We Are Pilgrims in a Sinful World –
We Must Through Much Tribulation
Enter into the Kingdom of God

To keep God's Words in your heart, read Charles Haddon Spurgeon's Daily Meditations

I walk through this sinful world as a pilgrim in a foreign country; Lord, I would not be a citizen where Jesus was an alien.

We are strangers in this world. When Jesus came unto His own, His own received Him not. He was in the world; the world was made by Him; the world knew Him not. It is no marvel then if we, who live the life of Jesus, should be unknown and strangers here below.

But here is the sweetness of our lot: we are strangers with Christ. He is our fellow-sufferer, our fellow-pilgrim. Oh, what joy to wander in such blessed society! Though we are sojourners, we are far more blessed than those who sit on thrones and far more at home than those who dwell in sealed houses.

Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. --Acts 14:22

Christ was “not of the world:” His life and His testimony were a constant protest against conformity with the world.

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. --1 John 2:15-16

Never was such overflowing affection for men as you find in Jesus, but still He was separate from sinners. In like manner, Christ’s people must “go forth unto Him.” They must take their position “without the camp” as witness-bearers for the truth. They must be prepared to tread the straight and narrow path. They must have bold, unflinching, lion-like hearts, loving Christ first, His truth next, and Christ and His truth beyond all the world.

You cannot grow in grace to any high degree while you are conformed to the world.

Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. --James 4:4

The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches are apt to choke everything good within us, and we grow fretful, despondent, perhaps proud and carnal. We sit too often like chained eagles fastened to the rock, only that, unlike the eagle, we begin to love our chain, and would, perhaps, if it came really to the test, be loath to have it snapped.

“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” --Revelation 3:17

It is exceedingly beneficial to our souls to mount above this present evil world to something nobler and better. The Christian’s reason for leaving the camp of the world’s sin and religion is not because he loves to be singular, but because Jesus did so, and the disciple must follow his Master.

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. --Colossians 3:1-2

Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. --Titus 2:12-14

There is no satisfaction to be found in earthly things. It will not matter if we obtain earthly things that others have, because we have God for our Father.

• No longer will we seek earthly treasures.
• Pride will give place to humility.
• We will give priority to others.
• We will be willing to sacrifice our time, energy and money to God and His needy ones.
• We will do it cheerfully because God has saved us from material idols.
• We will regularly give to God for His service and His glory.

”I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.” --Revelation 2:19

Jesus said unto him, “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou has, and give to the poor, and thou shall have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto His disciples, “Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven." And again I say unto you, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” --Matthew 19:21-26

We will lose the world to gain heaven; we will let go of the world and its falseness to enter eternal life.

Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. --1 Timothy 6:17-19

God, in His mercy, has sent His anointed One, Christ, into the world to reveal the truth about God to man. Christ lived a life of poverty and humility. He was despised, though all power and truth belong to Him. He overcame all carnal pride and became a servant to all, despising all riches and honor.

For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. --1 Timothy 6:7-11

"No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (money)." --Matthew 16:13

Chris Tomlin - How Great Is Our God

We that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak. --Romans 15:1

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: a man to whom God has given riches, wealth, and honor, so that he want nothing for his soul of all that he desire. Yet God gives him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eats it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease. --Ecclesiastes 6:1-2

We are naturally more apt to be concerned for our goods, carnal peace, and a temporal life than we are about securing our souls with God, especially as long as peace has lasted and we are not discontented or offended. Let them that suffer according to the will of God have a care of their souls and take heed that the fears of the loss of a little of this world do not make them forget the fear of the losing of their souls.

"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" --Mark 8:36

How wonderful is that service which is in fellowship with Christ, for those who deny themselves, gain God. God will satisfy them and they will be contented, spending themselves in the service of others. God becomes their true treasure and their eternal possession.

