Fear Not; I Am with You

Scripture: “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7.

What are you afraid of, and why are you afraid?

At this time of year, people throughout the ages have felt spooked when the summer’s time of plenty gives way for the coldness and death of greenery that come in late autumn. Ancient Celts believed that the line between the worlds of the dead and living became blurred during this season. After Christianity took hold, people in those regions still held on to superstitions. They fought their fears with costumes, lanterns, and community events.

But God tells us that we don’t need superstition. He has conquered all evil – even death – and we, as His children, have nothing to fear!

Do Christians Fear?

Through the Bible, God warns us to beware of evil: “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) We have to be on the lookout for all kinds of evil. We don’t want to be taken by surprise; we want to “watch and pray”. However, we know that we don’t have to fear, because God also tells us in Isaiah 41:10, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you.” We can rely on our loving Father to protect us when evil and danger appear! If someone or something is attacking us, we know we’re “in the right”, and can easily remember to pray against that kind of evil. But what about the evil within – when we give in to the temptation to sin? We Christians are still human, and through that humanity, we have inherited a sinful nature. And there’s nothing we ourselves can do to keep from having to pay the penalty for sin – death: “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) As sinners, we must rely on God’s grace for forgiveness and salvation. We can depend ONLY on our Lord to save us. Jesus took all our sin onto Himself and paid the price – death and separation from the Father!

We Don’t Have to Be Afraid!

But we know that the grave COULD NOT hold our Lord! Because Jesus is part of God, the power of God worked a miracle so strong, that Christ triumphed over death, emerging from His tomb after the three days.

Do you love your life so passionately that you’d hang on to it, no matter what? As Christians, we are instructed to follow Christ’s example: to be willing to let go of, or even sacrifice, our earthly lives, because we know that the eternal life that comes after is even better.

The Apostle Paul gave us an example of a good attitude about this: “I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead. I want to suffer with Him, sharing in His death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!” (Philippians 3:10-11)

 Paul’s words reinforce for us that we have nothing to fear – nothing bad on earth, even death, can compare with God’s glory in eternal life. The life of Jesus calls us to be His passionate followers, loving and trusting Him, clinging to Him more than our earthly lives.

Instead, We Can Believe

We trust Jesus to take the guilt of our sin away by the sacrifice of His death. Therefore, we can trust His promise to fulfill God’s purpose after our earthly deaths. Jesus said, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Anyone who believes in Me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in Me and believes in Me will never ever die.” John 11:25-26

 What a miracle; what a promise!

One of the first steps of becoming a Christian is to believe that Jesus is part (the Son) of God, and that the miracles of His life, death, and resurrection can teach us to live righteous lives, guarantee the forgiveness of our sins, and promise us the life everlasting at His side, in Heaven. He told us that when we believe in Him and strive to live our lives righteously, as He did, He will conquer death in us.

Jesus gave us the ultimate examples of faith; prayer; loving; cooperating, or working together, with friends; and more. His was a sinless existence. And although we still might sin sometimes because of our humanity, we can try to live lives like Jesus’s, following God’s will even to death, without needing to fear it.

An Eternal Life

 God has given us a marvelous gift. We can live our lives in freedom from the bondage of sin! Although we were born into sin and death as our human inheritance, God has adopted us as His children, and we have a new inheritance.

St. Paul wrote that, “Just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another Man.” (1 Corinthians 15:21).

Jesus takes us from the legacy of death into the legacy of rebirth and life everlasting.

Because of all this, we MUST live in a way that is pleasing to God. We want to please our Father. Since He has given us so much, we must eagerly give our lives back to Him. We have a new inheritance, a rebirth; we no longer live in sin and face death. Let our earthly lives reflect our heavenly lives!

St. Paul summed it up: “Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4) 

The Great Multitude of the Redeemed

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. Rev. 7:9.

All classes, all nations and kindreds and people and tongues will stand before the throne of God and the Lamb with their spotless robes and jeweled crowns. Said the angel, These are they that have come up through great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white, while the lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, the self-indulgent and disobedient, have lost both worlds. They have neither the things of this life nor the immortal life. 

That triumphant throng, with songs of victory and with crowns and harps, have trodden in the fiery furnace of earthly affliction when it was heated and intensely hot. From destitution, from hunger and torture, they come, from deep self-denial and bitter disappointments. Look upon them now as conquerors, no longer poor, no longer in sorrow, in affliction and hated of all men for Christ's sake. Behold their heavenly garments, white and shining, richer than any kingly robe. Look by faith upon their jeweled crowns; never did such a diadem deck the brow of any earthly monarch. 

Listen to their voices as they sing loud hosannas and as they wave the palm branches of victory. Rich music fills heaven as their voices sing forth these words: "Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain and rose again forevermore. Salvation unto our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." And the angelic host, angels and archangels, covering cherub and glorious seraph, echo back the refrain of that joyous, triumphant song saying, "Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever" (Rev. 7:12). 

