said, “Life is a series of mortar attacks.” That person is right–and Christians are not immune. The older we become, the more we realize God’s purposes for our sufferings. Some have characterized Christianity as being a “fun” thing. Others have made Christianity a sure and certain route to financial prosperity and perfect health.…