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. --Colossians 3:12-17

And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. --1 Peter 4:8

“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” --Matthew 5:5

What is weaker than the bruised reed or the smoking flax? A reed that grows in the fen or marsh, let but the wild duck light upon it, and it snaps; let but the foot of man brush against it, and it is bruised and broken; every wind that flits across the river moves it to and fro. We can conceive of nothing more frail or brittle, or whose existence is more in jeopardy, than a bruised reed. Then look at the smoking flax—what is it? It has a spark within it, it is true, but it is almost smothered; an infant’s breath might blow it out; nothing has a more precarious existence than its flame.

Weak things are here described, yet Jesus says of them, “The smoking flax I will not quench; the bruised reed I will not break.” Some of God’s children are made strong to do mighty works for Him; God has His Samsons here and there who can pull up Gaza’s gates and carry them to the top of the hill. He has a few mighties who are lion-like men, but the majority of His people are a timid, trembling race. They are like starlings, frightened at every passerby—a little fearful flock. If temptation comes, they are taken like birds in a snare. If trial threatens, they are ready to faint, their frail skiff is tossed up and down by every wave; they are drifted along like a sea bird on the crest of the billows—weak things, without strength, without wisdom, without foresight. Yet, weak as they are, and because they are so weak, they have this promise made especially to them.

A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench. --Matthew 12:20

Herein is grace and graciousness! Herein is love and lovingkindness! How it opens to us the compassion of Jesus—so gentle, tender, considerate! We need never shrink back from His touch. We need never fear a harsh word from Him, though He might well chide us for our weakness, He does not rebuke us for it. Bruised reeds shall have no blows from Him and the smoking flax no damping frowns.

Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him?... For He shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy. --James 2:5,13

“For he that is least among you all, the same shall be great.” --Luke 9:48

All the names of the children of God are in the same family register. One may have more grace than another, but God our heavenly Father has the same tender heart towards all. One may do more mighty works and may bring more glory to his Father, but he whose name is the least in the kingdom of heaven is as much the child of God as he who stands among the King's mighty men. Let this cheer and comfort us when we draw near to God and say, “Our Father.”

Nothing can happen without God’s direction for even hell is under His control.

When our Lord was upon the earth, He walked the footpath of weariness and service as the Servant of servants. What wonder is it if His followers should also be looked down upon as inferior and contemptible persons?

We expect to walk in sympathy with our Lord along a thorny road: through much tribulation we are forcing our way to the crown. To bear the cross is our office, and to be scorned and counted aliens by the world is our lot; and yet we have a deep well of joy of which none can drink but the children of God.

The world is upside down, and therefore, the first are last and the last first. When the wheel turns, they who are highest sink and the lowest rise. Patience then, believer, eternity will right the wrongs of time.

“For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me… And this is the will of Him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” --John 6:38,49

We live in the world of death and sorrow, but the promise is that the believer shall not be afraid. God our Father is here, and He will be here all through our lonely hours.

Non believers and hypocrites may well be afraid, for they have an angry God above them, a guilty conscience within them, and a yawning hell beneath them. But we who rest in Jesus are saved from all these through rich mercy. We children of light may walk in darkness, but we are not, therefore, cast away; no, we are now enabled to prove our adoption by trusting in our heavenly Father as hypocrites cannot do.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. --Psalms 23:4

The journey of death may be dark, but we may go forth on it fearlessly, knowing that God is with us as we walk through the gloomy valley and, therefore, we need fear no evil.

It is impossible for any human speech to express the full meaning of this delightful phrase: “God is for me.”

God has been “for us” in many struggles; we have been summoned to encounter hosts of dangers; we have been assailed by temptations from without and within: how could we have remained unharmed to this hour if He had not been “for us?” He is “for us” with all the infinity of His being, with all the omnipotence of His love, with all the infallibility of His wisdom; arrayed in all His divine attributes, He is “for us”—eternally and immutably “for us.”

