Surrounding Sounds

Part 2

Jack Davis

“For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost…So that ye were ensamples to all that believe…For from you sounded out the word of the Lord.” I Thes. 1:5-8.

These to whom Paul wrote had their spiritual ears on, they had given the more earnest heed to the things they had the privilege of hearing. Those true and living sounds, were significant to them, they appropriated the message, it entered into them. These saints, like the strings on a violin were in tune or in harmony with heaven being put under pressure. The apostle Paul was thankful and so are we that they not only heard the sound of salvation, but also sounded it out.

Today, it seems that more and more are becoming dull of hearing, from neglecting to hear or give attention to God’s Word. Does it not seem that Amos 8:11, is again and again being fulfilled as it is in every dispensation?

SOUNDS OF PREPARATION

We do well to consider what sounds that surround us today signify. What are we aware of or listening to? There are many noises that we could get unduly exercised about, but we are told to exercise ourselves rather unto godliness. He that came from heaven as of a sound of a rushing mighty wind, is speaking in the church and in the world today. Who has ears to hear? He speaks expressly concerning the “latter times.” He forewarns us of the prevailing conditions with which our age will close (I Tim. 4, and II Tim. 3). It is my guess that the voice of the (turtle dove) Holy Spirit is being heard around the world saying, “O get ready evening shadows fall.” Rom. 13:10-14.

Jesus said, “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. (Have we heard of such in our day? Oh yes repeatedly). And ye shall  hear of wars and rumours of wars…nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows” – Mt. 24:4-8.

Have you heard of any thing such as these? How loud are the sounds of Jesus coming? Is the Spirit and the bride saying come? Is anyone hearing the voice of that heavenly Solomon, saying “Arise my love my fair one and come away?” The voice of our beloved, by some is being heard. In our tests, trials, and triumphs He beckons us on.

John the Baptist proclaimed that he rejoiced to hear the bridegroom’s voice John. 3:29. “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him” Mt. 25:6. According to Paul‘s epistles before the midnight call, some believers will have already been gathered unto Him, for they have been listening to his voice for some time. They know the times and seasons. They can easily distinguish the sounds.

SOUND OF TRANSLATION

“For the Lord himself shall descent from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of  God” I Thes. 4:16. All that be in graves will hear his voice, and shall come forth.” Jn. 5:25,29. I am prone to doubt that we will be very quiet when we leave this earthly scene. HALLELUJAH! Are you listening? One day soon you will be exceedingly glad you did. Giving the more earnest heed to Him today, is preparing for that glorious tomorrow.

 Always Connected

Gordon Crook, Pastor

Grace Assembly, Wichita, Kansas

Our technology today allows us to be always connected. Well, almost always. Technology does have its limitations. As part of my job, I carry a cell phone which allows me to be connected everywhere I go. I can get phone calls, my work email, and my work calendar no matter where I go. This may or may not be a good idea, but it is possible. 

While it can be useful for work purposes to be connected as much as possible, and it may help my team, there are times when the service will go down for a while, or the server will fail temporarily, and then it is just a useless electronic device.

Many people today are connected all the time and have become so accustomed to being always connected, that they think it is an emergency if their service fails even briefly.

Being always connected reminded me of a great spiritual truth. Unlike modern technology, our connection with God does not fail and God’s server never goes down. We can be connected to our Heavenly Father at all times, no matter where you go in this world.

In Genesis 28:15, God told Abraham, “And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.” He promised to always be with Abraham no matter where he went. That is better coverage than any of the cell phone companies.

In Psalm 145:18, we find that, “The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.” Just a call away, that is all. Anywhere you go. You too can be always connected, not to your friends or work colleagues, but to God. The Creator of all things. That is a true connection, and one that has immeasurable value.

“In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.” Psalms 86:7. Not only is the line always connected, He always answers. He is never too busy to take your call. He also does not sleep (“he that keepeth thee will not slumber.” Psalms 121:3) so you can count on Him answering at all times.

