Two Minutes With The Bible

[nChrist]

December 20, 2007

"ENTERING INTO HIS REST"
by Russell S. Miller

"God rested the seventh day from all His works" (Heb.4:4), a reference to the six days of creation as recorded in Genesis 1:1-2:2, and an exhortation that you cease your works and rest in the power of Almighty God.

But Moses himself, through unbelief, failed to enter, and rest, in the land of promise (Heb.4:6; Nu.20:7-13; Deut.34:1-8 ). Since he had already "smitten" the rock once (Ex.17:1-7), the Lord now instructed him to "speak" (Nu.20:8 ) to the rock, for the "Rock" smitten once typifies Christ’s death on Calvary (ICor.10:4; Heb.10:10-14). A "word" humbly "spoken" in the wilderness (Ex.17:1-7) would bring forth the water of life freely, but Moses "smote the rock", not once, but "twice" (Nu.20:11). His anger with Israel, "ye rebels", revealed his unbelief also, for Christ was not to be "smitten twice" (Nu.20:8 ).

Nevertheless in John 4:14 we see the "water" that Christ gives is a "well of water springing up into everlasting life". Under the leadership of Moses and Joshua, it is apparent that though Israel entered Canaan, they failed to enter His rest.

"And they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief" (Heb.4:6).

Even David and his valiant men could not bring Israel into His rest because of unbelief (Heb.4:7).

"For if [Joshua] had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day" (4:8 ).

From David unto Christ, Israel would not enter into His rest, "although the works were finished from the foundation of the world" (Heb.4:3; Rev.13:8 ), a reference to the "forbearance" of God as Paul declares in Romans 3:25,26.

"Jesus", Hebrews 4:8 in our KJV, refers not only to Joshua, but He whom Joshua typified, our Lord Jesus Christ. Under His Divine Leadership Israel rejected the Millennial Rest of His glorious reign (Luke 19:14). See also Romans 10:3,4.

But there remains "a rest" to all those who will place their faith and trust in our "Great High Priest...JESUS the Son of God" (Heb.4:14-16).

"FOR HE THAT IS ENTERED INTO HIS REST, HE ALSO HATH CEASED FROM HIS OWN WORKS, AS GOD DID FROM HIS" (Heb.4:10).

Again in Romans, Abraham is God’s great example of faith:

"For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
"For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and...his faith is counted for righteousness" (Rom.4:2-8 ).

Isn’t it about time that you also ceased from your so-called "good works". Trust the Lord Jesus Christ alone as your Saviour for salvation, and His finished work on Calvary’s cross, and enter into His rest, by grace through faith?

"IN WHOM WE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE" (Eph.1:7).

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December 12, 2007 (Missed - Out of Order)

"ACCEPTED"
by Cornelius R. Stam

    In Ephesians 1:6 the Apostle Paul sings a doxology, as it were, “to the praise of the glory of God's grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved”.

    In the story of the Prodigal Son it is touching to see the father accept his wayward son back to his bosom -— and so generously! He does not merely admit him back into his home; he clothes him with his best robe, puts a ring on his hand, shoes on his feet and kills for him the fatted calf so that they call all to “eat and be merry” in celebration of his return.

    But the prodigal was after all the father's son, whereas Paul bids us “Gentiles in the flesh” to remember that originally we were “without Christ...aliens from the commonwealth of Israel…strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph.2:12).

    Hence it is even more touching to contemplate God's gracious acceptance of us who were not sons but “aliens” and “enemies” (Col.1:21).

    The word “accepted” in the above passage actually comes from the word “grace” (Gr. karis) with which the verse begins: “…His grace, wherein He hath engraced us in the Beloved One”.

    Thus God looks upon us now with delight; He delights to favor and bless the believer because He sees him in Christ, His beloved Son.

    This passage reminds us how God once broke through the heavens to declare: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt.3:17). And now He is delighted with us and blesses us with “all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies” because we are in Christ, the “Beloved Son”. Not that we have attained to this position, far from it, for “HE hath MADE us accepted” -— HE hath engraced us in the Beloved.