When I cry unto Thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me. --Psalms 56:9

“When I cry unto Thee, then shall mine enemies turn back.” This is no uncertain hope, but a well-grounded assurance: this we know. “I will direct my prayer unto God and will look up for the answer, assured that it will come and that my enemies shall be defeated, ‘for God is for me.’”

“Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” --Jeremiah 31:3

O believers, how happy we are to have the King of kings on our side! How safe we are with such a Protector, and how sure we are with such an Advocate to plead our cause! If God be for us, who can be against us?

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.--Proverbs 3:5-7

We know that our enemies are attempting impossibilities; they seek to destroy the eternal life, which cannot die while Jesus lives.

“I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” --Revelation 1:18

We know our enemies' weaknesses. What are they but men? When the Lord shall appear, they shall fly as chaff before the wind and be consumed as crackling thorns. Their utter powerlessness to do damage to the cause of God and His truth may make the weakest soldiers in Zion’s ranks laugh them to scorn.

We know that the Most High is with us, and when He dresses Himself in arms, where are His enemies? His rod of iron shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel and their very remembrance shall perish from the earth.

“I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” --Matthew 28:20

Away, then, all fears, the kingdom is safe in the King’s hands. Let us shout for joy, for the Lord reigneth, and His foes shall be as straw for the dunghill.

DecembeRadio - Drifter

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. --1 John 4:4

Jesus (He that is in you) overcame Satan (Death) when He was resurrected and exalted to His heavenly throne where He sits on the right hand of God. Through Christ's victory on the cross, Satan was bound and restrained from preventing the spreading of the gospel, the testimony of Jesus, throughout the nations. Christ paid the penalty for our sins through His death, thereby freeing the children of God from Satan’s captivity and the second death in the lake of fire, which is the death of the spiritual body.

For the wages (penalty) of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. --Romans 6:23

But now is Christ risen from the dead,
And become the firstfruits of them that slept.
For since by man came death, by Man came also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits;
Afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming.
Then cometh the end,
When He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father;
When He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
For He hath put all things under His feet.
But when He saith all things are put under Him,
It is manifest that He is excepted, which did put all things under Him.
And when all things shall be subdued unto Him,
Then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him,
That God may be all in all.
--1 Corinthians 15:20-28.

I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me. --Ezra 7:28

To some selected spirits it is given (for the good of others and to strengthen them for future, special, and tremendous conflict) to enter the inner circle and hear the pleadings of the suffering High Priest. They have fellowship with Christ in His sufferings and are made conformable unto His death. Yet even they cannot know the secret places of the Savior’s woe.

“Thine unknown sufferings” is the remarkable expression of the Greek liturgy—there was an inner chamber in our Master’s grief shut out from human knowledge and fellowship—there Jesus is left alone. “All the unknown joys He gives were bought with agonies unknown.”

The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. --1 Corinthians 15:56-57

Christ exempts us from the consequence of sin but not from suffering; remember that and expect to suffer.

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. --Romans 8:1

Jesus did not suffer to exclude our suffering. He bears the cross not that we may escape it, but that we may endure it. It is not our cross, but Christ’s cross that we carry, and how delightful it is to carry the cross of our Lord. We carry the cross in partnership with Him, yet we carry the light end, for Christ bore the heavier end.

Good men must never expect to escape troubles.

We told you before that we should suffer tribulation. --1 Thessalonians 3:4

It was never in God’s design that His people be an untried people. As God’s people, we were chosen in the furnace of affliction. We were never chosen to worldly peace or earthly joy. Freedom from sickness and the pains of mortality was never promised us. And when our Lord drew up the charter of privileges, He included chastisements among the things to which we should inevitably be heirs.

“So that your trust may be in the Lord, I teach you today, even you.” --Proverbs 22:19

We require much refinement in the furnace of affliction.

"And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God." --Zechariah 13:9

We learn obedience by the things that we suffer. Suffering is necessary, and the true-born child of God must not, would not, escape it if he might.

