“Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12, KJV). What does Paul mean when he warns his Christian brethren, “Take heed, lest you fall”? Was he concerned that these believers were in danger of falling back into grievous sins of flesh? Corinth was indeed a great trade city full of gross sin. And many Christians there had indulged in fleshly sins before they were saved.
“Soon afterward Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him” (Luke 7:11). When Jesus approached the city of Nain, there was a huge procession behind him. He’d been ministering in the hills and meadows, healing the sick, feeding hungry crowds and preaching the arrival of God’s kingdom. Now many of the people he’d healed and fed joined his growing number of disciples. Try to picture this dancing, joyful throng as they approached the city: They must have looked like a massive caravan of joy.
What happens to our soul when we experience deep, personal grief? What role does grief have in our walk with Jesus? In one brief passage, Peter explains it all. “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6-7, ESV).
This message is for anyone who is suffering pain, affliction or tribulation. It is for the unemployed and those facing financial trials. It is for people who live each day with an anxious foreboding about their future. I want to say to each of you right now: GOD KNOWS ABOUT IT ALL.
Think for a moment of that glorious hour when Israel stood safely on the other side of the Red Sea. Thousands of God’s people lined the shore, watching as a miraculous scene unfolded. The swift waters of the sea had collapsed over Pharaoh’s great army!
What an incredible scene it must have been — the sights and sounds awesome to behold. Horses bellowed, soldiers screamed, chariot wheels spun off in all directions, men bobbed up for air and then disappeared beneath the flood tide.
I believe few Christians consider themselves impatient. Most true followers of Jesus will admit they have not arrived, that they're not as Christ-like as they want to be. They will tell you there are areas in their lives that need great improvement. But few Christians recognize in themselves a certain form of impatience that is spiritual in nature.
Temptation is an invitation or an enticement to commit an immoral act. And right now Satan is raging over the earth as a roaring lion trying to devour Christians through powerful enticements toward immorality. No one is immune and the closer you get to God, the more Satan will desire to sift you.
In New York City, you can visit church after church, from stately cathedrals to small congregations, and you’ll seldom hear a word preached about repentance. The same is true of many evangelical churches across America and worldwide. You can visit congregation after congregation for months on end, and never hear any mention of repentance.
Of course, there are churches today that do not compromise on this important biblical doctrine. But a vast number of churches have decided that repentance is too offensive a message. In fact, entire denominations have de-emphasized it.
Have you ever known depression? Have you been so worried and perplexed that you endured sleepless nights? Have you had times when you were so low and troubled, no one could comfort you? Have you been so down that you felt like giving up, feeling your life was a total failure?
In Matthew 18, Jesus tells a parable to teach his disciples what the kingdom of heaven is like. As with many of his parables, everything in the account relates to Christ and his church.
Jesus begins by describing a king who calls his servants to account. Scripture says, “When he [the king] had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents” (Matthew 18:24). Here was a servant deep in debt. He owed the king the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars, an amount he could never pay back.