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December 13, 2007 (Missed - Out of Order)

THE RESURRECTION MOURNING
by Cornelius R. Stam

    "But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping" (John 20:11).

    Why did she weep? Because the tomb was empty! What needless sorrows follow in the wake of unbelief! Those tear-dimmed eyes did not see the evidence of the Lord’s resurrection. And when the angels asked: "Why weepest thou?" she said: "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him." Poor woman! She would rather have found His body there!

    But here are two on their way to Emmaus, no less sorrowful. They are talking together about all that has happened during the past few days and "[as] they communed together and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them, but their eyes were holden that they should not know Him. And He said unto them: What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?" (Luke 24:15-17).

    The word "walk" here does not mean to walk on but to walk about -- to wander aimlessly. They were on their way to Emmaus, but they were so brokenhearted that they did not care whether or not they got there. What had caused them to give up hope? Listen to their own explanations:

    "We trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done" (Luke 24:21).

    They had given up hope because this was the third day since the Lord’s crucifixion, yet this was the very day He was to rise from the dead, according to His own oft-repeated promise.

    Mary weeps because the tomb is empty! The two disciples are brokenhearted because this is now the third day since His death! We smile at the irony of unbelief. But what about ourselves? The risen, glorified Christ exercises far greater power and offers far greater blessings to believers now than His followers of old knew anything about.

    "Oh, what peace we often forfeit! Oh, what needless pain we bear!" All because we do not take God at His Word.

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December 14, 2007 (Missed - Out of Order)

GOD HATH SPOKEN
by Cornelius R. Stam

    In his farewell address to the nation Israel, Moses said:

    "Ask now of the days that are past... since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?" (Deut. 4:32,33).

    Moses referred, of course, to the giving of the Law, when God spoke to Israel by word of mouth amid the lightnings and thunders of Sinai. In Israel’s case alone "God spake all these words" audibly. Never before had He undertaken to address a nation personally.

    This was indeed a great honor for Israel, but God has since spoken to all mankind in an even more striking manner, for in Heb. 1:1,2 we read:

    "God... hath in these last days spoken unto us by [in] His Son... who... when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high."

    At Sinai God spoke the words of the Law, but now, in Christ, He speaks of mercy and grace. There He spoke of the righteousness which He demands, but here He tells of the righteousness which He provides in Christ.

    Some suppose that the absence of miraculous demonstrations, the want of divine intervention in the affairs of men, etc., indicate indifference on God’s part, but actually this apparent indifference speaks to us of His love and grace.

    Remember, the Psalms and all prophecy had predicted God’s judgment upon men for their rejection of Christ, yet today the Son still remains a voluntary Exile from His own world, while neither He nor the Father do anything to avenge His cruel crucifixion. Meanwhile, still lingering in mercy, He sends His ambassadors to offer reconciliation to His enemies by grace through faith. Thus His silence actually cries: "The door of grace is still open. Be reconciled while you may. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved."

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December 15, 2007 (Missed - Out of Order)

THE PEACE OF GOD
by Cornelius R. Stam

    "Peace with God" is one thing; "the peace of God" is another. To enjoy the latter, we must first experience the former, for the peace of God, ruling in our hearts, is the result of "peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ."

    St. Paul declared by divine inspiration that "[Christ] was delivered for our offences and was raised again for our justification" and that "therefore, being justified by faith," we, who once were at enmity with God, may enjoy "peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 4:25; 5:1). The result of "peace with God" is "the peace of God," the peace that He gives to His own amid all the troubles of life. This is why the Apostle wrote to the Roman Christians:

    "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing" (Rom. 15:13).

    While only those who are at peace with God can -- and should know "the peace of God," it does not follow, however, that all those who are at peace with God necessarily enjoy "the peace of God." Believers can enjoy "the peace of God" only as they practice Phil. 4:6:

    "BE CAREFUL [ANXIOUS] FOR NOTHING; BUT IN EVERYTHING, BY PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION, WITH THANKSGIVING, LET YOUR REQUESTS BE MADE KNOWN UNTO GOD."