But He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. --Job 23:10

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. --1 Peter 1:7

O, think not, believers, that our sorrows are out of God’s plan; they are necessary parts of it.

Trials are part of our lot. God has ordained their season and their place, their intensity and the effect they shall have upon us. And our troubles have been the means of delivering us from far greater evil; many have been thus saved from ruin by their sorrows and their crosses—these have frightened the birds from the net.

God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart. --2 Chronicles 32:31

Tribulation is the path of God’s children.

All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. --2 Timothy 3:12

Trials were predestinated for us in Christ's last legacy. And although tribulation is thus the path of God’s children, we have the comfort of knowing that our Master has traversed it before us.

We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. --Acts 14:22

When we reach the kingdom, it will more than make amends for the “much tribulation” through which we passed to enter it.

Trials are for the testing and strengthening of our faith; they are the winds that waft our ships more swiftly toward the desired haven.

And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever… And this is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal life. --1 John 2:17, 25

Learn to count it all as joy when we fall into many straits and difficulties. Meditate much on heaven to help us press on and to forget the toil of the way. This vale of tears is but the pathway to the better country: this world of woe is but the stepping stone to a world of bliss.

“To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” --Revelation 2:7

A vein of good is to be found in every mine of evil.

All things work together for good to them that love God, who are the called according to His purpose. --Romans 8:28

Sad hearts have peculiar skill in discovering the most disadvantageous point of view from which to gaze upon a trial, and we are apt, at times, to cry, “All these things are against me.” Remember, though, that God never allows the tests we face to be greater than the grace He gives us to handle them.

God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. --1 Corinthians 10:13

“Tribulation worketh patience:” we must be willing to bear the cross and to suffer with Christ patiently; patience is the spiritual virtue and power to endure suffering and tribulation for Christ's sake.

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. --James 1:2-3

Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. --James 5:10-11

Josh Wilson - Before the Morning

He whose life is one even and smooth path will see but little of the glory of the Lord, for he has few occasions of self-emptying and, hence, but little fitness for being filled with the revelation of God.

They who navigate little streams and shallow creeks know but little of the God of tempests, but they who “do business in great waters,” these see His “wonders in the deep.” Among the huge Atlantic waves of bereavement, poverty, temptation and reproach, we learn the power of Jehovah because we feel the littleness of man.

Thank God, then, if we have been led by a rough road: it is this which has given us our experience of God’s greatness and lovingkindness. Our troubles have enriched us with a wealth of knowledge to be gained by no other means: our trials have been the cleft of the rock in which Jehovah has set us, as He did His servant Moses, that we might behold His glory as it passed by.

No prayer is half as hearty as that which comes from the depths of the soul, through deep trials and afflictions.

And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. --2 Chronicles 33:12

God breaks down our comforts to make room for grace. When we are most cast down, the light of Christ is the more brightly revealed to us. The humbler a man lies, the more comfort he will always have. Trials and afflictions bring us to God and we are happier, for nearness to God is happiness.

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 1:4

Praise God that we have not been left to the darkness and ignorance that continued prosperity might have involved but that, in the great fight of affliction, we have been capacitated for the outshinings of His glory in His wonderful dealings with us.

God’s great design in all His works is the manifestation of His own glory: any aim less than this is unworthy of Him. But how shall the glory of God be manifested to such fallen creatures as we are? Man’s eye is not single; he has ever a side glance toward his own honor; he has too high an estimate of his own powers, and so he is not qualified to behold the glory of the Lord.

It is clear, then, that self must stand out of the way so that there may be room for God to be exalted. This is the reason why God brings His people often times into straits and difficulties: being made conscious of their own folly and weakness, they may be fitted to behold the majesty of God when He comes forth to work their deliverance.

The Lord our God hath shewed us His glory. --Deuteronomy 5:24

Chris Sligh - Empty Me

Humiliation of soul always brings a positive blessing with it.

