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Pastoor Hannes Olivier
Grace Berean Bybelgerigte Christenkerk
Zambesilaan 263
Sinoville
Sel: 083 592 9686 / 0848128762




WBW KRY SY EIE KAPELAAN GENERAAL


Tydens die afgelope13 - 15 April 2012 kursus is ons eie Kapelaan Generaal aan ons lede voorgestel. 
Kapelaan Hannes Olivier is 'n bekende gesig onder ons lede.  Beide hy en sy "Engel Vroutjie" Amanda, is geliefde mense wat by meer as een geleentheid vir ons lede van onskatbare waarde was.
Kapelaan Hannes is deur al die svere van die lewe en ken ook die donkerkant van die lewe om blootgestel te word aan 'n rooftog soos waaraan baie van ons Boervolk deesdae blootgestel word.  Kapelaan se deur is wydoop vir enige lid wie ondersteuning nodig het.
Sy boodskappe gaan op 'n gereelde basis op hierdie bladsy verskyn, in Afrikaans sowel as Engels. 
Mag ons lede hierdeur vertroos, versterk en verryk word en die nodige voedsel kry vir hul geestelik lewe en om die aanslae van die hedendaagse lewe te kan afweer.


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CONFESSING CHRIST

"...if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Rom. 10:9,10).

In these sublime words the Apostle Paul sets forth God's simple plan of salvation. He calls it, in the preceding verse, "The word of faith, which we preach."

But often babes in Christ are urged to get to their feet in public testimony on the basis of the words: "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth . . . thou shalt be saved." Thus new Christians are given to feel that a heart faith is not enough to make them secure; that not until they have risen in public testimony are they saved and safe.

But what, then, does the Apostle mean by these words? Does he not plainly say, "If thou shalt confess... thou shalt be saved?" Yes, but here again, as with so many other passages, a traditional meaning has been superimposed upon the actual words of Scripture. What does the English word "confess" mean? Why, nothing more than to "acknowledge," to "admit." And this is exactly what the original Greek word means too, nor does Romans 10:9,10 say anything about confessing before men.

The trouble is that the idea of confession has been changed to profession --- even public profession --- and multitudes have followed the tradition of the fathers instead of examining the Word to see what it actually says. And so "the Word of faith" has been corrupted.

But does not the Apostle clearly say "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth... thou shalt be saved?" Indeed! And he adds, "and shalt believe in thine heart!" Now let us ask: Is it with that physical organ which pumps blood into our veins that we believe on Christ as our Savior? Oh, no! You say that is merely a figure of speech; somehow the heart is associated with believing. Exactly! Then you would insist that it is with the physical mouth we must confess! Can mutes not be saved then?

As if anticipating the misinterpretation of his words, the Spirit-inspired Apostle adds:

"For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed... For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Vers.11,13). This is "the Word of Faith, which we preach."


God Bless!


Pastoor Hannes Olivier


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CHRIST THE SON OF GOD

Paul opens his Epistle to the Romans by stating that the Lord Jesus Christ was "declared to be the Son of God with power," or "powerfully declared to be the Son of God... by the resurrection from the dead" (1:4). In Psa. 2:7, we have Christ, in prophecy, saying: "I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee."

Our Lord was, of course, eternally one with the Father, but the word "begotten" here comes from Israel's laws, referring to the time when the child was officially declared to be the father's full-grown son. But what day was He referring to? On what day did the Father officially proclaim: "This day have I begotten Thee"?

The answer is found in Acts 13:33, where the Apostle states that God "raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second Psalm: Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee." So our Lord was officially -- and powerfully -- declared to be the Son of God at His resurrection from the dead. But what did Paul mean in II Tim. 2:7,8, where he said: "Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead ACCORDING TO MY GOSPEL."

The answer is that the twelve had proclaimed Christ as the Son of David, to sit on David's throne. Theirs was "the gospel of the kingdom." But when the King and His kingdom were rejected, God raised up another apostle, Paul, to proclaim "the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24).

Christ was, indeed, raised from the dead to sit on David's throne, and this will yet come to pass, but Paul has a message for us, here and now: that Christ was raised from the dead to certify our justification and to become the Head of "the Church which is His Body.