I have always enjoyed thinking of how Abraham had such a close relationship with God, that he just conversed with Him. “And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake. And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.” Genesis 18:32-33. Do you see how personal and intimate this connection is? Your relationship with God can be this close as well. Prayer is just conversing with God. If you have a willing heart, you will hear God speaking to you as well. Not necessarily in an audible voice, but in ways that you will recognize, especially through His Word. 

It would certainly be a shame to waste such an important connection. I see people who seem forever glued to their cell phone, who would probably be lost if they had to go one day without service. How about your connection to God. Do you have to have that every day? Do you ever go a day without being connected to God? There is never a reason to not be connected to God, because He wants to connect with you. His lines are always open and He is always available.

I encourage you to become connected with the Creator of all things, the one that gave Himself to redeem you for all eternity.

 ENDURANCE

Anita Clark – Pastor

Grace Chapel, Carbondale, Kansas

“We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet (proper), because that your faith groweth exceedingly; and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecution and tribulations that ye endure.”  II Thess. 1:3-4  This text shows us specifically how God has worked in us through the many tests and trials in different things and ways.

For instance, “Vs.3 “because your faith groweth exceedingly, and ... we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecution and tribulations that ye endure.”  The word “endurance” means “put up with, bear with, forebear, suffer.” A wonderful verse in I Thessalonians 1:3, tells us “Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father.”  

In Hebrews 12:5-7 speaks of “Endurance of chastening.” The Scripture states “And ye have  forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him.  For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scougeth every son whom He receiveth.  If ye ENDURE chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons, for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?” The word “endure” in verse 7 means “to stay under, remain, undergo, bear trials, have fortitude, persevere, abide, take, patiently, tarry behind.”

In I Corinthians 13:4-7 we read of the “endurance of love.” Vs.4 & 7 says, Charity (love) suffereth long, and is kind... Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”  This word “endureth” has the same meaning as where it is in Hebrews 12:5-7

In this I Corinthian passage, we see our relationship with other people.  

In II Timothy 2:3-4, Apostle Paul spoke of the endurance of the Christian soldier. He wrote, “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affair of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” We have a great enemy, Satan, but as we rest on the Lord Jesus Christ, and draw from His strength, we are triumphant in our trials.

The next thing we want to speak of concerning the word “endurance,” is the “meekness of endurance.” In I Peter 2:18-19, Peter says, “Servants be subject to your masters with all fear (respect)....For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.” Paul in I Corinthians 6:7 wrote, “Why do ye not rather take wrong? Why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded.”

In II Timothy 4:3 Apostle Paul wrote concerning “SOUND DOCTRINE,” “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.  They shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” Paul speaks of  “sound doctrine” in II Timothy 3:16-17 -

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction. For instruction in righteousness.  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished with all good works.”  Apostle Paul says in II Timothy 2:10, “Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”  Also, in II Timothy 3:11, Paul spoke of his persecution, and afflictions... which he said “...what persecutions I endured, but out of them all the Lord delivered me.”

Paul also wrote in Hebrews 10:32- 35 concerning the Believers enduring trials.  Vs.32 says, “But call to remembrance the former days, in which after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great flight of afflictions; partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.”

The greatest example of “endurance” is the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ during his trial and crucifixion.  In Hebrews 12:2-3 we find our Lord Jesus and his suffering.  Verse.2 tells us, “Looking unto Jesus the Author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.  For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”  

THREE OTHER EXAMPLES OF “ENDURANCE” ARE -.

 No.1 - The Comfort of Endurance - in II Corinthians 1:3-7.  Whenever we suffer in trials and tests, we love the Scripture here.. (Vs.6) And whether we be afflicted, it is your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer.’    I Peter 4:12 says, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trials which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you. But rejoice insomuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”  

No. 2 - Blessedness of Endurance - James 5:7 - “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord, behold that Husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until He receive the early and latter rain.  Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.”  “Take, my brethren; the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.  Behold, we count them happy which ENDURE.  Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy.’

No. 3 -  Reward of Endurance - James 1:12 - “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to them that love Him.”  The word “endureth” here in this place means “to stay under, remain, to undergo, bear trials, have fortitude, to take patiently, suffer, tarry behind.”  II Timothy 4:4 -5  “And they shall  turn away their ears from the truth...But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions....”   The coming of our Lord Jesus is at hand..  Be watchful and ready!

