Author: BTP

Dear Young Christian:

By this time of year we in Eastern Canada are looking for any signs of spring and warmer weather that might be starting to appear. The melting of snow, warmer days with some sunshine…anything! There can still be plenty of winter left, but we are looking beyond that to the hope of better things.

I sometimes wonder if we are looking for the Lord’s coming in that same way? Spring is bound to come and we count on it just around the corner, but there is another event that is more certain than the coming of another season, and that is the rapture. “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast” (Hebrews 6:19).

Just as we look for signs of spring and warmer weather in many parts of the world this time of year, so we should be looking for the Lord to come all year round. “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). Will you be looking for the Lord to come as you go about this week?

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

We would love to hear from you. Send your comments or questions to [email protected]

Our Sins

“The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

The work of the cross was God’s work. He chose to lay on Jesus our iniquity. And then He punished Him for it as if it were His own. That is really the meaning of the words of the Lord prophetically, when He says, “O God, thou knowest My foolishness; and My sins are not hid from Thee” (Psalm 69:5). The Lord had no sins of His own personally…FAR BE THE THOUGHT! He was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners” (Hebrews 7:26). This was the punishment that we deserved but Jesus took it for us.

As we remember the Lord Jesus again today, let’s think about the tremendous cost of our salvation. It cost Jesus His life. It cost God the giving up of His Son.

“Christ also suffered for us…who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth…who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree…by whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Peter 2:21-22,24).

One Way

“Jesus saith…I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).

Eighty men fighting a forest fire were trapped without knowing it. An unknown airplane pilot, seeing their plight, risked his life by flying low enough to drop weighted paper notes. Three times he did this, and the notes told the men that they were trapped, that the pilot could see the only way out, and that he would guide them to safety. The men believed his words and obeyed him instantly. They ran through a narrow, flame-lined corridor and all reached the highway safely.

The men did not stop to argue about the notes that came from above, to see whether they were genuine. Neither did they take any chances by trying to find some other way out. They believed the only one who could view the whole situation, and ran for their lives — and were saved.

God, who alone can view the whole situation of this troubled world, sent His Son to save us, and calls us to believe His Word, the Bible. How futile to try to find other ways out!

Persecution

“All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).

Many years ago the Evangelist George Whitefield made the following remarks:

“Persecution is necessary for the godly. If we have not all manner of evil spoken against us, how can we know whether we seek only that honor which comes from above? If we have no persecutors, how can many Christian precepts be put into practice? How can we love, pray for, and do good to those who despitefully use us? How can we overcome evil with good? In short, how can we know we love God better than life itself?”

George Whitefield lived and served the Lord in the 1700’s. He helped to bring the gospel to North America, and was used of the Lord to preach to thousands of souls. Read about his life and you will find that when he talks about suffering for Christ and persecution, he was talking from experience.

Promises

“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises” (2 Peter 1:4).

We don’t just have “great…promises,” we have “exceeding great…promises.”

Not only are they “exceeding great…” they are “exceeding great and precious…”

The Word of God is full of these wonderful promises. Furthermore, these promises will never fail. “There hath not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised” (1 Kings 8:56).

Don’t forget, “All the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us” (2 Corinthians 1:20).

The result of appreciating these promises will have a practical effect on our life. “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1).