If we empty our hearts of self, God will fill them with His love. “He descended that He might ascend,” and so must we. We must grow downwards so that we may grow upwards, for the sweetest fellowship with heaven is to be had by humble souls and by them alone.

He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way. -- Psalms 25:9

Great hearts can only be made by great troubles.

Trials make room for consolation. When we are most troubled, we have the closest dealings with God. When the purse is bursting with gold, we try to do without so much prayer, but once our gold is taken away, we want our God.

The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom; and before honor is humility. --Proverbs 15:33

If we approach God pleading the name of Jesus, we shall see His finger working marvels.

God will deny no blessing to a thoroughly humbled spirit. “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” with all its riches and treasures. The whole exchequer of God shall be made over by deed of gift to the soul, which is humble enough to be able to receive it without growing proud because of it.

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud. --Proverbs 16:18-19

To suffer is an honorable thing; to suffer for Christ is glory.

One of the early martyrs said, “I can bear it all, for Jesus suffered, and He suffers in me now; He sympathizes with me, and this makes me strong.” Believers, lay hold of this thought in all times of agony, and let the thought of Jesus strengthen us as we follow in His steps. Just so far as the Lord shall give us grace to suffer for Christ, to suffer with Christ, just so far does He honor us.

Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. --1 Peter 4:12-13

Accept the temporary drawback of suffering with Christ as an honor.

“He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.” --Revelation 21:7

We are the sons of God: Jesus was heard in His deepest woe and we shall be heard also. We are now able to prove our adoption as sons of God by trusting in our heavenly Father. The cross we carry is for a little while at most, and then we receive the crown, the glory, eternal life. Remember that we are far more blessed than those who sit on earthly thrones having purses bursting with gold.

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” --John 16:33

Must Christ pass through seas of His own blood to win the crown and are we to walk to heaven dryshod in silver slippers? No, our Master’s experience teaches us that suffering is necessary.

The jewels of a Christian are his afflictions. The regalia of the kings whom God has anointed are their troubles, their sorrows, and their griefs. Let us not, therefore, shun being honored; let us not turn aside from being exalted. Griefs exalt us and troubles lift us up.

Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted. But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. --James 1:9-10

Christ was made perfect through suffering.

For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. --Hebrews 2:10

We can bear it all, for Jesus suffered and He suffers in us now. In all our sorrows we have His sympathy, for He knows them all and He has felt them all.

Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered. --Hebrews 5:8

If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him. --2 Timothy 2:12

The eclipse of faith, the darkness of mind, the fainting of hope, the many fears, the loss of joy, the much distress—all these things are parts of God’s method of making us ripe for the great inheritance upon which we shall soon enter.

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him. --James 1:12

There are none who are without sin except Christ.

Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. --Romans 5:12-13

There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. --Romans 3:10-11

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. --1 John 1:8-10

We are told that the Captain of our salvation was made perfect through suffering; therefore, we who are sinful, and who are far from being perfect, must not wonder if we are called to pass through suffering too.

Persecution so hotly follows God’s people as to leave them nothing to care for but the soul.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. --1 Peter 5:8

We may have no houses, no land, no money, no goods, no life, and no liberty left to care for. All may be gone but the soul. The devil may rob us of worldly things but not the soul, for the soul is not in his power to touch without the leave of God, of Him whose soul it is.

The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. --Job 28:28

Hath God said? --Genesis 3:1

The seed of rationalization, which is the spirit of disobedience, has been man’s downfall from the very beginning. It starts with the same question that the serpent asked Eve in the garden: “Hath God said?”

Whenever man wants to do something forbidden, he begins to question whether God really “meant” what He said:

• The faithful Christian reviews God’s Word faithfully and answers the question “Hath God said?” honestly.


• The unfaithful Christian either ignores it, denies it, or looks for avenues where he can rationalize it away, while making it appear as though he is not really in disobedience.