 Mystery of the Bride

Part 2

Vicky Moots

Now let us go back to the book of Genesis to examine more closely the account of the formation of the first Adam’s bride and compare it to the formation of the spiritual bride of Christ.  Whenever God does something in a special manner, He is doing it for a special purpose, and it always has a spiritual meaning.

Eve was not formed in the same manner, out of the dust of the earth, or at the same time as Adam was created.  Because of that, we find in Gen. 2:20 that Adam realized that even though all of the animals had mates, he did not have one.  This verse seems to imply that he was actually seeking a mate for himself: “And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found a help meet for him.” What does this mean to us spiritually? It is a picture of Christ, the last Adam, who also is seeking a bride for Himself.

The next two verses, vv.21-22, tell us how God responded to Adam’s desire for a mate and also how God’s plan and desire for Adam was fulfilled: “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.”  In this surgery, note that only a small portion of Adam’s body, a single rib, was used by God to form Eve.  She was then presented to Adam to be his wife.  

What is the spiritual significance of this? Adam represents Christ, as we have already learned.  Paul tells us in Eph. 1:22-23 that His body is the church.  In these verses, he states that God raised Christ from the dead, “And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body…”

In I Cor. 12:13, Paul makes it clear to us that the body of Christ, the church, is composed of both Jew and Gentile believers: “For by one Spirit [not by water, but by the Holy Spirit] are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.”  Then in v.27 he states plainly, “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”

This means that all true believers, all over the world, all those who have been born again, whether they have joined a church or not, are a part of the body of Christ.  God joins us to the living church, not a religious organization, and we become members of the body of Christ the moment we accept Christ as Savior.  Then out from among this large body of believers, God is separating out a small rib portion of saints, all those who desire to be a part of the bride of Christ, and who are willing to submit to the scalpel of His Word.

 Paul’s Faithful Sayings

Earlene Davis

There are four of these Faithful Sayings and we may trace a connection between them. The first one is I Timothy 1:15, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” What a golden precious saying, like a lamp of a lighthouse. It’s comforting ray of light has guided millions to the port of peace in this dark world. It is “worthy of all acceptation,” as true and valid. Jesus Christ coming into the world to save sinners is the very foundation of our salvation. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Oh the grace of God, providing the great Redeemer.

The next faithful saying is found in I Timothy 4:8-9, “For bodily exercise profiteth little (or for a little time): but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.” This saying declares a double blessing we obtain through salvation. A blessing for time and of eternity.

The third faithful saying is II Timothy 2:11-12, “It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:” What a precious promise, “if we suffer with Christ, we shall also reign with Him.” We believe it and lay a hold of this faithful promise from God.

The last saying, Titus 3:8, “This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.” Maintain good works, be active in service to Him. It is not only good, but profitable for us and for others.

So in these four faithful saying, we have the root of our salvation, by God’s grace extended to us by Jesus coming to save us. Next the privilege of that salvation which is ours now and in that which is to come. Then as the people of God we are ordained to suffer with Christ with the promise, we shall also reign with Him. Our course of active service is to maintain good works, works of faith not works of the flesh. The believer is compensated in suffering and service for Christ with the fruit of the Spirit by the God of all grace. May we treasure these faithful saying and let them be a guide, comfort and instruction. Our Apostle Paul proved them to be faithful and they are faithful still, “worthy of all acceptation.” We may accept them and prove their faithfulness for ourselves.

My attention is especially drawn to the faithful saying about suffering with Christ (II Tim. 2:11-12). All who have received Jesus are counted as dead in Christ death, and raised and live in newness of life, because He lives. We live in union with Him. By the Spirit of God we are counted to have died with Christ to sin, to self-righteousness, to the world, the flesh and the power of darkness, to live with Jesus. His life becomes our life, as He was, so are we in this world. May we be rooted and grounded in this truth, our union with Christ Jesus. Suffering with Jesus has its reward just as denying Him has it penalty.