" God Bless!

Pastoor Hannes Olivier


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"A TRUE VETERAN"

Before you have placed your trust in Christ as your Lord and Savior, there is nothing whatever you can do to please God or to gain acceptance with Him. John 3:35 declares that "the Father loves the Son" and cares what you think about Him and do with Him. This is why Verse 36 goes on to say: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."

But once you have received Christ as your Savior and Lord there is much you can do to please God. You can witness to His saving grace, you can please Him by living a godly life, you can work for Him, you can sacrifice of your means to further His cause, and yes, you can fight for Him. "Fight for Him" you say? Yes indeed, for this world system, our Adamic natures and Satan and his hosts, are all antagonistic toward the Christ who died for our sins. Satan's forces, especially, work behind the scenes to "blind the minds of them that believe not" (II Cor. 4:4). These fallen angels, we read, are "the rulers of the darkness of this world" (iEph. 6:12).

This is why God urges His children to be "strong in the Lord," putting on "the whole armor of God," so as to meet and defeat these evil forces (Vers. 10,11). This is why He puts a sword ("the Word of God") into our hands and bids us "stand... stand... stand!" (Vers. 11-14). Ah, but a great veteran, who waged many battles in making Christ known to the lost, gives us an inkling of the thrill that goes with being "a good soldier of Jesus Christ." In his last words, just before his execution, the Apostle Paul declared triumphantly: "I have fought a good fight!" (II Tim. 4:7). It was indeed "a good fight" in which he had been engaged, a fight to bring light and salvation and blessing to benighted souls. And the reward: "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown" (Ver. 8).

God Bless and may you all have a wonderful and victorious weekend in Christ Jesus.

Pastoor Hannes Olivier

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THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law" (Gal. 5:22,23).

The "fruit of the Spirit" is that combination of graces evidenced in the lives of believers who "walk in the Spirit." Let us never make the mistake of supposing that "the Spirit," in Gal. 5:22,23, refers to "the spirit of man which is in him" (I Cor. 2:11). It refers rather to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, who indwells believers. The spiritual virtues listed above do not spring from any goodness in us, but from the Spirit of God dwelling within.

Next, we should observe that these graces are not the product of human effort. The passage above declares that they are fruit, and fruit is the natural product of life and growth. Indeed, "the fruit of the Spirit" is here contrasted with "the works of the flesh" (Vers. 19-21), and these are all bad!

Finally, it is a remarkable fact that the graces which the Holy Spirit produces in yielded believers are certainly not those which the world admires. The world admires self-confidence, self-respect, self-made men, intellectual prowess, personal magnetism, authority, etc., while the Spirit produces "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." But consider the difference. A man may have self-confidence, intellectual acumen, political or other power -- and he may still be very difficult to live with, but not so with the virtues which the Spirit produces. Of those who possess these graces the Apostle says: "Against such there is no law."

God Bless and may you all have a wonderful and victorious week in Christ Jesus.

Pastoor Hannes Olivier


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THE GRACE OF GOD

In the Bible, the grace of God is His loving favor toward fallen man. St. Paul has more to say about grace than any other Bible writer, opening every one of his epistles with the declaration: "Grace be unto you and peace."

Little wonder, for he himself was God's greatest demonstration of salvation by grace. In I Tim. 1:13,14, he says:

"[I] was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious; but I obtained mercy... and THE GRACE OF OUR LORD WAS EXCEEDING ABUNDANT...."

After years of service and suffering for Christ, he declared:

"But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify THE GOSPEL [GOOD NEWS] OF THE GRACE OF GOD" (Acts 20:24).

Salvation is wholly by God's grace, not partly by man's works, for in Rom. 11:6 we read: "...if [it be] by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace."

And in Rom. 4:4,5: "...to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Thus salvation is "not of works" but "unto good works" (Eph. 2:8-10). Good works is the fruit, not the root.

"All have sinned," says Rom. 3:23 but, thank God, all may be "justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:24).

Thus it is God's purpose "that in the ages to come He might show THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF HIS GRACE in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:7).

God Bless!

