Growing in Grace

“I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils [demons]” (1 Corinthians 10:20).

At least here in North America, tonight is what is called “Hallowe’en night.” Many children go from house to house in the evening, with the customary call, “Trick or treat,” and expect to be given candy or some other gift that they can eat. They are usually dressed up in all sorts of strange costumes, and people often put out carved up pumpkins, ghost-like figures, silhouettes of witches, etc. in front of their homes. It is not done so much today, but in years gone by, young men often used to go out and play tricks on people. They would take a bar of soap and smear it on the windows of houses, or on car windows. Sometimes they would take things such as farm implements from farmers’ property and hide them. Then everyone would have to go out and straighten everything up the next day.

The word “hallowe’en” is a shortened version of the phrase “all hallows even (evening),” and has very bad associations. Among the ancient Celts in Scotland and England, it was a time of year when it was believed that the entrance of the spirit world was opened for spirits to pass through and haunt the living. People marked the occasion by lighting bonfires for protection, and dressing up like the spirits and creatures they believed could cross over that night. All this was supposed to keep the spirits from harming them. It was definitely connected with Satan and his demons.

It is not a good thing for Christians to be involved in all this, for it is not just something funny and harmless. Satan is real, and wicked spirits are real. The unbelievers who are involved with them never make fun of them; they are afraid of them. We do not need to be afraid of them, for we read in the Bible that “greater is He [the Holy Spirit] that is in you than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). However, we should not become part of anything that has to do with them. It is an effort of the devil to get us to think that he is not all that bad, and then we are not on guard for his attacks. As our verse says, let us not have fellowship with demons.

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Growing in Grace Blog by Bible Truth Publishers

“Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you” (Titus 2:8).

Out in the world today — at school, at work, in stores, etc. you will often hear what can be called rough language. People seem to think that in order to emphasize something, they have to use vulgar and sometimes blasphemous words. For example, you will often hear the word hell used very casually in conversation. Satan is behind this, as he wants people to think that hell is not that serious, and is not something to be concerned about.

At other times you will hear rather foul and immoral language, for some people cannot seem to talk without using these words. As Christians we are certainly saddened as we listen to this, and worse still, these words are now being used in books, newspapers and in news broadcasts, as if it is all right to talk that way,

Then we hear words that refer to God and to the Lord Jesus. I am sure you have heard people use the name of the Lord Jesus when they become upset about something. When something happens that is surprising and upsetting, you have certainly heard people say, “Oh, my God!” But I have never heard anyone use the name of Mohammed, Krishna, Buddha, or Confucius in this way. No, it is always the name of God or the Lord Jesus.

The danger for us as Christians is that we can become used to hearing this kind of talk, and then perhaps it does not affect us as it should. Rather, we should ask the Lord for the courage to speak up when people talk this way, and point out that when they use the name of the Lord Jesus like this, they are insulting our Savior. Also, let us be very careful not to use this kind of language ourselves. Rough, crude language in any form is not right for a Christian.

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Growing in Grace Blog by Bible Truth Publishers

“Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit” (Galatians 6:18).

This is a very nice verse, and you may remember that we had one like it, away back in February. That verse was 2 Timothy 4:22, and expressed the Apostle Paul’s wish that “the Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit.” Today’s verse is similar, but a little different.

When we have a new life in Christ, and really want to please the Lord, we can be quite passionate about it, especially when we are young. This is all right, but sometimes in wanting to defend the Lord’s glory and stand up for what is right, we can allow our old sinful nature to act. We can forget that grace is the strongest force to keep us from sin. Then we may defend what is right, but perhaps do it in the wrong spirit. If this happens, what we say will not have the right effect on others.

Grace is the goodness of God that we do not deserve, and it is only because of the grace of God that any of us are saved. When we fully understand grace, we will not take a position of pride and look down on others. In the assemblies in Galatia, some were teaching them that they had to live the Christian life by a rule of law. But this kind of teaching always leads to pride, for then people make rules, and sometimes rules that are hard to follow. Then, when some people can keep the rules but others find it difficult, those who can keep them become proud.

Paul expresses a wish that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ would be with the spirit of those believers in Galatia, and we should want this too. The Lord Jesus was always faithful and stood firmly for what was right. He always had His Father’s glory before Him. But He did it in a way that commended itself to people’s consciences, for the Lord Jesus did not seek His own glory. When He said something, His spirit was always right. We should ask the Lord to help us act in the same way. When we understand grace, we want to follow the Lord Jesus and please Him because we love Him, not because we are obeying a rule.

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Growing in Grace Blog by Bible Truth Publishers

“There shall come in the last days scoffers [people who make fun of something] … saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Peter 3:3-4).

Away back in the time when the church was first formed, nearly 2,000 years ago, they knew about the Lord’s coming. The Lord Jesus had told them, and the apostles preached this precious truth very clearly. But after the apostles had gone to be with the Lord, Christians very quickly lost the hope of the Lord’s coming. However, about 200 years ago, the Lord used some diligent students of the Bible to begin to teach that wonderful truth again, and now many people know about the coming back of the Lord Jesus. It has been widely preached among many Christians, and even worldly people who are not saved know about it.

Some of them are saying what we find in our verse for today. They are saying that they have been hearing about the Lord’s coming for many years, and yet nothing happens. They make fun of Christians who believe that the Lord will come back and take us home to be with Himself. They try and tell us that everything is going on just as it always did.

Why is the Lord Jesus waiting so long? He is waiting longer because He loves lost sinners, and wants more of them to be saved. He knows that when He comes, there will be no more chance to get saved, and that all those who are left behind when He comes will go into a lost eternity.

Everything that God has said in the past has happened, just as He said it would. It is the same with the Lord’s coming, for God always keeps His promises. We may see the world get more wicked than it is, if we are left here for a little longer. Life may become more difficult for those of us who are believers. Thirty years ago, some of us wondered how the world could possibly get any worse, but it certainly has happened. In many countries today serious moral sins are not only tolerated, but legalized. God is not going to let all this go on indefinitely. No, the Lord Jesus will come for us, just as He said He would. Are you looking for Him today?

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Growing in Grace Blog by Bible Truth Publishers

“Strive to enter in at the strait [narrow] gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24).

When we first read this verse, it might seem a bit confusing. Isn’t salvation a free gift from God, and does God not save all those who come to Him? How then will there be many who will wish to get saved, yet will not be able, as our verse says today?

The problem is that many today are on the broad road that leads to destruction, and they like that road; they do not want to change. A few years ago, I visited a couple that I knew well, although I had not seen them for many years. All three of us had gone to high school together and were even in the same class all through our high school years. The husband had gone to the same university as I did, and we often spent time together. He came to gospel meetings with me and heard the gospel clearly, but to my knowledge he never got saved.

When I visited them again, I brought up the gospel to them, for the wife’s health was not very good. I asked her plainly where she was going if she died. Her answer was typical, “To heaven, I hope!” But when I pointed out that this was not good enough, and that the only way to be saved was to come to Christ as a sinner, and accept Him as her Savior, she did not want to hear that. She wanted to come her own way.

Many today lead good, morally upright lives, and some regularly “go to church,” thinking that somehow this is good enough. Later, when they face eternity, they will expect to be in heaven on the basis of living a good life, and it will be awful for them to find the Lord saying, “I know you not whence ye are” (Luke 13:25). If we wish to enter in at the narrow gate, we must come in God’s way, not in our own way.

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Growing in Grace Blog by Bible Truth Publishers