Although no person is excluded from troubles, saints have historically understood that God extends mercy as He divvies out life’s trials.
Few people grasp the purposes or the benefits of suffering affliction. Instead, most individuals place a great premium upon trying to avoid troubles of any kind.
It takes a person with strong conviction to be willing to die for a cause. However, the one martyred is not necessarily a mature and complete Christian.
There is one murder that far surpasses every other murder ever committed. That particular murder occurred when Jesus Christ was crucified.
Murder is an act of hatred originating in the heart. Man, however, is not the inventor of murder. It is, in fact, the will and work of Satan.
Capital punishment is not confined to the Old Testament and is not done to the exclusion of God’s grace, but rather as an act of God’s just judgment.
The Old Testament Law declares and expresses the mind of God. It demonstrates God’s hatred for sin and His desire for just judgment.
God is a jealous God, yet that jealousy is only manifested when men provoke the Lord because of their unfaithfulness. Men can provoke the Lord through various means, but ultimately, they all unite in the fact that they place something or someone else ahead of the Lord. The Lord does not want the leftovers of man’s time, love, money, and strength (Malachi 1:7-9). Instead, He wants the first and greatest of man’s possessions. Anything less is idolatrous and offensive to the God who gave man everything he has. Each man must make a daily evaluation of his life to insure that he is doing nothing to provoke the Lord to jealousy.
Increasingly prevalent today, it seems more than at any other time in history, man continues to experience a sense of emptiness. Every day, people expend an enormous amount of time, money, and energy in hopes of obtaining this ever elusive goal of being happy. How can a people so desperately intent upon finding happiness find happiness so unreachable? The answer is quite simple. Happiness is not found in entertainment, money, one’s appearance, social acceptance, careers, achievements, spouse, or any other number of things where men continually search for this happiness. Instead, the Bible points out that happiness is attainable for the man “whose hope is in the LORD his God.” Hope can keep a man going when all other wells have run completely dry. Regardless of man’s circumstances, hope can put a song in a man’s heart and praise upon his lips.
Once confronted by the presence of the Holy One, man’s personal viewpoint always becomes increasingly realistic. By all standards, Job was a good man, yet the presence of God caused him to abhor himself “and repent in dust and ashes.” Conviction always magnifies the greatness of God and reminds man of his own vile nature. Ezra’s conviction was described as heaviness (Ezra 9:5) which caused him to rend his garment. That conviction humbled Ezra to the point where he said, “I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens” (Ezra 9:6).