Pastoor Hannes Olivier


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DEMON POSSESSION
The modern revival of E.S.P., fortune telling, astrology, magic, the Ouija board, the spirit seance and a score of other occult practices have caused many to wonder whether human beings may be possessed or controlled by evil spirits.
 Many Christian people recall the cases of demon possession recorded in the Bible in connection with our Lord's earthly ministry.
There is indeed much evidence that there was a great outbreak of demon activity when Christ was on earth. This outbreak seems to have abated soon after the Lord's ascension to heaven, but many are asking: Has another such epidemic broken out?

Whatever the answer to this question, the Scriptures clearly indicate that the best defense against the activity of Satan and his hosts is sincere faith in Christ, of whom we read that, "having vanquished" the powers of evil at Calvary, "He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it" (Col. 2:15). It is on the basis of Christ's finished work of redemption that St. Paul joins believers in..."Giving thanks unto the Father, who hath made us meet [fit] to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son" (Col. 1:12,13).Not only is the true believer in Christ "delivered... from the power of darkness," but upon believing he becomes "the temple of the Holy Spirit," a living shrine where Christ is worshipped. Thus St. Paul says again: "What! Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit" (I Cor. 6:19). How then could the Christian's body also be the dwelling place of an evil spirit? 
God Bless and may you all have a wonderful and victorious weekend in Christ.

Pastoor Hannes Olivier

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THE CHRIST BELLTHE BELLI KNOW WHO I AMI am God’s child (Rom. 8:16)I am a light in the world (Phil. 2:15)I am sealed by God (II Cor. 1:21-22)I am bought with a price (I Cor. 6:19,20)I am a saint (set apart for God) (Eph. 1:1)I am a personal witness of Christ (Acts 22:15)I have peace with God through Christ (Rom. 5:1)I have been saved in order to bear fruit (Rom. 7:4)I am a member of the Body of Christ (I Cor. 12:27)I am a citizen of Heaven living on earth (Phil. 3:20)I am free from any charge against me (Rom. 8:31-34)I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realm (Eph. 2:6)I have access to God through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18)I am a minister of reconciliation for God (II Cor. 5:17-21)I cannot be separated from the love of God (Rom. 8:35-39)I am assured all things work together for good (Rom. 8:28)I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Eph. 3:12)I have been crucified with Christ and He liveth in me (Gal. 2:20)I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13)I am God’s temple (I Cor. 6:19). I am complete in Christ (Col. 2:10)I have been justified (Rom. 3:24). I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3)I am God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works (Eph. 2:10)I am confident that the good work God has begun in me will be perfected (Phil. 1:6)I am redeemed and forgiven (Col. 1:14). I have been adopted as God’s child (Eph. 1:5)I belong to God. Do you know. Who you are?
Without Christ you are blind and lost (II Cor. 4:3,4), but the good news is, God loves you and Christ died to pay for your sins (I Cor. 15:3,4). The only question is, do you believe He died to pay for your sins, or are you still trying to pay for them in your own way, by doing good works? God says, “to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Rom. 4:5). Why not “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved”(Acts 16:31).

God Bless!

&"ACCEPTED"In Ephesians 1:6 the Apostle Paul sings a doxology, as it were, "to the praise of the glory of God's grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved". 

In the story of the Prodigal Son it is touching to see the father accept his wayward son back to his bosom --- and so generously! He does not merely admit him back into his home; he clothes him with his best robe, puts a ring on his hand, shoes on his feet and kills for him the fatted calf so that they call all to "eat and be merry" in celebration of his return. 

But the prodigal was after all the father's son, whereas Paul bids us "Gentiles in the flesh" to remember that originally we were "without Christ...aliens from the commonwealth of Israel...strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world" (Eph.2:12).

Hence it is even more touching to contemplate God's gracious acceptance of us who were not sons but "aliens" and "enemies" (Col.1:21).

The word "accepted" in the above passage actually comes from the word "grace" (Gr. karis) with which the verse begins: "...His grace, wherein He hath engraced us in the Beloved One".

Thus God looks upon us now with delight; He delights to favor and bless the believer because He sees him in Christ, His beloved Son.