    As we follow these instructions the promise which follows will certainly be fulfilled.

    "THE PEACE OF GOD, WHICH PASSETH ALL UNDERSTANDING, SHALL KEEP YOUR HEARTS AND MINDS THROUGH CHRIST JESUS" (Ver. 7).

    As believers in Christ "we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose" (Rom. 8:28 ). Therefore we should not be constantly overwhelmed and defeated by the adversities of life, but should heed the exhortation; "Let the peace of God rule in your hearts" (Col. 3:15).

    "NOW THE LORD OF PEACE HIMSELF GIVE YOU PEACE ALWAYS BY ALL MEANS" (II Thes. 3:16).

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December 23, 2007

THE DIVINE MIRROR
by Cornelius R. Stam

    In the divine Mirror, the Bible, we may behold ourselves or we may behold Christ.

    It is well to use it first to behold ourselves and see the ruin sin has brought. But let us not stop here. Let a man look into a mirror and find the sun in it and the glory will be reflected in his face. And so it is with the Word. When we see ourselves in it we must necessarily be disappointed, but when we look for Him in the Word and find Him there, His glory casts its reflection upon us!

    What need have we then to hide our faces? If David could say, "They looked unto Him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed" (Psa. 34:5), how much more should this be said of us! We know, or should know, more of Him than those of David’s day, and those Scriptures specially addressed to us send us forth, not to proclaim God’s righteous demands, but to proclaim Christ, the righteous One, who met these demands at Calvary and offers justification and life to all.

    And as, in our study of the Scriptures, we turn from the shame of man to the glory of Christ; as we behold Him and see all we have and are in Him, we become constantly more like Him, "changed into the same image from glory to glory" (II Cor. 3:18 ).

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December 24, 2007

SATAN AND THE TRUTH
by Cornelius R. Stam

    "If any man be in Christ he is a new creation..." (II Cor. 5:17).

    "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus..." (Eph. 2:10).

    "And ye are complete in Him..." (Col. 2:10).

    "In Christ!" What a glorious truth! What a high and holy position! No religious ceremony, neither circumcision nor baptism, needed to make us spiritually complete. God only asks now: "Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called" (Eph. 4:1).

    Many Christians are satisfied with salvation through the blood of Christ, but God wants us to have much more than this. He wants us to have "the full assurance of understanding" (Col. 2:2), to know the security, the blessedness, the glory of a position in Christ. He wants us to know "the exceeding riches of His grace" (Eph. 2:7), and to enjoy "all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Eph. 1:3).

    But Satan does not!

    For proclaiming these glorious truths the Apostle Paul was bitterly opposed on every hand, even by some saved religious leaders of his day.

    And Satan has not changed!

    Proclaim this message today and "your adversary the devil" will soon be roused to action. He hates this message of grace which the glorified Lord revealed through Paul (Eph. 3:1-3) and let us not be asleep to the fact that, as in Paul’s day, he will again seek to use even saved religious leaders, evangelical "big guns," if he can, to oppose it, thus robbing Christ of His glory and believers of their blessings.

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December 25, 2007

Paul's Two Roman Imprisonments
by Paul M. Sadler, President

    Scripture Reading:

    "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing."
    -- II Timothy 4:6-8

    Approximately two years after being delivered into the hands of Roman authorities things had apparently gone well for the apostle, therefore he anticipated his soon release from prison. Thus he writes to the church at Philippi: "For I know that this [their prayer for his release] shall turn to my salvation [deliverance from prison]" (Phil. 1:9).

    We believe that Paul did in fact enjoy a short period of freedom which enabled him to continue his apostolic journeys. We know, for example, that according to the Acts record the apostle never visited Crete on any of his previous apostolic journeys. Paul did sail around the island on his way to Rome as a prisoner, but it was not until his release from his first Roman imprisonment that he actually visited Crete. The apostle's brief stay on the island was long enough to see that the churches there were in a state of chaos (Titus 1:10-16). Consequently, Paul leaves Titus behind, his companion in travel, "to set in order the things that were wanting" (Titus 1:5).

