Author: BTP

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers…come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord…and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you” (2 Corinthians 6:14,17-18).

The Apostle Paul had to remind the believers in Corinth to be separate from the unbelievers in this world. This did not mean that they should not interact with those unbelievers in the workplace, or as neighbors, for all Christians should be ready to give the gospel to those with whom they come in contact in this world. But they were not to mix with them socially, or to enter into business partnerships with them, or to marry them.

Paul reminds those believers that they could not get along with an unbeliever in any close relationship, for either we belong to Christ, or we belong to Satan’s world. There is no middle ground. If we want to enjoy the Lord, we must be willing to be separate from this world.

Some unbelievers are nice people naturally, but they all have one thing in common: they do not belong to Christ, and cannot enjoy the things of Christ.

“And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him” (Luke 23:33).

Yesterday was Independence Day in the United States of America, and it reminded me of something Abraham Lincoln said in February, 1861, while he was on his way to Washington, D.C. to be inaugurated as President of the United States. He visited Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and in a speech he made there, said, “I am deeply moved to be standing in the place where the nation was founded.”

Most of us have never visited the place in the land of Israel where our Lord was crucified, but when we come together to remember Him in His death, do we feel “deeply moved” when we think of Calvary’s cross, and all that took place there? He has said that “where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). Do we appreciate His presence there, and do we appreciate His desire for us to remember Him?

“I know thy works, that thou are neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot” (Revelation 3:15).

As I write this in June, 2024, I have just come home after spending three days in the hospital, having some tests done. Hospitals are not usually noted for their good food, as they concentrate more on good medical care. In particular, every day I was served lukewarm coffee, which I hated, and it reminded me of this verse. Most of us like our coffee or tea hot, and on a warm day, we like a cold drink.

In this verse, the Lord is speaking about your attitude and mine, and comparing us to hot and cold drinks. The Lord wants us “hot” towards Him and His claims, and “cold” towards evil. But the tendency of some Christians is to be lukewarm; just going along with the flow of this world, and not taking a strong stand for the Lord, or against evil. The Lord hates this attitude, and says in the next verse that He will spue those people out of His mouth, just as we might spit out some lukewarm coffee. Let us not be that kind of Christian!

“Jesus said unto her [Martha], I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believeth thou this?” (John 11:25-26).

You might have trouble understanding these verses, but think of how they must have sounded to someone like Martha, who did not have the benefit of the New Testament. The verses refer to the Lord’s coming for us, but this truth had not yet been revealed. This is probably the first mention in the Bible of that wonderful truth, for the Lord Jesus did not speak directly about it until John 14. To use a common saying, Martha must have felt as if she had been thrown into the deep end of the pool!

All this is a good lesson for us. Perhaps at times you sit in a meeting, and find that you do not understand some of the things that are said. Just remember that the Lord Jesus allowed the same to happen when He taught, in order to challenge the hearts of those He loved, and to get them to dig further into divine things. The next time you hear something you do not understand, ask questions afterward and do some reading on your own. You can make it a learning experience!

“And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God, my God” (Ruth 1:16).

When I was young, it was common for people to keep small birds, especially canaries or budgies, in cages in their homes. They were pretty little birds, and the canaries would often sing, which entertained the people who kept them. But of course, if you opened the cage, the bird would fly away.

If you could bring a bird to love you better than it loved the open sky, you would not need a cage. Christians in communion with Jesus do not need a cage to keep them from flying away into the world. They are happily separate from the world, and they are the willing, joyful servants of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As we saw yesterday, the desire to serve the Lord Jesus, devotedness in service, and above all, perseverance in service, all spring from the same source—love to Christ. His love constrains every one of us; do we feel that constraint?

“For the love of the Christ constrains us…and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live to themselves, but to Him who died for them and has been raised” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15 JND).

We do not use the word “constrain” much in everyday speech, but it is a strong word, meaning to compel or force someone to follow a particular course of action. It may not be physical force; in fact, it is usually a moral force—something we cannot see. Yet it is still a mighty power.

In our Christian lives, God does not make us do certain things to please Him. Rather, He works in our hearts to remind us of His love, and the love that took our Savior all the way to Calvary’s cross. When the love of Christ has really touched our hearts, it is the strongest force to keep us from sin, and to give us energy in the service of the Lord.

Naturally we all want to live for ourselves, and to spend our time, energy and money doing what we want. But if we remember the One who left the glory of heaven to come down to this earth to die for us, it will touch our hearts, and make us want to use all that we have for His glory.

“We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

I knew an elderly Christian woman who went to be with the Lord at an advanced age, and was totally clear in her mind right to the end. She had not always had a happy life, and had faced some difficult problems from time to time. Yet she was always at peace in her heart, and was always a happy person.

One day her daughter asked her how this could be, when she had faced a number of serious difficulties in her life. Her mother replied, “I have always remembered that, despite all the problems and difficulties in my life, the Lord was working.”

This was a good attitude, and something we all need to remember, whether we are young or old. Even if we have done wrong, the Lord still loves us, and even though He may allow some hard things in our life, they are all working for our good.

“The God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

It is a wonderful thing to have someone comfort us when we are in trouble. Also, it makes a big difference if the person who comforts us has been through the same kind of trouble. They understand, and what they say means more to us. They know the right things to say.

The Lord Jesus went through many kinds of suffering, and not all of it was to put our sins away. He suffered many things so that He could sympathize with us in the problems and difficulties we face. We will speak more of this tomorrow.

Also, the Lord sometimes puts us through difficult times in our lives, not necessarily because we have been careless in our Christian life, but so that we can understand and comfort someone else who may be going through a hard time. It is important to realize that in order to comfort others, it helps if we have been through a similar difficulty. Think of that as a possibility, the next time you are going through a difficulty in your life.

“And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me” (Isaiah 6:8).

The prophet Isaiah wrote this in the first person, referring to himself. He was a faithful prophet who was ready to go and give a message for the Lord, to the people of Israel. However, it is also a picture of the Lord Jesus who was willing to come down into this world on behalf of God the Father, to show the love of God to this world, and to die for us.

The Lord Jesus did not have to come, but when someone was needed to complete the work of redemption, He came forward. He was the only One who could complete that work, and He came willingly, knowing well what it would cost Him.

Sometimes you and I volunteer for something, perhaps not realizing what it will cost us to do it. But the Lord Jesus knew what it would cost, and He said, “Here am I; send me.” He heard the voice of the Lord, and responded in the right way.

“Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with the all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the Lord” (Haggai 1:12).

Here we find that some of the Jews had come back to the land of Israel, after being taken into captivity to Babylon, but sadly, it seems that they had gotten careless, and neglected what was due to the Lord. Because of this, the Lord had sent the prophet Haggai to speak to them about it.

Thankfully the leaders and the people listened to the voice of the Lord through Haggai, and confessed that they had sinned. Evidently the people had spent all their time building their own houses, and neglected looking after the house of the Lord.

However, it is always good to repent, and to recognize when we have done wrong. Instead of making excuses and defending themselves, the people admitted their sin, and if we read in other parts of the Bible, such as the book of Ezra, we will find that the people began again to build the house of the Lord. As a result, the Lord blessed them, and the king of Persia at that time (Darius Hystaspes) gave them a great deal of help too. The Lord honors those who honor Him!