This passage reminds us how God once broke through the heavens to declare: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt.3:17). And now He is delighted with us and blesses us with "all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies" because we are in Christ, the "Beloved Son". Not that we have attained to this position, far from it, for "HE hath MADE us accepted" --- HE hath engraced us in the Beloved.

God Bless!

&SATAN AND THE TRUTH

"If any man be in Christ he is a new creation..." (II Cor. 5:17). 

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus..." (Eph. 2:10).

"And ye are complete in Him..." (Col. 2:10).

"In Christ!" What a glorious truth! What a high and holy position! No religious ceremony, neither circumcision nor baptism, needed to make us spiritually complete. God only asks now: "Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called" (Eph. 4:1).

Many Christians are satisfied with salvation through the blood of Christ, but God wants us to have much more than this. He wants us to have "the full assurance of understanding" (Col. 2:2), to know the security, the blessedness, the glory of a position in Christ. He wants us to know "the exceeding riches of His grace" (Eph. 2:7), and to enjoy "all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Eph. 1:3).

But Satan does not!

For proclaiming these glorious truths the Apostle Paul was bitterly opposed on every hand, even by some saved religious leaders of his day.

And Satan has not changed!

Proclaim this message today and "your adversary the devil" will soon be roused to action. He hates this message of grace which the glorified Lord revealed through Paul (Eph. 3:1-3) and let us not be asleep to the fact that, as in Paul's day, he will again seek to use even saved religious leaders, evangelical "big guns," if he can, to oppose it, thus robbing Christ of His glory and believers of their blessings.

God Bless!!!

&COMFORT ONE ANOTHERIncreasing world tension and the present trend of events in the Middle East have always filled many with fear, and there are even sincere believers in Christ who fear that perhaps the "Great Tribulation" of prophecy, with all its horrors, is at hand.

It is true indeed that even Paul's epistles warn this world of the judgment to come. "...The Day of the Lord", he says, "so cometh as a thief in the night".

"For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape" (IThess.5:2,3).

But before this time comes, the Lord will recall His ambassadors, as the apostle tells us in the following passage:

"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

"Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

"Wherefore comfort one another with these words" (IThess.4:16-18).

This is the event with which "the dispensation of the grace of God" will be brought to a close. Then will follow "the day of His wrath", but even as Paul goes on to tell about this in the passage which follows, he reassures the members of Christ's Body that they will not be included amongst those to whom the Lord will come as "a thief in the night".

"But ye brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light...God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us...Wherefore comfort yourselves together..." (IThess.5:4-11).

God bless!!

& "IT IS I"

"Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid" (Mark 6:50).

They thought they had seen a ghost!

Already bone-weary from "toiling and rowing" against a "contrary" wind, and still "in the midst of the sea" though the night was far gone, they saw something in the distance that frightened them even more than the storm itself.

It was a ghost -- they thought -- and a chilling fear gripped them as they were made to face something they had never experienced before. At first, doubtless, they were petrified, gripped with unspeakable terror. Then they "cried out" and in response came the reassuring voice of their own blessed Master and Lord: "Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid". The grim specter that had filled them with stark dread had turned out to be the Lord Himself, the One whom they loved more deeply than any other on earth. See their faces! Looks of terror have given way now to looks of relief and joy. Their faces now are wreathed in smiles.

What a lesson for God's people in times of crisis! When caught in the grip of unspeakable fear, unable to face what seems to lie ahead, it is infinitely blessed to hear His voice, saying, "It is I"; not merely "I am here too", but "it is I". "I am in this trouble you fear to face. Indeed, it is I you will find in all your troubles if you will look at them more closely."

Those who are so careless as to confuse the believer's standing with his condition and experience should take note that it is Paul, the one who writes of our position in the heavenlies, who says in his very last epistle and in its very last chapter: "At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me... Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me..." (IITim.4:16,17).

It was a frightening experience to have to stand as a Christian before the wicked monster, Nero. And standing there alone, forsaken by all, served to add hopelessness to fear. Ah, but in his darkest hour "the Lord stood with him, and strengthened him". Yes, Paul knew something of this, and so might we when crises alarm us. So might we hear those encouraging, comforting words: "Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid".

God Bless!

Pastoor Hannes Olivier