    Probably from Crete Paul made his way to Corinth where he writes to Titus to inform him that he planned to winter in Nicopolis (Titus 3:12). It could well be that the apostle was apprehended at Nicopolis and taken again to Rome for preaching Christ. This time however, the sentence would go against him. So without hesitation he writes to Timothy, since it was nearing winter, to bring his cloak and also the Parchments (II Tim. 4:13).

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December 26, 2007

Water Baptism and the Future Day of the Lord
by Paul M. Sadler

    The following was our response to a friend who inquired if baptism would be practiced again in the future Tribulation.

    It does appear that water baptism will play a role in the terms of salvation during the coming day of the Lord. We know, for example, the gospel of the kingdom will again be preached, which included this water ceremony (Matt. 24:14 cf. Mark 16:15,16). When baptism was practiced by John and the twelve it was to manifest Christ to Israel (John 1:31). This will again be needful during the future Tribulation period following the Rapture. Since Israel was to be a kingdom of priests it was essential for John the Baptist to baptize believing Israelites into the priesthood (Ex. 19:5,6; 29:1-4; Isa. 61:6). It will be necessary for this to be continued during the time of Jacob’s Trouble as well. As we know, in time past, water baptism symbolized the washing away of Israel’s sins. While this aspect of the water rite will be replaced with the understanding that believing Israel will be redeemed by the precious blood of Christ (I Pet. 1:18,19), baptism will still be observed as an expression of faith in Christ’s death.

    It is our firm conviction that water baptism will again be practiced when God resumes the prophetic program in the coming day of the Lord. God will pick up right where He left off at Pentecost. What we witness in Acts Chapters 2 and 3 will be reinstated at the beginning of the Tribulation.

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December 27, 2007

A Challenge for Our Parents
by Paul M. Sadler, President

    Scripture Reading:

    "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."
    -- I Corinthians 15:58

    Probably the most commonly asked question of a seven year old is, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Usually the little one is so frozen with fear that the one inquiring must resort to a form of interrogation: "a doctor, lawyer, policeman; I know, a fireman!" These are noble professions indeed, but why are children almost never encouraged to pursue the ministry? Is the Lord's work any less meaningful? Are the callings of pastor, evangelist, missionary and Christian counselor unworthy of our children's' consideration? Parents do well to remember that there is no higher calling in life than the Lord's service.

    Sadly, our young people are so preconditioned to aspire to worldly professions that the ministry is not even a viable option. Timothy's mother had no way of knowing whether or not God would call her son into full-time service. But to her credit, she trained Timothy from a small child in the Scriptures to prepare him for the things of the Lord. Shortly after his conversion to Christ, he was called into the ministry where he delivered many from a Christless eternity (II Tim. 1:6).

    During those formative years we need to encourage our young to seek the face of the Lord as to what area of Christian service the Lord might use them. Perhaps you have a quiver full of teenagers who don't know what vocation to pursue. What better place to search for an answer than to have them attend the Berean Bible Institute here in Milwaukee.

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December 28, 2007

PUZZLE OR PICTURE
by Cornelius R. Stam

    Where “rightly dividing the Word of truth” (IITim.2:15) is concerned, our spiritual leaders are like a group of people, each one of whom holds a part or several parts of a jig-saw puzzle, but who fail to put them together and so never get to see the picture.

    One sees clearly that the so-called “Great Commission” was a Kingdom commission and not ours. Another sees that the “one baptism” of Ephesians 4:5 MUST be the DIVINE baptism which makes believers one in Christ. Another sees that Paul’s apostleship was wholly distinct from that of the Twelve. Another sees that Romans 6:3,4 does not contain one drop of water. Another sees that the Christian’s position is spiritual and heavenly in character. Another sees that the Body of Christ, the Church of today, was never prophesied — even, that it did not begin at Pentecost with Peter and the eleven, but later, with Paul.