To suffer is the common lot of all men. Man comes into this world through suffering and the sentence of death on his life (Job 5:7 & 14:1). Jesus said in Jn. 3:3, “Except Man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” To suffer is not peculiar to the Christian, neither dose it necessarily bring a reward. We must suffer with Christ in order to reign with Him. A man can be in Christ, but it does not follow that all his suffering are with Christ. They can be brought on by passion taking the place of judgment, letting self-will reign or as the result of sin. Then what thanks have we? Cry out to God and confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I Jn. 1:9).

Paul ambition and prayer was to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death: if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection  out from the believing dead (Phil. 3:10-11). Paul sought a personal experience with His Lord, “that I may know Him.” We can know about Jesus, but like Paul, we want to know Him, Himself. To have  dealings with Jesus that bring us into enjoyable fellowship with Him. To know first hand His heart of love, His pity and compassion, to experience His deep personal love (for me). To think His thoughts, feel as He feels, love as He loves, to be moved by His very life.

“That I may know the power of His resurrection;” God raised Him up “according to the working of His mighty  power (Eph. 1:19-20). To know the dynamite of Christ resurrection to the uttermost. Paul experienced something of that power (II Cor. 1:8-10). By yielding to God who raises the dead and seeking His glory. Paul was continually tested, yet his life was one of repeated deliverances. His life was poured out, he died daily. He experienced resurrection power, divine enabling to fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ for His body’s sake” (Col. 1:24). Are We running the race with Paul? Then we as Paul live perpetually by the risen life of Christ. Moving in God’s will, pursuing the Prize, living a life we could not live apart from supernatural enabling (Rom. 8:11).

“And the fellowship of His suffering;” Paul suffered similar trials as the Lord did – persecution from the world, even from his own people, which wrung his heart. Through these things he had fellowship with Christ in His sufferings. Today few are absolutely out and out for God and standing for the truth and His perfect will. We read, He that is spiritual discerneth all things.” We discern that “the wife of the Lamb” will be like Him, so we discern the racer must be also to win the Prize (Christ).

“Being made conformable unto His death;” Jesus died to everything and everybody, being in jeopardy every hour, even as Paul said of himself. If not for divine intervention he would have been slain many times. Jesus experienced more inward pain and sorrow during His life here, but He was sustained by the Father. If we walk in the Spirit we will need to know and experience Christ resurrection life and power. The lack of active faith, the indifference, the falling away from the truth pains us. But we are being made conformed to the death of Christ and coming to know the dynamite power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings. Thus we are being fitted to reign with Christ (Phil. 1:6). We are confident of this very thing!

 FOUR SPIRITUAL ANCHORS

Jack Davis

In times like these, we need to be anchored on all sides! The apostle Paul wrote, in view of our hope of the resurrection and the victory that God has given us through our Lord Jesus Christ – Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord (I Cor. 15:58). Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong (I Cor. 16:13). God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.  Selah (Psa. 46:1-3).

Hear my cry, DO  God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto Thee, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the Rock that is higher than I. For Thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of Thy wings. Selah (Psa. 61:4). They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the LORD, and His wonders in the deep. For He commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end. Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so He bringeth them unto their desired haven (Psa. 107:23-30). Each believer is allowed to pass through some stormy trials in order to cause him to put down, try, and prove his spiritual anchors. An anchor that cannot be tried is not worth much for security. “Be very sure your anchor holds and grips that solid Rock. That Rock is Jesus.”

Acts 27:29, Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day. Oh, what a day is coming! Are you wishing for that day? By that, I mean longing, waiting, praying, Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in Haven. Are we areally loving His appearing? The things that Paul and those that sailed with him did during this storm, illustrate for us many things about our journey. They cast four anchors out. Four anchors that can secure us from spiritual shipwreck are – grace, love, faith, and hope. We do well to appropriate these and have them applied to our lives.

GRACE: When we think of grace, we usually think of the blessings and favour of God that come to us without merit on our part. So it can be spelled, for definition, in several different ways:

God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense

Or God Revealed And Christ Extended.