Oh, in that day it will be discovered that the righteous were the wise ones, while the sinful and disobedient were fools. . . . Shame and everlasting contempt is their portion. Those who have been colaborers for Christ will then be near the throne of God, girt with purity and the garments of eternal righteousness.

The One Hundred Forty-Four Thousand

I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. Rev. 14:1.

Upon the crystal sea before the throne, that sea of glass as it were mingled with fire--so resplendent is it with the glory of God--are gathered the company that have "gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name." With the Lamb upon Mount Zion, "having the harps of God," they stand, the hundred and forty and four thousand that were redeemed from among men; and there is heard, as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of a great thunder, "the voice of harpers harping with their harps." And they sing "a new song" before the throne, a song which no man can learn save the hundred and forty and four thousand. It is the song of Moses and the Lamb--a song of deliverance. 

None but the hundred and forty-four thousand can learn that song; for it is the song of their experience--an experience such as no other company have ever had. "These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth." These, having been translated from the earth, from among the living, are counted as "the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb." Revelation 15:2, 3; 14:1-5. "These are they which came out of great tribulation;" they have passed through the time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation; they have endured the anguish of the time of Jacob's trouble; they have stood without an intercessor through the final outpouring of God's judgments. But they have been delivered, for they have "washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." "In their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault" before God. "Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them." 

They have seen the earth wasted with famine and pestilence, the sun having power to scorch men with great heat, and they themselves have endured suffering, hunger, and thirst. But "they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat." Revelation 7:14-16.

Life-Giving Fruit

In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Rev. 22:2.

The fruit of the tree of life in the Garden of Eden possessed supernatural virtue. To eat of it was to live forever. Its fruit was the antidote of death. . . . 

After the entrance of sin the heavenly Husbandman transplanted the tree of life to the Paradise above. 

The redeemed saints, who have loved God and kept His commandments here, will enter in through the gates of the city, and have right to the tree of life. They will eat freely of it as our first parents did before their fall. The leaves of that immortal widespread tree will be for the healing of the nations. All their woes will then be gone. Sickness, sorrow, and death they will never again feel, for the leaves of the tree of life have healed them. Jesus will then see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied, when the redeemed, who have been subject to sorrow, toil, and afflictions, who have groaned beneath the curse, are gathered up around that tree of life to eat of its immortal fruit, that our first parents forfeited all right to, by breaking God's commands. There will be no danger of their ever losing right to the tree of life again, for he that tempted our first parents to sin will be destroyed by the second death. 

Obedience to all the commandments of God was the condition of eating of the tree of life. Adam fell by disobedience. . . . 

Obedience through Jesus Christ gives to man perfection of character and a right to that tree of life. The conditions of again partaking of the fruit of the tree are plainly stated in the testimony of Jesus Christ to John: "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." 

Restored to the tree of life in the long-lost Eden, the redeemed will "grow up" to the full stature of the race in its primeval glory. The last lingering traces of the curse of sin will be removed, and Christ's faithful ones will appear in "the beauty of the Lord our God," in mind and soul and body reflecting the perfect image of their Lord. Oh, wonderful redemption! long talked of, long hoped for, contemplated with eager anticipation, but never fully understood.

Home at Last!

Well done, thou good and faithful servant: . . . enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Matt. 25:21.

As your senses delight in the attractive loveliness of the earth, think of the world that is to come, that shall never know the blight of sin and death; where the face of nature will no more wear the shadow of the curse. Let your imagination picture the home of the saved, and remember that it will be more glorious than your brightest imagination can portray. In the varied gifts of God in nature we see but the faintest gleaming of His glory. It is written, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." 1 Corinthians 2:9. 

By and by the gates of heaven will be thrown open to admit God's children, and from the lips of the King of glory the benediction will fall on their ears like richest music, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Matthew 25:34. 

Then the redeemed will be welcomed to the home that Jesus is preparing for them. 

Then I saw Jesus lead the redeemed company to the gate of the city. He laid hold of the gate and swung it back on its glittering hinges and bade the nations that had kept the truth enter in. Within the city there was everything to feast the eye. Rich glory they beheld everywhere. Then Jesus looked upon His redeemed saints; their countenances were radiant with glory; and as He fixed His loving eyes upon them. He said, with His rich, musical voice, "I behold the travail of My soul, and am satisfied. This rich glory is yours to enjoy eternally. Your sorrows are ended. There shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain." . . . 

Language is altogether too feeble to attempt a description of heaven. As the scene rises before me, I am lost in amazement. Carried away with the surpassing splendor and excellent glory, I lay down the pen, and exclaim, "Oh, what love! what wondrous love!" The most exalted language fails to describe the glory of heaven or the matchless depths of a Savior’s love.

