OUR COMFORT

One day, this life of suffering will be over and all will be made new.
Revelation 21.1-4 (NKJV) Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”


The Lord is our shepherd, always leading us in the best ways and protecting us.
Psalm 23


God always shelters those who put their trust in Him.
Psalm 91.1-2 (NKJV) He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”


God knows us most intimately; he holds and guides us by His hand.
Psalm 139.1-12 (NKJV) O LORD, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. 3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. 5 You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it. 7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.


The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the coming glory.
Romans 8.18 (NKJV) For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.


God works all things together for the good.
Romans 8.28 (NKJV) And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.



God’s grace is sufficient for every need.
2 Cor. 9.8 (NKJV) And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.


God directs all things by His infinite wisdom and His ways are beyond our understanding.
Romans 11.33-36 (NKJV)
33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! 34 “For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?” 35 “Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?” 36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.



As an eagle stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, so God cares for His own.
Deut. 32.10-12 (NKJV) “He found him in a desert land And in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. 11 As an eagle stirs up its nest, Hovers over its young, Spreading out its wings, taking them up, Carrying them on its wings, 12 So the LORD alone led him, And there was no foreign god with him.


God is faithful and will be with you every step of the way.
Psalm 55.22 (NKJV) Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.

2 Cor. 1.3-4 (NKJV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.


Isa. 40.10-11 (NKJV) Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him. 11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.

Psalm 30.4-5 (NKJV) Sing praise to the LORD, You saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. 5 For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.

Phil. 4.19 (NKJV) And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
















Sing Praise To The Lord

Mark Chandler

DIE TO LIVE

 
"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it." (Mark 8:35)

The principle expressed in this verse must be of paramount importance, for it is found repeated in one way or another probably more often than any other single principle in the New Testament. 

Note the following examples representing at least four separate messages from the Lord Jesus:

Matthew 10:39: "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."

Matthew 16:25: "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."

 
Luke 9:24: "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it."

 
Luke 17:33: "Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it."

 
John 12:25: "He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal."

This remarkable divine paradox—that to die means to live—is also found expressed in many other ways in the epistles. Paul says, for example: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live" (Galatians 2:20). Note also such Scriptures as Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15; 6:9-10; Philippians 1:21-24; 2 Timothy 2:11-12.

There are many pietistic Christians who interpret such passages as implying a so-called "deeper life" which is attained by certain Christians and not by others through some mystical experience. However, Jesus did not say to lose one's life for a deeper life, but for "my sake and the gospel's"!


Christ wants us to live in simple obedience to His will as recorded in His Word, proclaiming in all we say and do that He is Creator, Savior, and coming King.















Sing Praise To The Lord

Mark Chandler

FAITH

"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." (John 1:12)

Scripture teaches that "by grace are ye saved through faith" (Ephesians 2:8), and that faith (or belief, same word) in the substitutionary work of Christ on the cross is essential to salvation (John 3:15-18, etc.). But faith does not stop there; it grows as a Christian matures. Let us look at some of the characteristics of a growing faith in God.

One who has accepted God's gracious offer of forgiveness and salvation, one who, by faith, has found God trustworthy, comes to trust Him and His promises in other areas as well. Paul, who had been sorely persecuted for his faith, claimed, "Nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (2 Timothy 1:12). God will faithfully fulfill His promises, and we can have faith that He will.

The great heroes of faith, some of whom are listed in Hebrews 11, all had one thing in common. They dared to trust God for great things, even impossible things, and moved out on that basis. Consider Joshua: "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days" (Hebrews 11:30). Joshua was confronted with an impossible problem, but dared to trust God for a solution.

Then there is the mature faith which can "rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him" (Psalm 37:7) in the face of hardship and opposition. "For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD . . . shall inherit the earth" (v. 9).

At every stage of our Christian lives, God allows us opportunities to exercise and expand our faith. Remember, "without faith it is impossible to please him" (Hebrews 11:6).















Sing Praise To The Lord

Mark Chandler

RUN LIKE THE WIND

Things to Flee

"Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart." (2 Timothy 2:22)

There are times to stand and there are times to flee. There are some things so fearful and deadly that it is foolish to try to face them at all. The only rational course, when confronted by them, is to flee!

The most obvious of all such enemies is the wrath of God, for His judgment is terrible and eternal. Therefore, His message to all unsaved men and women is to "flee from the wrath to come" (Matthew 3:7—the first occurrence of "flee" in the New Testament) by receiving Christ as Savior.