The Apostle Paul told Timothy to be strong in grace, and thus be enabled to endure hardship (II Tim. 2:1,3). Being strong in grace is the result of growth, whereby we come to find Him sufficient in every trial (II Peter 3:15-18). Grace expresses the Divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life. We may grow in grace by receiving more grace. Growth in grace will keep us from being led away with the error of the wicked, and falling from our own stedfastness. For us not to grow in grace means to never reach our God-given potential of spiritual maturity, nor enjoy the nobility of Bridehood. This is development into the image and likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ: Him being formed in us. He is solid, dependable, always the same. So we are encouraged to become like Him by His grace. (Heb. 13:8-9). Thank God that Jesus was not moved from God’s purpose for His being here. The Apostle Paul said, By the grace of God I am what I am. Oh, let our hearts become established with grace. Paul was not moved from finishing his course with joy. The same can be true of us, as we are anchored by, and in grace.

Love: I Cor. 13:13, NOW ABIDETH: Oh, it is good to be anchored in the things that abide, that which stands and stays, enduring throughout the ceaseless ages. Faith, hope, love…the greatest of these is love. Though our faith will be made sight and our hope is to be realized in that eternal state, Yet we will still be dependent upon Him for the complete fulfillment of those exceeding great and precious promises and will continue to live in happy expectancy through the eternal ages. Faith is so very powerful, like a mighty dynamo; and under God’s engineering wisdom, love is the fuel on which faith’s engine runs. Love must also be the realm  in which faith operates. (Eph. 3:14-20) We are strengthened by His Spirit…that Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith; so that we may experience our roots in Him going deeper and our foundation becoming stronger, being enabled to grasp the full measure of Divine love. This love is ever increasing, and expanding in glorious dimensions.

Faith: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering: for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. (James 1:5-8). Now, as we grow in grace, our hearts are established in grace so that we are not carried about by every wind of doctrine. The love of Christ does also constrain us. Then spiritual instability is greatly caused by unbelief. This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck (I Tim. 1:18-19). We can only fight a good fight when we are armed with faith. Let us never lay aside complete dependence on the Lord. Many of God’s precious people are headed for the rocks, wrecking their lives in regard to faith. We cannot just continue to go on that way and still get God’s best.

And having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were some time alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in His sight: if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel (Col. 1:20-23). It is the Lord’s desire and purpose to present us holy, without blemish, and without charge in His sight. So the encouragement to continue here is not for the attempt to retain salvation; but for our perfection, and to lay hold of our inheritance. Being grounded deals more with the Divine support of our foundation. Being settled speaks more of the inward strength of the building. In Colossians 2:6-7 Paul encourages us to let our progress match our beginning, or our conduct manifest our conversion. Continue in the same way we began, expecting Him to perform that good work.

Hope: And be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel. For it is Christ in you, the hope of glory. He is the blessed hope of the ages; and being like Him, seeing Him as He is, is the hope that purifies our hearts and lives. Each of these anchors center upon Him. He is the Rock to which we anchor by grace through faith in love. We have access by faith, into this grace; and as we stand there, we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. This hope that makes us not ashamed is entered by grace through faith, and enjoyed in love by the heirs of promise. (Heb. 6:17-20) The heirs of promise are those who have fled to Him for refuge. God has made for us the strongest possible demonstration of the unchangeability of His promise and purpose by two solid facts: He cannot lie, and He could swear by no greater. He has done this out of His extreme desire to encourage us to lay hold upon the hope set before us. Also this secures and stabilizes us when laid hold of by faith.

 The Encouraging Word

“Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who HOPE in the Lord.” Psalm 31:24 NKJV

“Let us hold fast the confession of our HOPE without wavering for He who promised is faithful.” 

Hebrews 10:23 NKJV

“The Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their HOPE in His unfailing love.” Psalm 147:11 NKJV

“Blessing (praise) be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every Spiritual blessing in the heavenlies.” Ephesians 1:3

“Rejoice in the Lord always – delight, gladden yourselves in Him; again I say, Rejoice!” Philippians 4:4 AMP

“A merry heart does good like a medicine; but a broken spirit dries the bones.” Proverbs 17:22

“Feed on His faithfulness.” Psalm 37:3 RV

“To you who believe He is Precious.” I Peter 2:7

“The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.” II Corinthians 13:14

Martha Wainright