The Progression of Evil

"But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived."  II Timothy 3:13.  Men will go forth with evil intentions in their heart seeking to seduce.  To seduce will be their desire.  These evil men will seek to bring others into their evil ways.  Evil uses deception.  Remember that Eve was deceived in the Garden of Eden.  Seducers will turn one's heart away from God.  Seducers will lead others into sin by deception.  They themselves have been deceived.  Lies and deception are the products of evil.  Evil grows and spreads at an alarming rate.  Evil corrupts and destroys.  Evil produces every vile act.  Evil violates all goodness and defiles all purity.  Evil lurks in every dark place seeking only to capture our heart.  Evil progresses and grows worse and worse.  We must be alert to the danger of evil and seduction.  We must not be deceived by the cloaks which evil wears.  Deception is a slippery slope, and we must walk with caution.   We must not be misled by those who would call evil good, and good evil.  Let us listen carefully to the voices which speak to us.  Let us consider well how we see and hear, and give care to the road which we travel.  Evil is seeking our heart.

Never Hunger And Never Thirst

"And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger: and he that believeth on me shall never thirst."  John 6:35.  There are many who want something, but are never willing to do what is required that they might have what they desire.  Many want what Jesus offers, but will not do those things that Jesus requires.  Jesus promises that those who come unto Him and believe on Him will never hunger nor thirst.  Jesus is all sufficient.  Jesus promises and will give all that is necessary for our happiness and fulfillment.  The offerings that He makes to us are not artificial.  The bread of life insures that we will never hunger or thirst.  The spiritual life is complete in Jesus.   Jesus is a Savior that is completely capable of providing for our spiritual well being.  But, we must come to Him.  We must see our need of Him.  We must know that our sufficiency is not of ourselves, but of Him.  We must believe on Him.  We must accept His offer with a heart of faith and surrender.  Jesus tells us who He is.  Jesus offers us the blessings of heaven that we need so that our souls might be sustained.  Will we not do what He asks that we might have what He offers?

Fruit Unto Holiness

"But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life."  Romans 6:22.  A glorious transition has taken place.  The journey takes one from sin to being a servant of God.  Those now free from sin are those who have put Christ on by being baptized into Christ.  Baptism is an operation of God that removes sin and transitions the sinner into freedom.  Sin is a slave master.  The only freedom from sin is servitude to God.   God's servant bears fruit and that fruit is holiness.  Sinners are unholy people.  God's people are holy people.  The servant of God turns away from sin and walks in the path of holiness.  Baptism cleanses the heart and gives rebirth.  This marvelous passage of scripture teaches that people can change their lives.  We must rely upon God for help with that change.  We move from the commission of sin to doing no sin.  Our desire is holiness.  Holiness is a daily work for the temptations of sin are ever present.  The end of the work of holiness is eternal life.  Sin offers on such promise or hope.  The reward for a holy life is life without end.  Holiness produces a wonderful life now and life to come. 

Singing With Grace

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."  Colossians 3:16.  This passage of scripture is very clear about singing in our worship of God.  We are to sing a certain type of songs.  We are to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.  Our singing in worship is to reflect the indwelling of the word of Christ in our hearts.  The word of Christ teaches of God's love for humanity and the reflection of that love in the cross.  The word of Christ speaks of redemption and the blessings of forgiveness.  Our songs will speak of these grand themes.  As we engage in the singing of psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, we are to sing with grace in our hearts.  The type of music that is to be used is the heart.  The New Covenant of Jesus Christ never speaks of any type of mechanical instrument that is to be used by the church in worship.  The psalms and hymns and spiritual songs are to be used for the purpose of teaching and admonishing one another.  No mechanical instrument can do this.  Words instruct.  Words admonish.  Our singing is to use words and these words are to always be the word of Christ.  We are be wise in our singing, not only in our praise of God, but also, we are to be wise as we teach and admonish each other.

Unashamed Of The Gospel

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."  Romans 1:16.  The apostle Paul was unashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The gospel can brings difficulty to the lives of those who preach as well as to the lives of those who believe.  We are to be unashamed of the gospel because of the power that it has, the blessing that comes from it, and the ones who can possess this blessing.  The gospel has the power to save the soul from sin.  Nothing else in the whole universe has that power.  The blessing that the gospel offers is salvation.  Those who can possess the blessing of salvation is anyone who believes the gospel.  The gospel is a message.  It is a word that is spoken.  The Bible contains the message of the gospel.  Those who will listen and believe this message can be saved.  Everyone who desires can believe the gospel.  God has not singled out a particular audience, but rather desires that the gospel be preached to everyone.  No single person is excluded from God's plan of salvation.  And thus, we hear, believe, and obey the word of salvation that has been sent from God. 

An Enduring Soldier

"Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."  II Timothy 2:3.  The greatest warfare is the warfare between good and evil.  The greatest enemy is the devil.  Satan is the adversary of all good.  The world is the battlefield.  The soldiers of Jesus Christ have enlisted themselves to do battle against the enemy of God.  Our weapons are not carnal.  We battle a spiritual enemy with spiritual weapons in a continuing warfare.  The enemy is cunning and subtle.  His way of life is alluring to so many.  The temporal pleasure that he offers is inviting.  Instant gratification is his bidding, and countless souls are deceived.  There is hardness in any battle.  War sees times of difficulty and hardship.  But the soldier of Jesus must endure and overcome.  The soldier of Christ must fight and fight and fight.  The battle is worthy of our engagement.  The cost is high for we battle for the souls of humanity.  We must have resolve to go on despite the hardship that comes.  We will continue to see the captivity of many souls.  We will witness the victories of the enemy.  However, we must not lose courage for our cause is right and our God is mighty.  We take orders from a powerful leader who will finally lead a charge of total victory.  In the end, God will triumph.  Hardness will pass, and the blessing of victory will be sweet.

The Greatest of These

"And now abideth faith, hope, charity; these three, but the greatest of these is charity."  I Corinthians 13:13.  The foundation stones of Christianity, the teaching of Jesus Christ, are faith, hope, and charity.  Without these vital pieces, the teaching of Jesus is lost.  Faith gives birth to hope, and hope is cradled in charity.  We have faith in God and the Lord Jesus Christ.  God through Christ has given us the hope of life.  We believe in the supreme nature of God and the divine nature of Jesus Christ.  God gave Christ to the world so that we might be saved.  God loves.  Christ loves.  Our faith and hope cause us to love.  We have charity toward God and toward ourselves.  Our charity must reach out to others.  As we know God and Christ, we love as they loved.  Our charity for others will inspire us to help and embrace.  When we fail to love, we have lost faith and hope.  Without charity toward others, we cannot have charity toward God.  Without charity toward ourselves, we will not embrace the promise of hope through Christ.  Faith, hope, and charity.  What a beautiful edifice is erected by these God-given stones.