That’s the difference between guarding God’s Word from loss (keeping it) and the unfaithfulness of the (so-called) carnal Christian who will not “receive” that which God says. This is the self deception manifest in the lack of reverential “fear of God.” But the Lord is not mocked.

He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him. --1 John 2:4-5

If God doesn’t say it, then you have no reason to have confidence that it is true. However, if it is written in the Word of God, then it is true, and we are bound faithfully to keep the testimony of the Word. The Holy Spirit is the teacher, and He teaches through God’s Words, not man’s. The Holy Spirit of truth will guide God’s servants into what is true and steer them away from what is not.

Casting Crowns - East to West

Satan is desirous to have us because we were once his servants, and no king will willingly lose his subjects.

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man: but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. --James 1:13-15

Satan will never leave us alone; he will always be there, seeking to devour. So expect trouble, for foes are everywhere. But do not enter the thicket with the lion, for he that meets with him, even though he wins the day, will find it a stern struggle. Walk guardedly in the path of obedience so that we may never tempt the devil to tempt us. Pray first that we not be tempted and, next, that if temptation be permitted, that we may be delivered from the evil one.

God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. --James 4:6-7

Yet, even with no devil to tempt us, we will still find in ourselves evil enough to trouble us, “for the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” Expect trouble then but despond not, because God will never leave us or forsake us; He is always there to help us and strengthen us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? --Romans 8:35

“I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” -- Psalms 32:8

This is God’s promise to His people. Let us, then, take all our perplexities to Him and say, “Lord, what will you have me to do?” And let our prayers not be all concerning our own sins, our own wants, our own imperfections, or our own trials, but let them climb the starry ladder and get up to Christ Himself. And then as we draw near to the blood-sprinkled mercy seat, offer this prayer continually, "Lord, extend the kingdom of your dear Son."

“Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” --Matthew 6:9-10

Let our prayers cease and our eye of faith will grow dim.

Pray alone in private with God. Hold up the token of the promise before the Lord. Pray in Jesus’ name for special strength and assurance. Pray, “Lord, I have sinned, I deserve not your smile; I scarcely dare to ask it; but O Lord, say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation.’”

And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. --James 5:15-16

God knows your case as thoroughly as if you were the only creature He ever made.

We must be careful not to take delays in prayers for denials. God keeps a file for our prayers: they are not blown away by the wind; they are treasured in His archives. Be content to wait a little, for the Lord’s time is better than our own.

"Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent." --Revelation 3:3

We must not fret over our lot in life.

I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. --Philippians 4:11
We are not to expect that God will give us everything we choose to ask for, because sometimes when we pray, we ask amiss. If we ask amiss, we must not expect that we shall receive.

And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us. --1 John 5:14

We ask amiss when:

• We ask for that which is not promised.
• We run counter to the spirit that the Lord would have us cultivate.
• We ask contrary to His will or to the decrees of His providence.
• We ask merely for the gratification of our own ease and without an eye to His glory.

Yet, when we ask in faith, nothing doubting, although we may not receive the precise thing asked for, we shall receive an equivalent and more than an equivalent for it. If the Lord does not give us precisely what we ask for, He will give us that which is tantamount to it and that which we will greatly rejoice to receive in lieu thereof. Remember that God does not always answer prayer in kind, though He always does in effect.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. --James 1:5-7

God blesses us all up to the full measure and extremity of what is safe for Him to do.

“What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” --Mark 11:24

These wonderful words from our Savior assure us that faith is the secret of prevailing prayer, which moves the heart of God.

Be anxious for nothing, but in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. --Philippians 4:6-7

If we do not get a blessing, it is because it is not safe for us to have one. If our heavenly Father were to let our unhumbled spirits win a victory in His holy war, we would pilfer the crown for ourselves and, meeting a fresh enemy, would fall victim; so we are kept low for our own safety.

