Month: January 2024

“Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:6).

It is important for us to have sleep, and most of us need about eight hours every night. But some people can exist with much less sleep, and I have known people who needed only about four hours sleep at night. William Van Horne, who became president of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1888, was like that. He often used to monitor the telegraph messages on the trains in the middle of the night, when some of the telegraph boys thought everybody else was asleep, and took the opportunity to send silly messages along the line. Then Mr. Van Horne would interrupt them, and when they found out who it was, they were somewhat shocked and surprised to find that the president of the railway was awake at that time, and listening to them. When someone asked him once why he did not sleep more, he replied, “Because when you are asleep, you don’t know what is going on!” He was a good president of the railway, because he usually knew just about everything that was going on.

We need a certain amount of natural sleep, but according to our verse, it is not good to be spiritually asleep. Many people in this world are spiritually asleep, and do not realize that judgment is ahead for them. They simply carry on with life, and perhaps pleasure too, yet do not think that someday they will have to meet God. Those who meet Him in their sins will have to spend an eternity in that awful place called hell.

But it is easy too for a Christian to be asleep spiritually, and Paul warns us about this in our verse. Instead of sleeping, we are to watch, and be sober. This does not mean that we need to stay awake at night, but it means that we are to be on guard in this world, and not just floating along with those who do not know the Lord Jesus. Any dead fish can float down the river with the current, but it takes an energetic, live fish to swim upstream, against the current. Perhaps you have seen pictures or videos of fish who do this, especially in the spring when they swim upstream to spawn. They can even jump up small waterfalls, they are so determined. The Lord wants us to be like those fish, and not to be spiritually asleep. The Lord wants us to be sober, or serious, about our Christian life.

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“Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).

This is a very important verse. It is good to learn the lesson it teaches at a young age. In Romans chapter 12, Paul is giving a lot of good instruction to believers, as to how to behave in their Christian lives, whether in meeting the world, or meeting with other believers. Finally, he sums it all up in our verse for today, and we notice that the verse has two parts. We are not to be overcome of evil, but we are to overcome evil with good.

It is very easy in this world for us as Christians to be overcome of evil. Peter, one of the most valued disciples of the Lord Jesus, found this out. He was overconfident in his own ability to be faithful to the Lord, but when he got into the company of this world, he very soon denied ever knowing the Lord Jesus. When someone said, for the third time, that Peter was with the Lord Jesus, he even began to curse and to swear. If Peter had not been so confident in himself, he would have relied more on the Lord’s strength, and he would not have denied his Lord.

But the other half of the verse is important too. It is not enough merely to avoid doing what is wrong. We are also to do what is right, and then we overcome evil with good. When the Lord Jesus was being crucified, he did not complain or say anything to the soldiers who were doing it. He did not threaten them when they made fun of Him, put a crown of thorns on His head, or when they scourged Him. Rather, He said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). He was not overcome of evil, but He overcame evil with good.

The Lord wants us to do the same thing. We do not need to be defeated by the evil in this world, for the Lord wants to help us get the victory. But He also wants us to follow His example in overcoming the evil with good.

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“See then that ye walk circumspectly [very carefully], not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time” (Ephesians 5:15-16).

Although we were created for eternity, we live in a world of time, and our minds are bounded by time. We can talk about eternity, and understand the concept, but no matter how hard we try, we cannot “wrap our minds around it.” This is because our minds are limited by time, and we cannot understand something with no beginning or no ending.

The Lord knows this, and has given us time in our lives on earth, to use in the right way. For this reason, Paul could tell the Ephesians to “redeem the time.” To redeem means to buy something back again. Satan wants to rob us of our time, and to get us to use it for wrong things. But the Lord wants us to use our time for Him. If we wish to do anything well in this world, we will have to give up a lot of other things we might have done. This is especially true in our Christian lives. We must “buy back” our time by giving up things of this world, in order to use our time for the Lord.

It is rather serious when we think that what we do in this world will have an influence for all eternity. We have only a few years in this world. We may live to be 70, 80, or even longer, but we may also die at a younger age. In 1 Peter 4:2, Peter speaks of “the rest of his time,” referring to the time left to each one of us. None of us knows how long that will be. But we can use our time for “the will of God,” and lay up treasure in heaven, or we can waste our time on the things of this world. If we do this, we may indeed experience what the Bible calls “the pleasures of sin for a season” (Hebrews 11:25), but it will be a loss for all eternity. Of course, as a young teenager, you may be planning for a career, and this is wise and good. The Lord will help you choose something according to the will of God. Surely it is worth it to use our time for the Lord’s glory down here, and live for eternity, not only for time.

