Young People’s Blog

“And there accompanied him [the Apostle Paul] into Asia…Aristarchus and Secundus” (Acts 20:4).

“I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord” (Rom. 16:22).

“Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth you, and Quartus a brother” (Rom. 16:23).

In these verses we have three men mentioned, all brothers in Christ—Secundus, Tertius, and Quartus. Those are Latin names, and they mean second, third and fourth. Probably those brothers were slaves, or had been slaves, and their masters had not bothered to give them proper names, but had simply named them second, third and fourth. But their names are recorded in the Word of God, for having come to Christ, they were now beloved brethren, whatever their background.

However, we do not read anywhere in the New Testament of a brother named Primus, which means first. I would suggest that the first place was reserved for the Lord Jesus, for we know that He too “took the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7). The word used here for “servant” means a slave, for the Lord Jesus became like a slave, submitting to His Father’s will entirely. It is a privilege to follow Him in that way, but He must have the first place. He alone displayed that perfect submission and humility that the Father’s will demanded.

“Think on me when it shall be well with thee” (Genesis 40:14).

These words were spoken by Joseph when he had interpreted the dreams for the butler and the baker while they were in prison. We know the story well. And the sad part is that only a few verses later in the chapter we find that Joseph was not remembered or thought about.

Here is one more interesting fact about Churchill and his escape. When the war finally ended and he was safely back in England, it is recorded that Winston Churchill bought 8 gold watches and had each of them engraved with a message of thanks. He sent them back to the little mining village in South Africa where the people had been so kind in saving his life when he was being hunted. I am sure that they were appreciated and valued! Perhaps they were even passed on through generations with the story they told.

Gratefulness is a wonderful trait to cultivate, most of all when it applies to remembering what the Lord Jesus has done for us. No one lost their life protecting Churchill, but the Lord of Glory laid His life down for us!

“Lo, I am with you alway” (Matthew 28:20).

Let’s continue with our story about Winston Churchill. He climbed over a fence at night when the guards were not looking and began an adventure that would take him east across South Africa to the country that is now Mozambique. There he would be able to get help from the British embassy. He was not prepared. No compass or maps; only some fast-melting chocolate in his pocket! But after stowing away on a passing train, and being hidden for several days by sympathizers at the bottom of a mine shaft, his friends were able to put him on a train heading to his destination.

The escape was still dangerous, as he was hidden in a boxcar among huge bales of wool. It was hot and uncomfortable, but also dangerous as the wool was likely to be inspected along the way. But the owner of the wool shipment risked his own life to ride the train and hurry its progress through every port of inspection. Churchill did not realize until later the care that was being taken of him all along the route.

It is the same with us today. The Lord has promised to bring us safely home, but He not only does this by His power. He is with us every step of the way!

“Then the band and the captains and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound Him” (John 18:12).

The time had come when the Lord Jesus was taken prisoner. How many people were sent to make sure He did not get away…the band, the captains, and the officers! But Jesus was doing what His Father had for Him in submitting to the cross. He would not escape because of His commitment to doing the will of His Father, and because of His great love for you and me. A terrible death on the cross and hardest of all, the punishment from God for our sins, was ahead of Him.

On this, another Lord’s day, let us especially think about and remember what our Savior suffered for us both at the hands of the men who hated Him, and from the hand of God who laid our sins upon Him in those hours of darkness.

“Therefore they [the Jewish leaders] sought again to take Him [Jesus]: but He escaped out of their hands” (John 10:39).

Recently my wife and I have been reading a most interesting account of Sir Winston Churchill’s escape from prison during the Boer War in South Africa (1899). I imagine any of you who have studied history have heard of Churchill. He was Prime Minister of England and a famous leader during WW2. Churchill was in South Africa as a war correspondent in 1899 at the young age of 23 when he was captured and imprisoned in Pretoria. He attempted and succeeded in escaping. Later in his life he said that those weeks in the prison were the worst time of his life!