"But that which ye have already hold fast till I come." --Revelation 2:25

How blessed is it to wait upon the Lord by faith! Christ Jesus is the way of life, and He is a plain way, a pleasant way, a way suitable for the tottering feet and feeble knees of trembling sinners.

I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God, and said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to Thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. --Ezra 9:5-6

Have we been delivered from proud reason like Ezra and been brought as little children to rest in Jesus’ love and blood? If so, by God’s grace we shall outrun the strongest runner who chooses any other path. This truth we may remember to our profit in our daily cares and needs.

Do not run so hastily to friends and family for assistance, but remember that the Lord is magnified by our implicit reliance upon His solitary arm. My soul, wait only upon God. “But,” says one, “are not means to be used?” Assuredly they are, but our fault seldom lies in their neglect: far more frequently it springs out of foolishly believing in them instead of believing in God.

The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, 'Destroy them.' --Deuteronomy 33:27
“Straightforward makes the best runner:” it will be our wisest course to go at once to our God and not to wander in a roundabout manner to this friend and that. God knows our wants and can relieve them; to whom should we repair but to the Lord by the direct appeal of prayer and the plain argument of the promise. It is God’s nature to keep His promises; therefore, go at once to the throne and plead “Lord, here is the promise, do as you have said.” Think not that God will be troubled by our reminding Him of His promises; He loves to hear the loud outcries of needy souls; it is His delight to bestow favors; He is more ready to hear than we are to ask.

Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me. --Psalms 25:5

Experimental teaching is the burden of this prayer. David knew much, but he felt his ignorance and desired to be still in the Lord’s school: four times over in two verses he applies for a scholarship in the college of grace.

It would be wise for professors to inquire for the good old ways of God's own truth and beseech the Holy Ghost to give them sanctified understandings and teachable spirits instead of following their own devices and cutting out new paths of thought for themselves.

When the believer has begun with trembling feet to walk in the way of the Lord, he asks to be still led onward like a little child upheld by its parent’s helping hand, and he craves to be further instructed in the alphabet of truth.

For Thou art the God of my salvation. --Psalms 25:5

The Three One Jehovah is the Author and Perfecter of salvation to His people. He is the God of our salvation. Do we find in the Father’s election, in the Son’s atonement, and in the Spirit’s quickening all the grounds of our eternal hopes? If so, we may use this as an argument for obtaining further blessings. If the Lord has ordained to save us, surely He will not refuse to instruct us in His ways.

On Thee do I wait all the day. --Psalms 25:5

It is a happy thing when we can address the Lord with the confidence like David manifests; it gives us great power in prayer and comfort in trial.

Patience is the fair handmaid and daughter of faith; we cheerfully wait when we are certain that we shall not wait in vain. It is our duty and our privilege to wait upon the Lord in service, in worship, in expectancy, and in trust all the days of our lives.

Our faith will be tried faith, and if it be of the true kind, it will bear continued trial without yielding. We shall not grow weary of waiting upon God if we remember how long and how graciously He once waited for us.

The Christian is made strong and firmly rooted by all the trials and storms of life.

After that ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. --1 Peter 5:10

Notice how this blessing of being “stablished in the faith” is gained: the apostle’s words point us to suffering as the means employed: “After that ye have suffered awhile.” It is of no use to hope that we shall be well rooted if no rough winds pass over us. Those old gnarlings on the root of the oak tree, and those strange twistings of the branches, all tell of the many storms that have swept over it, and they are also indicators of the depth into which the roots have forced their way. Shrink not then from the tempestuous winds of trial, but take comfort, believing that by their rough discipline God is fulfilling this benediction to us: “After that ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”

The graces of the Christian character must not resemble a rainbow in its transitory beauty but, on the contrary, must be stable, settled and abiding.

Seek, O believer, that every good thing you have may be an abiding thing:

• May your character not be a writing upon the sand, but an inscription upon the rock.