    But while each sees some component part of “the Mystery”, Satan has used tradition to blind him to the rest. The result is that confusion continues to prevail and they still have a puzzle instead of a picture.

    If only they would put the pieces together! What a clear picture they would see of “the Dispensation of the Grace of God”, and how eagerly they would join us in “THE PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY” (Rom. 16:25)!

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December 29, 2007

A WATCHMAN FOR ISRAEL AND THE APOSTLE OF GRACE
by Cornelius R. Stam

    “…I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at My mouth, and warn them from Me” (Ezek.33:7).

    The Prophet Ezekiel was appointed by God as a “watchman” over the house of Israel. He was held responsible to warn the wicked from their way, for while God must deal justly with sin, He had declared: “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Verse 11).

    If Ezekiel failed to warn the wicked they would die in their sins, but their blood would be required at his hand. If he faithfully warned them, however, and they refused to heed the warning, they would die in their sins, but he would be absolved of all responsibility (See Verses 8 and 9).

    Would some Christian reader remind us that we are living under another dispensation and that our message is one of grace? True enough, but this does not diminish, it increases our responsibility toward the lost.

    “For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?” (ICor.14:8 ).

    If we believers carelessly allow the lost to go to Christless graves, are we not morally responsible for their doom? Will we not be held accountable at the Judgment Seat of Christ? (See II Corinthians 5:10,11). This is why we find Paul reminding the Ephesian elders that he had not ceased to “warn” men “night and day with tears” (Acts 20:31).

    As the apostle looked back over his ministry among the Ephesians he could say: “I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men” (Verse 26). And this had been so of his ministry in general. Indeed, it was now his desire that whatever the cost, he “might finish his course with joy, and the ministry which he had received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God” (Verse 24).

    May Ezekiel, and the Apostle Paul, that great warrior for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, be memorials to us -— of our great responsibility toward the lost!

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December 30, 2007

REPETITION OF PRAYERS
by Cornelius R. Stam

    One of the most unscriptural and unspiritual misuses of prayer is the repeating of prayers composed by others. Many members of both Protestant and Catholic churches, indeed, many sincere believers, repeat over and over again prayers that have been prepared for them to recite. Undoubtedly the greatest number of all make it a practice to repeat the so-called "Lord’s Prayer," taken from the Gospel records.

    Evidently all these millions of professing Christians have overlooked the fact that it was when the disciples asked our Lord to teach them how to pray (Luke 11:1) that He said: "After this manner therefore pray ye" (Matt. 6:9).

    Moreover, He prefaced these words with the specific injunction:

    "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them..." (Matt. 6:7,8 ).

    Both Protestants and Catholics make much of repeating the "Lord’s Prayer." They repeat it singly and in unison, in trouble and sorrow, in sickness and death, in storm and drought, in war and disaster, with little or no regard for its contents.

    Imagine praying, "Give us this day our daily bread" at a funeral service! Imagine praying, "Thy kingdom come" at a sick bed or in a storm at sea! Yet this is solemnly done again and again throughout Christendom. Whole audiences continue to repeat the prayer in unison -- and this in the face of the fact that it was in connection with this very prayer that our Lord pronounced the mere repetition of prayers "vain" and enjoined His disciples not to follow the heathen in this practice.

    What a difference there is between praying and saying prayers! No truly spiritual believer will do the latter.

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December 31, 2007

LIGHT OUT OF DARKNESS
by Cornelius R. Stam

"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us" (II Cor. 4:6,7).

Any instructed Christian reading this passage from the pen of the Apostle Paul naturally goes back in his mind to the time when God first said: "Let there be light," and dispelled the darkness of the primeval world.

He might also recall the incident related in the book of Judges, when Gideon’s army went to battle against the Midianites, each man with a sword in one hand, and a lamp hidden within a pitcher in the other. At Gideon’s command the soldiers broke the earthen vessels and the lights shone out to strike terror into the hearts of the enemy, who could not account for the crash and the blaze of light at this midnight hour.