Our Lord Jesus was often sought by the Jewish leaders who would have liked to have killed Him. In our verse today, it says that He escaped. It was in His power, as God, just to escape when His enemies came to get Him. At times He simply walked through the midst of His enemies, and His divine power prevented them from taking Him. But we know that He always did His Father’s will, and there came a time when He did not escape.

“Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God” (1 John 4:2-3).

The Apostle John wrote his epistles later than any of the other New Testament writers, and by the time he wrote, bad teaching was already starting to come into the profession of Christianity. Among other things, the truth that Jesus Christ is God and man in one Person was being attacked.

John points out that this is the work of Satan, and the spirit of antichrist. We are to be on guard against the work of evil spirits.

An unbeliever cannot confess Jesus Christ as Lord, for he or she is not indwelt by the Spirit of God. It is only by the Spirit of God that we can submit to Christ as our Lord. Once again, all this emphasizes the importance of confessing Christ after we are saved. In addition, it will give you a special joy in your heart to confess Christ to others!

“With the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10).

This verse might seem confusing to us at first, especially to those of us who are saved. Is it not enough simply to believe on the Lord Jesus? Why then does our verse say that it is important to confess the Lord Jesus with our mouth?

Yes, it is true that simple belief in our hearts is all that is necessary to save us. The Lord knows our hearts, and He knows whether we have really put our trust in Him.

However, the proof that we have really done so is when we confess Him as Lord. I remember giving the gospel to a man who was not saved, and His answer was, “Well, I believe that.” But he would never confess Jesus as Lord, and soon afterward, he again made fun of the gospel. He was definitely not truly saved.

On another occasion I gave the gospel to a good friend of mine, but he wanted this world and all its pleasures. Later in life he did accept Christ, and when he telephoned me, his first words were, “Jesus Christ is now my Lord and Savior.” His faith was real; he had confessed Jesus as Lord. If you are truly saved, have you confessed Jesus as your Lord and Savior to others?

“Ye know not what shall be on the morrow…for that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that” (James 4:14-15).

Once again, we see in today’s verses that it is all right to make some plans, but we should do so in the fear of the Lord, and with the realization that it is He that is in control of our lives. The Lord is the only One who knows the future before it happens, and knows what we may be able to do. How many times have our circumstances changed from one day to the next, and perhaps made us change our plans!

If we make our plans before the Lord, we will seek His mind about what we plan to do, again realizing that our whole responsibility in this world is to look after Christ’s interests, and to live to please Him. If we think like this, we will not be boasting about what we expect to do, but rather make plans with the Lord before us. Then we will always say, “If the Lord will, we will do this or that.”

“Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1).

If we listen to the words of people in the world today, there are many who are boasting of what they will do tomorrow, or the next day, or next week, or next month, etc. Many people today have a “bucket list” of all the things they wish to do, or the places they plan to visit, before they die.

Our verse today tells us not to boast like this, because we do not know what may happen tomorrow, or at some other time in the future. It is all right to make reasonable plans in our life, for we do need to have some idea of what we may do in the future. The key word in our verse today is “boast.” When we are so certain of our plans that we boast about them, then God reminds us that as creatures, we do not know what may happen in the future. Tomorrow we will see the proper attitude toward the future.

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

I have always found this to be an amazing verse. In this life, we may sometimes go through a difficult time in order to get something we value. We may, for example, work very hard for something, but then afterwards say, “It was worth it, for I got what I really wanted.” We compare the hardship involved to what we have obtained, and are satisfied.

But today’s verse says that all the sufferings we may go through as Christians in this world are not worthy even to be compared to the glory that we will share in a coming day. The suffering will seem so insignificant that we will not even think about it.

Our hearts cannot imagine what that coming glory will be like. Paul had been caught up to the third heaven, and thus had experienced something of that glory. In a coming day we will experience it too!