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“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years” (Genesis 1:14).

Have you ever thought of the concept of time, and what it means? We live in a world where time is important, and we become so accustomed to living and working with time that perhaps we assume that it always existed. After all, doesn’t everything in this world have to happen at a certain time? But God lives and moves in eternity, and it was He who created time, as a small “blip” in eternity. No matter how far we go back, eternity went back further, and God was always there, for He existed from a past eternity. No matter how far we look forward, eternity goes further, for it will never end. As we have already noticed a few days ago, we too were made for eternity, and not merely for time. I well remember that when our first child was born, a godly older sister in Christ remarked, “Another little life that will live as long as God lives.” This is surely a solemn thought.

As we see from our verse, God did indeed create time, and created a world in which our existence is measured in periods of time, whether days, weeks, months, or years. A year on our earth is approximately 365 days, because that is how long it takes the earth to orbit around the sun once. But years on other planets are quite different. Since it is closer to the sun than our earth, Mercury’s year is only 88 days, but a year on Neptune is really long — 60,190 days. That is almost 165 of our years here on earth. But why did God create a few thousand years of time in the middle of eternity? Why did He bother?

I believe that there are two reasons for this. First of all, God wanted to honor and glorify His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus. (To glorify someone is to give them a high honor of which they are worthy.) In order to do this, He created this world by His Son, but then sent Him into this world as a man, to go to Calvary’s cross, and die for our sins. As a result of all this, God has been glorified, and in turn has glorified His Son. God has purposed that the Lord Jesus will rule over all things in a coming day.

However, there is another reason why God created time. God is love, and He needed objects to love. So God created you and me, and the Bible tells us, “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” (John 3:16). God wanted you and me to be with Him in heaven, to share all the glory of His Son, and to be His bride.

It is a wonderful thing to realize that God went to all the trouble of creating time, and this world too, in order to glorify His Son the Lord Jesus, and to have you and me in heaven with Him. What wonderful love!

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“Let the peace of God rule in your hearts … and be ye thankful” (Colossians 3:15).

The Bible tells us that one of the descriptions of the last days (the days in which we are living now), is that “men shall be … unthankful” (2 Timothy 3:2). Sad to say, it is very easy just to take the good things that God gives us, without being thankful for them.

More than 150 years ago, there was a paddlewheel steamer called “Lady Elgin” that often took passengers out for trips on Lake Michigan in the U.S.A. Just before midnight on the night of September 7, 1860, the ship set out from Chicago, bound for the city of Milwaukee, with 400 people on board. They had enjoyed their day’s outing in Chicago and were returning home. But that night a terrible storm came up on the lake, and the visibility was very poor. About 2:30 a.m. on September 8, the Lady Elgin was rammed by another ship, and began to sink very quickly.

When the news spread, a number of young men on the shore, who were students at the nearby Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois, saw what was happening. They began to help rescue passengers who were in the water, but who could not get through the breakers to get to shore. Many of these young men were real heroes, but one name stands out — that of Edward Spencer, who was a student at the Garrett Biblical Institute. He was a good swimmer, and because of his persistence and courage, he was able to bring seventeen people to safety. Sad to say, fewer than 100 of the 400 passengers on the Lady Elgin were saved, as the storm was so fierce and the undertow so strong.

Although he was a good swimmer, Ed Spencer was not super-strong, and the effort of saving all these people ruined his health. He survived, married, and had children, but never regained his former health and strength. Some years later, a man taking a trip westward in the U.S.A. found out by accident that Ed Spencer was living in Phoenix, Arizona, and paid him a visit. In the course of their conversation, the visitor said to him, “Ed, that was certainly a great thing you did that night many years ago. I know it cost you a lot, as you never regained your health, but I’m sure those whom you rescued remember you, and give you some help from time to time.” Slowly, and with tears running down his cheeks, Ed replied, “Not one ever came back and even said thank you.”

Perhaps you and I are horrified at the ingratitude of those whose lives were paid for with Ed Spencer’s health, but if we know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, have we ever taken time to thank Him for what He did? Ed Spencer lost his health, but the Lord Jesus suffered more than anyone could ever suffer, and then gave His life for us, in order to pay the penalty for our sins.

When the Lord Jesus cleansed ten lepers (Luke 17:11-19), only one came back to say thank you, and the Lord Jesus felt it that only one out of ten came back. He feels it today if we accept His free gift of salvation, and do not take time to thank Him.