It is wise to refrain from all kinds of sin, but certain sins have such deadly consequences, even in this present life, that the Scriptures warn us to flee from them. "But thou, O man of God, flee these things" (1 Timothy 6:11). In context, the apostle Paul is here warning against "the love of money" (v. 10) and those who suppose "that gain is godliness" (v. 5). Those who desire to be rich, he says, "fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition" (v. 9). Therefore, flee from this temptation!

He also warns us to "flee from idolatry" (1 Corinthians 10:14)—that is, from worshipping and serving any part of the creation "more than the Creator" (Romans 1:25). This warning is especially appropriate today when there is such a wide resurgence of evolutionary pantheism.

Also, we must "flee fornication" (1 Corinthians 6:18). This is a deadly danger to the Christian in this day of amorality. Finally, as our text says, young believers (and old believers need this admonition, too!) should "flee also youthful lusts," if we are to be able to "call on the Lord out of a pure heart.















Sing Praise To The Lord

Mark Chandler

THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE

The Sure Foundation

"Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure." (2 Timothy 2:19)

The preceding verses of this section of 2 Timothy are replete with warnings about the damage that could be done through "babblings" and cancerous words. But God is unshaken by whatever man might do. "He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he" (Deuteronomy 32:4).

"I am the LORD, and there is none else," Isaiah joyfully quotes (Isaiah 45:6). "I am the LORD, I change not," the prophet Malachi is told (Malachi 3:6), and there is "no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17) in the God of creation. God's sovereign will is absolute: "The word of our God shall stand for ever" (Isaiah 40:8). "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure" (Isaiah 46:10).

We who are the twice-born, and thus the children of God, can stand firm and steadfast in the knowledge that He who is "sure" is the One who is working in us "to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). He has adopted us as His children "by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will" (Ephesians 1:5).

It is no random act of capricious fate that has secured us. It is the sure foundation of the great Creator God. It is His divine power that has "given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue." That calling rests on "exceeding great and precious promises" that enable us to participate in the "divine nature" and escape the awful "corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter 1:3-4).















Sing Praise To The Lord

Mark Chandler

VESSELS OF THE HOUSE

Vessels of the House

"But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour." (2 Timothy 2:20)

The "house" referenced here by Paul to young Timothy is the "house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15). In the Old Testament, the tabernacle and temple were the dwelling place of God and the center of worship led by a high priest from the tribe of Levi.

Now, we are members of the Lord's "house" (Hebrews 3:6) and are like "lively stones" that are being "built up a spiritual house" (1 Peter 2:5), led by Jesus, who is the "high priest over the house of God" (Hebrews 10:21).

This "great house" has many "vessels" in it of different values. Some are "honorable" instruments (vessels of high value) that serve in the New Testament economy in some parallel function to that of the vessels of the inner court of the tabernacle and temple. Those instruments of gold, silver, and brass (Exodus 25; 2 Chronicles 4) each played a part in the liturgical worship, designed as part of the "schoolmaster" to teach us about the law of God (Galatians 3:24). The more public and formal the use, the more valuable the vessel. The most valuable were set closest to the Holy of Holies.

There are also vessels of "dishonor" in the great house. The tabernacle and temple had "earthen" vessels for certain functions (Leviticus 14). These were expendable—necessary, perhaps, for some short-term need, but not valuable. Since the church now functions as the "pillar and ground" of the truth, the "honorable" vessels are expected to purge themselves from that which is "dishonorable." 















Sing Praise To The Lord

Mark Chandler

WALK IN TRUTH

Walking in Truth

"I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father." (2 John 4)

This beautiful metaphor, "walking in truth," is found only in the two one-chapter epistles of John—here in our text, and in 3 John 3 and 4. This principle should indeed characterize our daily lives, since our Lord and Savior is Himself "the truth" (John 14:6), the Word of God which we believe is "truth" (John 17:17), and the Holy Spirit who indwells our bodies is the very "Spirit of truth" (John 15:26).

The New Testament also uses other characteristics of the Christian life under this figure of walking. When a person is born again through faith in Christ and testifies of this by following the Lord in baptism, he or she is said to be raised to "walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4).

Then, since the Holy Spirit has come to indwell our bodies, to comfort, guide, and constrain us as needed, we are exhorted to "walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16). Furthermore, we are commanded to "walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us" (Ephesians 5:2). This is not erotic love, of course, or even brotherly love, but unselfish "agape" love that sacrifices its own interests for the needs of others.

There are still more such exhortations. "Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time" (Colossians 4:5). Furthermore, we are to "walk in the light, as he is in the light" (1 John 1:7).

All of these and other similar admonitions can be summarized as simply following the example of Christ. "He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked" (1 John 2:6). "He that followeth me," said Jesus our Lord, "shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12).















Sing Praise To The Lord

Mark Chandler