God wants believers to serve Him in truth. In fact, it is this very issue that will determine “of what sort” our work is at the judgment seat of Christ.
Strength is not tested or demonstrated during times of ease. Rather, it is during times of adversity that one finds out just how strong he is.
God looks for opportunities to show Himself strong in the lives of His saints. This is true both historically and in the lives of His people living today.
Sin demands atonement. Atonement puts God and man at one. When atonement is made man is cleansed and forgiven. In other words, things are made right.
In many ways, sin is simply sin. However, sins carry varying weights or repercussions. In fact, the Bible testifies that some sins are greater than others.
Each believer will, at some point, be confronted with the conflicting choice to obey God rather than to obey men’s anti-scriptural precepts.
Most people assume the Lord’s actions are motivated almost solely because of His love for man. Yet, God works for His own glory and for His own name’s sake.
In the tribulation, there will be many who will love “not their lives unto the death.” Their love for the Saviour will surpass their love for life itself.
When speaking of anger, the scripture uses descriptive terms that could equally be applied to the truths concerning fire. In doing so, the Bible makes a connection that can help believers gain a better understanding of the benefits or dangers of anger. According to scripture, anger can be kindled, a term used to describe the starting of a fire (Exodus 4:14; Numbers 11:1; Deuteronomy 32:22; Jeremiah 15:14), either a little (Psalm 2:12) or greatly (Numbers 11:10; 1 Samuel 11:6). The Bible also describes anger as waxing hot (Exodus 32:19), another connection to fire. These similarities are by divine design. As is true concerning fire, anger can be useful and productive, but it can also be destructive and harmful, especially when it gets out of control.
When true worship gets blended together with amusement, it yields varying types of worldliness and idolatry. In Exodus chapter 32, the children of Israel observed a “feast to the LORD” at the same time that they “rose up to play.” As men begin to grow increasingly cold and indifferent toward the Lord and His ways, they will seek ever more imaginative ways to make spiritual worship appeal to the flesh. This is often accomplished by uniting pleasure and worship. In an effort to keep people interested in the worship of God, churches add comedic relief, drama, carnal music, and a host of other worldly amusements. In doing so, the worship of God gets corrupted and becomes nothing more than idolatry or false worship.
