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.
Though the means of worldly safety have changed throughout time, people have always put their trust in various things to offer temporary safety. The Bible depicts those who trusted in fenced walls (Deuteronomy 28:52), nations (Isaiah 30:2-3), horses, horsemen and chariots (Isaiah 31:1), weapons (Psalm 44:6), and mountains (Amos 6:1). People today place their trust in weapons, security systems, governments, insurance policies, and even medicines. Though the sources of trust have changed, the Lord remains just as grieved today when men place their trust upon the things of this world rather than upon Him. Ultimately, every source of worldly safety will fail, often in the moment we perceive as our greatest time of need.
God hates! For those enamored by the teachers who strictly emphasize the love of God, this fact may be difficult to appreciate. Yet, it is both true and scriptural. In fact, the truth becomes even more peculiar when considering that God's hatred is founded within His love. According to 1 John 4:8, “God is love.” He never ceases to be love, and if He did, He would cease to be God. Yet, the Bible specifically points out that God also hates! Let the Bible speak for itself and it will clear up any preconceived ideas. God hates because He loves. God loves the righteous; therefore, He hates “all workers of iniquity” (Psalm 5:5). The Bible also points out that He hates the wicked and those who love violence (Psalm 11:5). These truths are frequently contrary to the common teaching by men who fail to consider the whole of scripture and the depth of God. The old saying, “God hates the sin, but loves the sinner” apparently fails when considering the whole matter. God does, in fact, hate the wicked! Additionally, God hates wicked deeds and wicked doctrines (Revelation 2:6, 15). Each of us must insure that we declare all the counsel of God and not conveniently limit our understanding to only the most positive aspects (Acts 20:27).
Proverbs 21 contrasts the substance of a wise man versus the substance of a fool. In the home of the wise man, one can find oil and desired treasures. Whenever a need arises, he is prepared to take care of it himself. This is not true of the fool. He cannot take care of himself. We do not know if the fool at some point had treasures and oil as well, but because of his wasteful spending habits, he no longer has those things. In addition to the fool no longer having his substance, he also cannot likely account for how he used those things. Maybe the fool, like far too many Christians, wasted his substance on pleasurable living (Proverbs 21:17). For whatever reason, the fool cannot hold onto the goods entrusted to him by the Lord. Society today has grown accustomed to living on borrowed money, thus spending the future today.
We have already learned that our joy is to be found in the Lord and this joy is a special gift from above. With this truth foundational to our study, what are some things that we can do as believers that will bring us lasting joy? Far too many people think joy surfaces once the stresses of life cease or at least begin to diminish. Yet, the Bible teaches that joy can be found only in faithfully serving the Lord. Today's verse reveals that the disciples found joy through what God had done in and through them! Considering a few more scriptural examples of joy should help to solidify our mindset concerning this subject. The Bible records great joy as the people of God willingly sacrificed to the Lord (1 Chronicles 29:17). Proverbs 21:15 reveals that “It is joy to the just to do judgment.” The book of Luke tells us that there is joy in heaven when one sinner repents (Luke 15:7). From these and other examples, we know that true joy will be found when we willingly serve the Lord God, but never in the things of this world.
God knows everything about everything, yet Christians sometimes act as though He has some debilitating limitations. Once again, the Bible shines the light of truth upon the matter. It reveals that He is great, “and of great power: his understanding is infinite” (Psalm 147:5). In fact, His eyes “are in every place, beholding the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3). In other words, there is nothing that escapes the knowledge and attention of God. This includes the good and the bad! The Son of God proclaimed to the church at Thyatira that He knew their works, charity, service, faith, and patience. He too knows about the level of a man’s faith! He knows the content, strength, and reality of that faith. A man can and will fool others and frequently even deceives himself (Jeremiah 17:9), but he has no capacity to mislead God. The Lord knows those who believe and accept His word as the perfect word of God and He is not unrighteous to forget (Hebrews 6:10).
Doing the right thing is always the right thing to do and yields great benefits. For instance, consider what the Bible has to say about diligence. God’s word promises that diligence brings an increase of substance (Proverbs 10:4; Proverbs 13:4; Proverbs 21:5) and promotion (Proverbs 12:24; Proverbs 22:29). In other words, as the saying goes, hard work pays off. It is not difficult to prove that these benefits manifest themselves in the lives of God’s people who are diligent. Joseph and Daniel are two great examples of those who were diligent and their diligence brought them obvious promotion. Abraham and Job are great examples of diligent men who experienced a great increase of substance. A word of caution might be appropriate here. Men are not to be diligent merely for the sake of reaping its inherent benefits, but should be diligent for the sake of the One who called them to be diligent.
Sometimes a Bible word is best defined by first establishing what the word does not mean. Biblical diligence is such a case in point. A diligent man is one who is not slothful or lazy according to Proverbs 12:24. Proverbs 10:4 bears witness to this fact by contrasting the diligent with those who are slack or careless. According to Proverbs 13:4, a diligent man is not a sluggard. Yet, the Bible also points out that the diligent are to be properly balanced by not hastily rushing through work (Proverbs 21:5). Each of these truths concerning diligence reveals that diligence involves working hard, but with great care and concern. In a world filled with those who choose either quantity or quality of work, God counsels His children to be concerned with both. This is diligence!