For every believer God has caused light, wonderful light, to shine out of the darkness and fill the heart, just as once He said to the dark and chaotic earth: "Let there be light -- and there was light."

But we believers have come into "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God" by coming to know Christ. Our Lord rightly said: "No man cometh unto the Father but by Me" (John 14:6). God is unknown and unknowable apart from Christ, who is God manifested in the flesh. It was He who lived a perfect life and then died a sinner’s death in order to bring us into relationship and fellowship with God.

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January 1, 2008

The Ministry of Comfort
by Paul M. Sadler, President

Scripture Reading:

"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort."
-- II Corinthians 1:3

Since the entrance of sin into the world, the way of man has been anything but easy. Job seemed to have his finger on the pulse of the matter when he wrote, "... man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward." It is interesting though, that when calamity strikes, men are quick to blame God, or to ask why He allows such occurrences in their lives. But shall we blame God for what man has brought upon himself? God forbid! Man is a product of his own folly.

"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Rom. 5:12).

Some claim that if they had been back in the garden everything would have been different. I certainly have no reason to doubt them. In all probability, they would have pushed Adam aside to reach the forbidden fruit before he did! You see, God saw the entire human race in Adam, as only He could do. So when Adam stretched forth his hand to partake of the forbidden fruit, each of us were reaching for it as well -- we are his posterity, thus we share in his guilt. God could have condemned the whole human race to the Lake of Fire and have been perfectly justified in so doing. Thankfully, we did not receive what we justly deserved, for "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy" (Psa. 103:8 ).

HOW GOD COMFORTS US

"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" (II Cor. 1:4).

Here, of course, the Apostle refers to believers. Our heavenly Father knows that we are frail creatures of dust, overwhelmed with sorrow, sickness and even death; not to mention the spiritual upheavals that come our way. Always sympathetic to our plight, He walks with us every step of life's journey comforting us in all our tribulations. The tribulation cited here by the Apostle Paul is not a reference to the Tribulation Period known as The Time of Jacob's Trouble. Paul is speaking of the personal tribulations he had encountered due to spiritual conflicts and poor health. Personal trials come in all forms: criticism, rejection, financial setbacks, sickness, bereavement, etc.

When sorrow overwhelms us like an ocean tide the Lord in His goodness is always present to comfort us in our time of need. But exactly how does God comfort us in the dispensation of Grace? We know for instance that the heavens are silent and that neither the Lord nor any of His angelic host visibly appear to minister to the saints today. During the administration of Grace the Lord, first of all, comforts us through His Word.

For example, some years ago death took my great-grandmother. She always held a very special place in my heart and even to this day I get choked up sometimes when I think of her. My sense of loss would be difficult to bear except for the consolation I have received from the Word of God. The Lord has shown me that I need not sorrow as others who have no hope. Some day soon the trump will sound and the dead in Christ will be raised. Then we will be caught up together with all those departed loved ones who were saved, and so shall we ever be with the Lord! Little wonder Paul says, "Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

Another way the Lord comforts us is by bringing someone into our lives at just the right moment to encourage us in those times of despair. Surely we have a precedent for this in the life of Paul himself. The intensity of the spiritual warfare at Ephesus and Macedonia had taken its toll on the Apostle, both physically and spiritually. "Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus" (II Cor. 7:5-7). The arrival of Titus was a direct result of Divine intervention to not only encourage Paul, but also that he might lend assistance in the work.

Finally, God does not comfort us to make us comfortable, but rather that we might comfort others. It has been given to us to carry on a ministry of encouragement to those who are in any trouble. Think of it, having already been the recipients of God's consolation, He uses us to put our arm around that dear Christian friend who is perhaps facing his first surgery and tell him, "we too had this same surgery a few years ago and the Lord saw us through it." With hope we can face any thing. That's why God has revealed to us the Blessed Hope that one day soon we shall be with Him. Truly He is the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. AMEN!

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