“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for:
“If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.” (2 Timothy 2:8-13 ESV)
In the book of Genesis we read the story of Joseph whose brothers sold him into slavery because they were jealous of him and of his favor with their father. But the Lord had plans for Joseph that his brothers had no knowledge of. For God sent Joseph to Egypt ahead of a famine to prepare the way for the Lord to rescue his people from a famine (Genesis 37:1-Genesis 50:26). And when his brothers finally realized that this was Joseph, they begged his forgiveness. And this was Joseph’s response to his brothers:
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” (Genesis 50:20 ESV)
Sometimes God allows evil to come into our lives, not speaking here of the kind where we are tempted to do evil and so we succumb to the evil and therefore we sin against the Lord, but evil done against us. And he allows evil people to do evil against us because he has planned a greater good as the result, such as what Paul gave testimony about in his own life many times. For because Paul was imprisoned for preaching the gospel, the gospel of Christ spread and many more people were saved from their sins.
And I have shared my own testimony of how the Lord took me through one difficult situation after another after another to get me ready for this ministry to which he called me 20 years ago. And I have shared how I came up against one pastor after another who mistreated and persecuted me for my walk of faith in the Lord, and how that lead to the Lord sending me to the internet where he could use me to share his gospel message and to warn of deceptive forces of evil lurking about and of false gospels being taught.
When we are going through these times of difficulty where we are being mistreated and persecuted for our walks of faith in the Lord, we may not always understand what is happening to us and why, especially if we have not yet reached that maturity level in our lives where we understand that God allows us to suffer for the sake of righteousness in order to make us into the people that he wants us to be so that he can use us in other people’s lives to help them to know Christ and to grow to maturity in him.
So, it is good for us to seek the Lord’s face during these difficult times, not just for our own comfort, but to learn the reason for our suffering and what God has planned for our lives as a result of all the things that he has taken us through. For, if we are willing, the Lord will show us his plan and his purpose for it all, and he will lead us in the way that he would have for us to go as a result of all the things we have suffered. And he will use us in other people’s lives for their good because of what we suffered in advance.
“Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” Amen!
And now here Paul laid out for us some elemental truths of the gospel message. The first one is that if we have died with him, we will also live with him. For Jesus Christ died on that cross that we might die with him to sin and now live for him and for his righteousness in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living. But if we choose to hold on to our old lives of sin, we will lose them for eternity. Yet if we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, then we have the hope of eternal life with God.
[1 Peter 2:24; Romans 6:1-23; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Luke 9:23-26]
The second is that if we endure, we will also reign with him. And the New Testament Scriptures have much to say to us on this subject. For we cannot just make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and now all our sins are forgiven, and now heaven is guaranteed us when we die, but regardless of how we live. We have to walk in obedience to our Lord and not in sin if we want to have salvation from sin and eternal life with God. And we must continue in these walks of faith until the very end to have life in Him.
[Jn 8:31-32; Jn 15:1-12; Rom 11:17-24; 1 Co 15:2; Col 1:21-23; 2 Tim 2:10-13; Heb 3:6,14-15; 2 Pet 1:5-11; 2 Pet 2:20-22; 1 Jn 2:24-25]
The third is that if we deny him, he also will deny us. And we deny him, not just with our lips, but by how we live our lives. In fact, we can profess him with our lips but by our actions deny him. And that is still denying him. For we can honor him with our lips while our hearts are far from him, and we can worship him in vain. And we can be ashamed of his words, not just by our refusal to speak the truth of the gospel to others, but by our refusal to live the truth of the gospel. And he will deny us when he returns one day.
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 10:32-33; Matt 15:7-9; Luke 9:23-26; 2 Timothy 2:11-13; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; Titus 1:15-16; 2 Peter 2:1-3; Jude 1:3-4]
The fourth is that if we are faithless, that he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. And we must be very careful here that we do not misinterpret these words. For he is not faithful to us if we are not faithful to him. And we have to know here, too, that all of God’s promises have conditions and stipulations and warnings to go with them. So he is faithful to those promises and to the conditions which he stipulated for those promises to be fulfilled. And he is faithful to fulfill his warnings to us, too.
And the New Testament Scriptures are filled with his promises with their stipulations, and with his warnings to us if we do not meet those requirements. For if we profess to be in fellowship with God, but while we walk (in conduct) in darkness (sin), we are liars. And if we claim that we know God but while we walk (in conduct) NOT in obedience to his commandments (New Covenant), we are liars. For whoever practices righteousness is righteous, but whoever practices sin is of the devil.
[Rom 2:6-8; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]
Songs in the Night
An Original Work / December 18, 2013
“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84
Lord, I praise You forevermore.
You, my Savior, I now adore.
Hope in heaven awaiting me,
Because You died at Calvary.
I have been forgiven,
And I’m bound for heaven.
Jesus set me free from
All my sin, I say.
I will praise Him always!
Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:
Overcame death, my vict’ry won!
Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!
I rejoice in His love for me.
I will walk in vict’ry!
My sin is but hist’ry!
I am free to please Him
With my life today.
I will love Him always!
Lord, I thank You for giving me
A new life bought at Calvary.
Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.
Tender mercies now flow within.
Lord, I am so thankful;
Through my Lord, I’m able
To sit at His table;
Fellowship with Him.
I will thank Him always!
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