Tape Gems

[The following excerpts are from Mr. Baker’s Tuesday night Bible Study tapes.]

Government…Prayer…Why

“I exhort therefore”, this is important, “…prayers, intercessions…for all men; For kings…”. Are we to pray, make intercessions for the President of the United States? People will say that’s getting politics into your religion. Paul didn’t hesitate to, did he? That’s the trouble with politics, doesn’t have any Christianity in it. It didn’t in Paul’s time – the Roman government was running things – and still Paul said to pray for kings! I wonder why? Was it that the country might improve, the world get to be a better place; did Paul ever say that? No, that wasn’t his purpose. Just that we might lead peaceful and acceptable lives, that’s all! And so it’s all right to pray for the government, that things might be run smoothly, so we can go our way and lead a peaceable life – perfectly alright. Now we don’t have to be particular on that, we might pick out the wrong thing. You see we don’t know how to run the government anymore than the President does. I know a lot of people in their prayers act like they could run the whole Universe. And they’ll pray for a long, long time, and go clear around and come back again right where they started. No, we don’t have to pray for any particular actions on the part of our President, governors, and so forth. Just pray that God will lead them, that they’ll let God lead them in the right ways, and let it go at that. Let God make the decisions. And you know that’s a pretty good way to pray in our own lives. God is a great Giver you know! Well, Paul tells it here in 1 Timothy 2:1 & 2, “For kings, for all that are in authority;…”Now here it is, “…that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life…”. Get that now, and don’t just stop there, “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life IN ALL GODLINESS AND HONESTY.” [T.F.T. tape 11-23-82.]

The Theater of the Universe

The earth has been called the theater of the Universe as God is working out His plan of redemption here for all His creation. This great Mystery which completes the Word of God and the knowledge of Christ, is at the heart of God’s redemptive plan. It was in the mind of God before there was a need for it. It elevates Christ to His highest position in Scripture. Israel knew Him as King, but we, members of the church which is Christ’s body, know Him as Head of a new creation, “…both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him.” Eph. 1:10. [T.F.T. tape 8-31-86.]

A Great Need

Ephesians 3:16 & 17, in this day it is A GREAT NEED! When strengthened in this way we can comprehend the revelation that really matters. [T.F.T. tape 9-16-80.]

Christ's Love

There’s an awful lack of love among men today, and many of them profess the name of Christ. We should pray, and we should so live that His love might be revealed to them. Let us walk in love ourselves. Now Christ loved us. He came and was obedient unto death. He was obedient unto the Father. He performed that for which He was preordained to perform. But you must remember also, when He went to Calvary and laid down His life, it was because He also loved us, as did the Father. (From T.F.T. Ephesians Radio Series Lesson #8, “Love”.)

Grounded in Love

Now Paul is praying in Ephesians 3:16 that they might be, “strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man”, for this purpose, “that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye being rooted and grounded (= founded) in love…”. Rooted like a tree! Grounded like a temple! And these Ephesians would understand what that was when it comes to a foundation, because in Ephesus they had one of the 7 wonders of the world --- the Temple of Diana. And that Temple had a foundation. The skilled workers of that time were scientist, and they built that Temple in such a way that the earthquakes, which were so frequent through that part of the country, would not destroy it. So then you’d say, “Well then they built it on a rock”. No they didn’t! In an earthquake a rock is one of the first things to shake. They went down and built in a marsh, of all places, but you know that’s like a cushion. But in order to keep the Temple straight, and from sinking, and so on, they laid down layers of animal hides and charcoal. The hides would be preserved airtight here in this marsh with the charcoal absorbing the moisture, and so forth. And they built up layers of that, and then laid the foundation of the Temple on top of that. And it would take a pretty stiff earthquake to shake it to pieces. Now these Ephesians would understand right away when Paul would speak about a foundation. If you are grounded in love, there is nothing that can shake you! (From T.F.T. tape 1-13-81, “Balance of Doctrine and Practice in Ephesians”.)

In Love

“But speaking the truth in love may grow up unto Him…”(Eph. 4:15). This parallels the expression in the doctrinal section in Eph. 3:17 & 18, “…that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend…”. So the growth is dependent on being rooted in love. And so in love we should grow up unto Him. No love – no growth! (From T.F.T. Eph. Radio Series Tape, Lesson #85.)

Love for All the Saints

In our Lord dwelt, “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily”. Now His body, the Church, is filled to the full with His fulness, and that means filled to the full with the fulness of God. But it’s too bad a lot of us don’t seem to know much about that yet; I suppose for one thing it can’t be comprehended because it is just too good to be true. However, I think that is not really the reason – the real reason is the lack of love to all the saints. Now if we have love to all the saints, that will result in praying for all saints as Paul says in Eph. 6:18. If people don’t pray for each other, they don’t love each other, and so the reverse would be true. And there’s something else too, supposing you do have someone who is a little difficult to love, they kind of repel you, you maybe don’t understand them – well, try praying for them, it works!

Now you know that Paul ended in Ephesians by including himself. He wanted them to pray for him, and I’m pretty sure his request was granted. I’m sure those folks prayed for him, for he was given utterance and boldness to speak, and in spite of his surroundings and they weren’t too good! Paul had really nothing to encourage him as far as his message was concerned, yet he gave us the greatest message the world has ever heard. I think then, it might be a good idea if we would be like him and the Ephesians (Eph. 1:15) and have love for all the saints. (From T.F.T. tape 5-3-83, “All Saints”.)

Love in Ephesians 4:32

“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted…” Tenderhearted means to be tenderly or yearningly affectionate. It isn’t too hard a job to love people when we realize Christ loves them. There are times when we fail to get people interested in a study of the Word, to understand some of the things we are trying to put across. Probably at those times we should examine ourselves. Have we been tenderhearted towards those we would like to win to the way of life --- the dispensation of the Mystery? Can we maintain an attitude of tenderheartedness when they oppose themselves to the truth? Or do we get argumentative? Can we take an insult, and act as if nothing ever happened? Can we do that? If we can’t do those things, we find that self is still in the way. And there is an old saying, “As long as a man is bigger than the gospel he is trying to preach, he’s a rank failure”. (From T.F.T. tape 10-2-84, “Ephesians Practical Series – Study #11”.)