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“Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth” (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

Yesterday we talked about the universe, and went over some of the numbers that demonstrate the size and complexity of it. It is indeed very impressive! But while the universe displays the power and glory of God, it does not tell us about His heart. In the same way we may see a beautiful painting, or a nice piece of furniture made by a good carpenter, yet neither of these tells us anything about the character of the person who made it. He or she may be very nice, but may also have a bad personality and character. I knew a man once who was very good with his hands, but no one wanted to work for him, because he was so difficult to be around.

But God has not only revealed His power and glory in creation; He has also shown us His heart by sending His Son into this world. “God is love” (1 John 4:8), and He has shown His love by giving His Son to die for us. When man disobeyed in the Garden of Eden, he brought sin with all its misery into this world, and spoiled his relationship with God. But God wanted a relationship with the man He had created, and by sending His Son into this world, He made a way for that relationship to be restored in a more wonderful way than before. Now we know the heart of God even better than if sin had never entered this world, for we know that God loved us enough to send His Son to die for us. If Adam and Eve had never sinned, we would be enjoying the Garden of Eden today. But now we know God as our Father, and look forward to spending an eternity in heaven!

Of course, the same book that tells us “God is love,” also tells us that “God is light,” and God did not have to give up part of His holiness in order to save us. No, God is perfectly satisfied with the work our Lord Jesus did on the cross, for in the three hours of darkness, He bore the judgment for sin that God’s holy nature demanded. Now God can come out and offer a free salvation to whoever will come and take it.

Again, it is impressive to see the wonders of God’s creation, but as our verse says, it is even more wonderful to know God. We may learn things about Him when we look at the universe, but we learn His heart when we think about Calvary’s cross.

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“God Himself [that] formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain (or waste), He formed it to be inhabited” (Isaiah 45:18).

God took an interest in this earth, and when He created it, He made sure that it was suitable for man and animals to live on it. As we have already seen, this earth is not very large, compared to some of the stars and heavenly bodies in the universe. In fact, if we were to try and make a model of the universe (as we know it today) large enough so that the earth could be seen with the naked eye (say, about the size of a grain of sand), the earth itself would not be big enough to hold the model. Yet God took an interest in this world. He not only fitted it for man, animals, and plants to live on, but He is using it as part of His plan to honor and glorify His beloved Son.

Why did God not use a bigger planet on which to create man, animals, and plants? Why did he pick this earth, which is not that big, compared to some other planets? He has not told us, and we must be content to recognize that God may choose to do things the way He sees best. He has not told us why He did everything in a certain way.

However, I would suggest that perhaps there is at least one good reason why God picked this earth on which to place man. God knew that man would disobey the one command He gave him, and bring sin into this world. As a result, man would give up God, become very proud, and for many years would think that he and his earth were at the center of the universe. But the more man has learned about the universe, the more he must realize that the earth on which he lives is only a very small place in God’s universe. Yet God has put it in just the right position so that people, animals, and plants can live on it. If man is only willing to realize it, all this only points to God Himself as the One who should be glorified. It is not man who is great, but rather the God who created this vast universe.

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“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handywork” (Psalm 19:1).

It is a marvelous sight to be able to go out on a clear night and look at the sky. If you can get some distance away from a city or town, it is even better, for then the city lights do not obscure the night sky, and the stars are easier to see. In the South Island of New Zealand, authorities have established what is called the “Dark Sky Reserve,” which is a large area of 4300 square kilometers (about 1650 square miles), reserved for viewing the night sky. In this area, any artificial lighting is very carefully controlled so that the stars can be seen at their brightest. Those who are willing to make the trip there can take special tours at night to view the stars and planets.

During the last fifty years or so, man has discovered much more about the universe than was previously known, but there is still much that we do not know. But what we do know does indeed show the glory of God. We may think our earth is large, and indeed it is, but the sun is much larger. If the sun were hollow, and you began to try and fill it up by placing one earth after another into it, the sun would hold about one million earths. This means that if you were to place one earth into the sun every second, and worked for twelve hours every day, it would take you more than 23 days to fill that sun with earths!

However, there are stars in the universe much larger than our sun that warms us. There is a star called UY Scuti that is so large that it has a volume approximately 5 billion times that of the sun! Think of how many earths that star could hold! It would take more than your lifetime to fill it! Of course these measurements are not exact, as star dust and other things floating about in space sometimes make it hard to get accurate measurements, especially of stars that are thousands of “light years” away from us. (The term “light year” is used to measure distance in space, and is the distance traveled by light in a year. Since light travels at 300,000 kilometers per second (186,000 miles per second), a light year is a long way!) But all this gives us an idea of how big the universe is.

