"Everlasting love shall be the pillow on which I rest my head tonight." Spurgeon
The best proof that God's love will never cease, is that it never began. In times eternal He loved you and gave you to His Son to redeem, justify, and eternally reconcile you to Him.
"Everlasting love shall be the pillow on which I rest my head tonight." Spurgeon
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One who scatters is coming up against you. Man the fortifications! Watch the road! Brace yourself! Summon all your strength! Nahum 2:1
Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith."
(As Christians) we need to seek to give glory and honor to God as Creator, and to affirm the truth of the biblical record of the real origin and history of the world and mankind.
Part of this real history is the bad news that the rebellion of the first man, Adam, against God’s command brought death, suffering, and separation from God into this world. We see the results all around us. All of Adam’s descendants are sinful from conception (Psalm 51:5) and have themselves entered into this rebellion (sin). They, therefore, cannot live with a holy God but are condemned to separation from God. The Bible says that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and that all are therefore subject to “everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:9). But the good news is that God has done something about it. “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Jesus Christ the Creator, though totally sinless, suffered, on behalf of mankind, the penalty of mankind’s sin, which is death and separation from God. He did this to satisfy the righteous demands of the holiness and justice of God, His Father. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice; He died on a cross, but on the third day, He rose again, conquering death, so that all who truly believe in Him, repent of their sin, and trust in Him (rather than their own merit) are able to come back to God and live for eternity with their Creator. Therefore: “He who believes on Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God” (John 3:18). What a wonderful Savior—and what a wonderful salvation in Christ our Creator! (Answers in Genesis) Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.
Notice whose gospel it is....God's. He own's it, we respond to it, and we don't mess with it. Proclaim it as it was written. Real contentment comes only when we trust in God to meet our needs and to be our security. It is amazing that we are often more likely to put security and find contentment in things far less reliable and secure than God Himself!
Romans 2:5-6
But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works. God will be the Judge, who is righteous, holy, just, and true; every man in particular will be judged; as the judgment will be general to all, it will be special to everyone, and will proceed according to their works; for God will render to wicked men according to the demerit of their sins, the just recompense of reward, eternal damnation; and to good men eternal life, not according to the merit of their good works, which have none in them, but according to the nature of them; such who believe in Christ, and perform good works from a principle of grace, shall receive the reward of the inheritance, which is a reward of grace, and not of debt. In other words, God will render to evil men according to the true desert of their evil deeds; and of his own free grace will render to good men, whom he has made so by his grace, what is suitable and agreeable to those good works, which, by the assistance of his grace, they have been enabled to perform. (Commentary John Gill) Galatians 6:7-9
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. This is a basic, though sometimes neglected spiritual principle. Those who feed and bless you spiritually should be supported by you financially. Paul repeated this principle in several other places. If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? (1 Corinthians 9:11) Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:14) Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. (1 Timothy 5:17) If you trust them with your spiritual health, you should also trust them to steward the gifts of God's people (Luke 16:11). The principle of whatever a man sows, that he will also reap has application beyond giving and supporting teachers and ministers. It has a general application in life; what we get out is often what we put in. Yet, Paul is not promoting some law of spiritual "karma" that ensures we will get good when we do good, or always get bad when we do bad. If there were such an absolute spiritual law, it would surely damn us all. Instead, Paul simply relates the principle of sowing and reaping to the way we manage our resources before the Lord. He uses the same picture in 1 Corinthians 9:11 and 2 Corinthians 9:6-10. We may fool ourselves by expecting much when we sow little, but we cannot fool God, and the results of our poor sowing will be evident. (Commentary David Guzik) "For I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return" (2 Timothy 1:12).
Paul lived his life in tremendous assurance and peace. He trusted God and lived as one who knew that God was absolutely in control of everything that happened to him. Let's look at verse 8: "So you must never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. And don't be ashamed of me, either, even though I'm in prison for Christ. With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the proclamation of the Good News" (2 Timothy 1:8). Paul didn't consider himself to be a prisoner of Rome. He considered himself to be "in prison for Christ!" (NLT), "the Lord's prisoner!" (NASB). Paul gives us several reasons why we can face uncertain times having the assurance of salvation. We are saved! 2 Timothy 1:9 says "It is God who saved us…" The Greek word "saved" used here is in the aorist tense, which means He has saved us in a point of time. In other words, our salvation is an accomplished thing! This should encourage us to continue on in suffering for the Lord, knowing that we are saved and accepted right now "in Christ Jesus!" We have eternal life. We don't have to live in uncertainty of that any more. (Commentary Mark Martin) Don't be afraid! Here are some great phrases from the Word on fear. You can look them up in their context.
"Do not fear, for I am with you" (Genesis 26:24b). "Don't be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today" (Exodus 14:13b). "Don't be afraid... for God has come in this way to test you, and so that your fear of him will keep you from sinning!" (Exodus 20:20). "Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you" (Deuteronomy 31:8). "Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid" (Psalm 27:3). "Say to those with fearful hearts, 'Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you' " (Isaiah 35:4). "Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand" (Isaiah 41:10). "For I hold you by your right hand—I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, 'Don't be afraid. I am here to help you' " (Isaiah 41:13). "Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine" (Isaiah 44:2a). "Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will gather you and your children from east and west" (Isaiah 43:5). "The Lord who made you and helps you says: Do not be afraid" (Isaiah 44:2a). "Do not be afraid of people's scorn, nor fear their insults" (Isaiah 51:7b). "Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. Don't be afraid; there is no more disgrace for you. You will no longer remember the shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood" (Isaiah 54:4). "My Spirit remains among you. . . . so do not be afraid" (Haggai 2:5). "And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows" (Luke 12:7). "But don't be afraid of those who threaten you" (Matthew 10:26a). "So don't worry or be afraid of their threats" (1 Peter 3:14-15). "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18, ESV). Harry Emerson Fosdick said, "Fear imprisons, faith liberates; fear paralyzes, faith empowers; fear disheartens, faith encourages; fear sickens, faith heals; fear makes useless, faith makes serviceable—and, most of all, fear puts hopelessness at the heart of life, while faith rejoices in its God." |
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