God wants believers to serve Him in truth. In fact, it is this very issue that will determine “of what sort” our work is at the judgment seat of Christ.
God looks for opportunities to show Himself strong in the lives of His saints. This is true both historically and in the lives of His people living today.
Sin demands atonement. Atonement puts God and man at one. When atonement is made man is cleansed and forgiven. In other words, things are made right.
Each believer will, at some point, be confronted with the conflicting choice to obey God rather than to obey men’s anti-scriptural precepts.
In the tribulation, there will be many who will love “not their lives unto the death.” Their love for the Saviour will surpass their love for life itself.
There are two areas in which a man can be blameless. He can be blameless in his practice based upon his efforts to do right. Additionally, a believer can be blameless positionally, but this is completely based upon the finished work and righteousness of Christ. This second area of blamelessness is the subject of Ephesians 1:4 as is also the case in Colossians 1:22. In the context of that passage, it is clear this blamelessness comes only through the reconciliation of Christ (Colossians 1:21). This means that in Christ, believers bear no guilty responsibility for sins they have committed. Instead, believers are viewed and accepted in the righteousness of Christ (Ephesians 1:6).
True loyalty never wavers without sound justification. The book of Revelation reveals that believers in Smyrna were going to face various difficulties such as imprisonment, trials, and perhaps even martyrdom. In the midst of these calamities, the Lord admonished them to be “faithful unto death.” God’s people have always had their loyalty to the Lord tested. If loyalty occurred naturally, everyone would exhibit loyalty. True loyalty is not something a believer possesses in the absence of adversity. Rather, adversity provides the means for loyalty to excel. In fact, it was in the face of the adversity of crucifixion that the Lord Jesus Christ exemplified His loyalty to both mankind and the Father. In doing so, He set forth an example that every believer ought to willingly follow and exemplify.
To trust in someone or something involves an act of the will. The focus of this trust is something that each individual must personally decide. David expressed as much when he said, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God” (Psalm 20:7). David identified a few of the many things upon which one might trust. The Bible also refers to those who trust in vanity (Isaiah 59:4), others in lies (Jeremiah 7:8), and still others in riches (1 Timothy 6:17). Interestingly, the Lord does not force any individual to trust in Him, nor is anyone ever forced to trust in the things of this world. It is important to point out that one’s trust cannot be divided. An individual cannot simultaneously trust in vanity, riches, or lies while trusting in the Lord.
Throughout the years, faithful saints have been willing to lay down their lives for the truth. In Acts chapter 7, we read the account of Stephen’s final message to the nation of Israel. His message infuriated the people so much that they ran upon him and threw stones at him until they crushed the life out of his body. Stephen was martyred because he cared more for the truth's propagation than even his own life and welfare. Though most Christians are not living amongst such severe persecution, our willingness to contend should remain just as fervent. We should pray that God would give us some modern believers who, like Paul, would say, “that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death” (Philippians 1:20)!
Our heartfelt giving of thanks should always coincide with our prayers to God. Today's passage from Philippians confirms this truth, as do a host of other passages (Daniel 6:10; Ephesians 1:16; Colossians 1:3; Colossians 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:2; 1 Timothy 2:1). However, an unthankful spirit always affects one's prayer life eventually developing into a vicious repetitive cycle. A lack of prayer instills a lack of thankfulness. Those who fail to be thankful, fail to cultivate a consistent prayer life. Fortunately, this lack of thankfulness exposes our true problem which is a heart lacking humility. As our heart fills with pride, we fail to realize the goodness of God and our need to continually seek His face with this spirit of thankfulness. The solution involves conditioning ourselves to have a prayer life consisting of a genuine time of thanksgiving. True thankfulness should eliminate many of the prayers consisting of nothing but self-serving desires.