We might ask, Why did God bother to create a universe so large? What is the purpose of it, since no other star or planet has ever been found that would be suitable for people to live on? I believe that the answer is in our verse for today. God wanted to display His glory in what He created, and so He formed a universe so large and complicated that man has not yet reached the end of it. In fact, there is good evidence today that the universe is actually getting bigger!

We can understand something of God’s power and glory when we see the stars in the heavens, and realize that He created all this, simply by calling it into existence. And not only did He create it, but He maintains it, so that it functions in an orderly way. The Bible says concerning the Lord Jesus, “All things subsist together by Him” (Colossians 1:17 JND). God intended that anyone who looked at the heavens would realize that He (God) existed, and would want to know more about Him.

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“He hath made everything beautiful in its time; also He hath set the world in their heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11 JND).

Two days ago we were talking about how you and I were made in the “image and likeness of God,” and yesterday we saw that we were made not only for time, but for eternity. This is brought out in the verse quoted above, for the word “world” could also be translated “the infinite,” or “eternity.” Even though we are young, we can understand this, for it does not seem to matter what we have, it never seems to satisfy us for very long. If we have a new toy, we are usually very excited, and have a wonderful time playing with it. But it does not really make us happy for months and months. No, we get tired of it, and want something more, something different. Or the toy breaks, and then it does not work properly. As we get older, this desire to have more and more continues, and many people in this world spend their entire lives trying to find something more to give them pleasure. Sometimes it is getting more things like cars, boats, vacation homes, etc. Others like to travel and visit as many different places as possible in the world. These things are not sinful in themselves, but Satan can use them to take our hearts away from what is really important. For some it means trying to become famous and well-known. For others it may mean getting into a position of authority, so that they can control other people. Satan has many different ways of attracting us, for he realizes that different people want different things.

The verse quoted above was written by King Solomon, who was probably the wealthiest man that ever lived. He had everything he could want in this world, for as a king, he could use his great riches to buy anything he wanted. He had the best of food, and many servants to do for him whatever he wanted. He had beautiful gardens, fruit trees, pools of water, exotic animals and birds, and many other things. More than this, God gave him wonderful wisdom, so that people came from many different countries to hear his wisdom.

However, everyone who looks for satisfaction and pleasure down here finds out the same thing — there is nothing in this whole world that completely satisfies. Since man’s heart is made for eternity, nothing down here will fill his heart, whether we are young or old. Even King Solomon had to say, after having all these riches, “All is vanity and vexation (irritation) of spirit” (Ecclesiastes 2:17). This simply means that having all these riches only increased his desire to have something more, and the more he had, the more he became frustrated because nothing really satisfied him. Only God Himself can fill our hearts, and make us truly happy. When we accept Christ as our Savior, we not only know that our sins are forgiven, but also have the enjoyment of Christ in our hearts. He truly fills our hearts, and satisfies!

God delights to give us the things we need to live our lives down here for His glory, and we can be thankful for good food, good clothes to wear, and houses in which to take shelter. But let us remember that the Lord Jesus said that we should not try to have our treasure down here; rather we are told to lay up our treasure in heaven.

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“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

In yesterday’s message, we noticed that the Lord Jesus is referred to in John 1:1 as “the Word.” This simply means that He represents everything that God is. We cannot understand God fully, for if we could, we would be gods ourselves. But we can realize through the Scriptures that God is a Trinity (a being made up of three persons), consisting of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus is the Son of God, and when God the Father wanted to reveal Himself to you and me, He sent His only Son down into this world as a man. In this way He was “made flesh,” and had a human body, soul, and spirit, just as you and I have. He was born into this world as a baby, and grew up in a family, just as you and I do. But one thing about Him was different — very different; He did not have a sinful nature, as we all do. He never told a lie, never was disobedient to His parents, never took something that was not His, never hit His younger brothers or sisters, never used bad words, or did any of the other wrong things that all of us did as children. He was perfect, because He was the Son of God.

Because of all this, He stood out among other children, and as our verse says, “was full of grace and truth.” But even though He was a real man, He was also still the Son of God, and was the One who upheld “all things by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3). He could tell the storm to cease, when their boat in the Sea of Galilee was filling with water. He could heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and act in every way according to His divine power.

Most of all, however, He could show us what God the Father was like. Before the Lord Jesus came, man could not really know God in a very personal way. But now the Lord Jesus has revealed the Father, and He could say, “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). It is a most wonderful thing to know God, and we know Him because the Lord Jesus, who is God Himself, has come into this world as a man to reveal Him.

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