God Gives Us Today

Scripture: “Then he said to them all: Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”  Luke 9:23

I went to this really great concert a few weeks ago to see a Christian band play some incredible music. I got there really early because I wanted to be one of the first to get in the door and over to the stage to see the band play. To get to the line, I had to walk by a young man standing on the corner next to the venue where the concert was being held. Well, he wasn’t just standing there. He was singing his heart out into a microphone and playing his amplified acoustic guitar. And he wasn’t just singing ANY song. He was singing songs by the band I was about to see on stage inside the venue. It was obvious that this guy probably didn’t have a ticket for the concert, and it was also very obvious that he was not a very good musician. I thought to myself “Wow, if I was part of this band, I would be offended by how awful this guy sounds!” I also thought “I hope I don’t have to listen to him the entire time I’ll be waiting in line here.”

  Moments after those thoughts crossed through my mind, the music stopped and I was relieved. I turned to look back at the street corner musician only to find him hanging out on that very corner with the lead singer of the band! And the singer, who’s name is Jon, was laughing with him and giving him a hug! Then Jon gave the street corner musician a ticket to the concert. It doesn’t end there. During the concert, Jon introduced the street corner musician to the entire crowd and invited him on stage to play a song with the whole band.                                  

Jesus in Disguise:

While Jon introduced the street corner musician to all of us in the crowd, I found out that he was HUMBLED by the impact his music had made on this young aspiring musician. Jon’s music had such an impact that the musician put himself out in public, in the middle of a big city, to play music filled with messages of Jesus’ love because he wanted it to have an impact on all those who were listening, and didn’t care if he seemed foolish. My heart broke when I realized how selfish I was. I only thought of myself and that I deserved “better” while waiting in line. Really, the street corner musician was being brave, taking risk and living out his faith. He was being a true disciple. I saw Jon as Jesus in disguise coming out to tell the street corner musician, “well done, my good and faithful servant.”

Being Sharpened:

I tend to have to learn things many times over again because my human nature always leaves me broken. But God’s nature leaves me alive. My experience at the concert was something that I have learned over and over again, but I always need reminding. It reminds me of the verse in Proverbs:

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17

 Jesus was sharpening my faith through Jon and the street corner musician..

This is Your Life - Are you who you want to be?

My favorite song by Jon’s band has lyrics that go like this:

   “Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead.

   Yesterday is a promise that you’ve broken.

   Don’t close your eyes, don’t close your eyes.

   This is your life and today is all you’ve got now, and today is all you’ll ever have. 

   This is your life. Are you who you want to be?”

 

When today is in the past and there may not be tomorrow, we only have today to do the work God has called us to do, and to be the person God wants us to be. Who do I want to be? I want to be more like Jesus - more like the person God wants me to be. Is your heart in the right place, are you who you want to be if today is all you have? Let Jesus show up in you so you can be Jesus in disguise for others who desperately need Him. And when your heart is not in the right place, pray that God will sharpen you and that he would show up as Jesus in disguise for you.  

Does Marriage Matter?

Marriage is the building block of families. Families are the building blocks of communities. Communities are the building blocks of society. When marriages and families break down, so do communities and ultimately society and civilization as a whole. We've seen this pattern before, and we're witnessing it again as this bedrock of society increasingly crumbles.

Consider the costs when marriage is debased and discarded. A landmark 2008 study titled The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing concluded that breakdown of the family costs U.S. taxpayers a minimum of at least $112 billion each year, or more than $1 trillion in a decade.

That figure includes major costs for "higher rates of crime, drug abuse, education failure, chronic illness, child abuse, domestic violence, and poverty . . . more welfare expenditure; increased remedial and special education expenses . . . increased Medicaid and Medicare costs; [and] increasingly expensive and harsh crime-control measures," among other things.

The National Fatherhood Initiative website cites a number of studies showing that:

•  "Children in father-absent homes are almost four times more likely to be poor."
• "Children born to single mothers show higher levels of aggressive behavior than children born to married mothers."
• "Infant mortality rates are 1.8 times higher for infants of unmarried mothers than for married mothers."
• "A 2002 Department of Justice survey of 7,000 inmates revealed that 39 percent of jail inmates lived in mother-only households."
• "There is significantly more drug use among children who do not live with their mother and father."
• "A poor parental bond with one's father was highly predictive of depression, a well-known predictor of alcohol abuse and related problems for both females and males."
• "Youth who have experienced divorce, separation, or a nonunion birth have significantly higher levels of behavioral problems in school than do youth who have always lived with both biological parents."

These depressing findings make it all the more disturbing that different groups, movements and even political parties wish to redefine marriage and family. Do fruits like the sad conclusions stated above not demonstrate the folly of tampering with an institution the Creator of human beings designed?

As Jesus Christ Himself said: "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate" (Matthew 19:4-6


; quoting Genesis 1:27; Genesis 2:24)

This is how God designed marriage. As we show in the articles in this issue, when we reject or redefine this pattern, we reap the tragic consequences. Never let yourself be lulled into thinking that marriage doesn't matter!