Romans 5:1-5 “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Continuing from the last post, Pastor Herk gave us the third “C”-element of the Christian church, that being “Command” to the church. The Lord Jesus said in John 16:33,
“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Do not fear. Satan casts doubt through the world and make no mistake, hard times are not over and this side of eternity will have testing and opposition. But, the will of God is good, just and holy all the time, and His will is eternal. Perseverance and character are producers of disciple. Tribulation can be punitive, preventative, teaching and always educating for experience, testimony and bearing witness.
Philippians 2:6-8 “Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross."
The fourth element of the Christian church, that being “Commitment” to the church. Nobody prays for it to happen, but are we willing to die for Christ? What does it mean to be truly “alive and well” in Christ? That means that we must trust in Christ alone to be trustworthy. We must rely on Christ completely to be reliable. We must depend on Christ wholly to be dependable. We must have absolute faith in Christ to be faithful.
Revelation 20:11-15 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”
Due to sin, the first death is inevitable; we all physically die one day, but Hebrews 9:27 tells us, “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment”. The second death comes on Judgment Day, where those not “born again” and saved by Christ bear the wrath of God on their sins and are cast into Hell’s lake of fire with eternal separation from God. We send ourselves to Hell and that is the reality of the second death. Repent, accept the Savior’s salvation, follow and keep your eyes on Jesus for victory over the grave and life abundant. Sure, it costs something to follow Jesus, but know that our trials allow us to escape the Evil One (the devil).
Be faithful to the end. Stay in God will. There is glory beyond suffering.
In Christ, Brian
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