• May your faith be no “baseless fabric of a vision,” but may it be built of material able to endure that awful fire, which shall consume the wood, hay and stubble of the hypocrite.


• May you be rooted and grounded in love.


• May your convictions be deep, your love real, and your desires earnest.


• May your whole life be so settled and stable that all the blasts of hell and all the storms of earth shall never be able to remove you.

How happy are tried Christians, afterward.

Afterward. --Hebrews 12:11

It is peace, sweet, deep peace, which follows the horrible turmoil that once reigned in our tormented, guilty souls. See, then, the happy estate of a Christian! He has his best things last, and he, therefore, in this world receives his worst things first. But even his worst things are afterwards good things, harsh plowings yielding joyful harvests.

Even now he grows rich by his losses, he rises by his falls, he lives by dying, and becomes full by being emptied. If, then, his grievous afflictions yield him so much peaceable fruit in this life, what shall be the full vintage of joy “afterward” in heaven?

• If his dark nights are as bright as the world’s days, what shall his days be?


• If even his starlight is more splendid than the sun, what must his sunlight be?


• If he can sing in a dungeon, how sweetly will he sing in heaven!


• If he can praise the Lord in the fires, how will he extol Him before the eternal throne!


• If evil be good to him now, what will the overflowing goodness of God be to him then?

Wait, O soul, and let patience have her perfect work.

O, blessed “afterward!” Who would not be a Christian? Who would not bear the present cross for the crown that comes afterward? But herein is work for patience, for the rest is not for today, nor the triumph for the present, but “afterward.”

Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth. --Judges 16:6

Where lies the secret strength of faith? It lies in the food it feeds on, for faith studies what the promise is: an emanation of divine grace, an overflowing of the great heart of God. And faith says, “My God could not have given this promise except from love and grace; therefore, it is quite certain His word will be fulfilled.”

Then faith thinks, “Who gave this promise?” It considers not so much its greatness as, “Who is the author of it?” She remembers that it is God, who cannot lie: God omnipotent, God immutable. Therefore, she concludes that the promise must be fulfilled and forward she advances in this firm conviction. She remembers why the promise was given: namely for God’s glory, and she feels perfectly sure that God’s glory is safe, that He will never stain the surface of His own coat of arms nor mar the luster of His own crown. Therefore, the promise must and will stand.

Then faith also considers the amazing work of Christ as being a clear proof of the Father’s intention to fulfill His word. “He that spared not His own Son but freely delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”

Moreover faith looks back upon the past, for her battles have strengthened her and her victories have given her courage. She remembers that God never has failed her; nay, that He never did once fail any of His children. She recollects times of great peril when deliverance came; hours of awful need, when, as her day, her strength was found, and she cries, “No, I never will be led to think that He can change and leave His servant now. Hitherto the Lord has helped me, and He will help me still.”

And God divided the light from the darkness. --Genesis 1:4

Darkness by itself is quiet and undisturbed, but when the Lord sends in light, there is a conflict, for the one is in opposition to the other: a conflict that will never cease till the believer is altogether light in the Lord. If there be a division within the individual Christian, there is certain to be a division without.

When the Lord gives to any man light, he proceeds to separate himself from the darkness around; he secedes from a mere worldly religion of outward ceremonial, for nothing short of the gospel of Christ will satisfy him now. And he withdraws himself from the worldly society and frivolous amusements and seeks the company of the saints, for “we know we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.”

The light gathers to itself and the darkness to itself. What God has divided let us never try to unite, but as Christ went without the camp, bearing His reproach, so let us come out from the ungodly and be a peculiar people. Jesus was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners; and, as He was, so we are to be nonconformists to the world, dissenting from all sin, and distinguished from the rest of mankind by our likeness to our Master.

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. --1 Peter 2:9-10

When we become saved, God makes His abode within us and becomes ruler of our lives, continually restraining us from evil.

For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” --2 Corinthians 6:16

God is the one responsible for all the working of good or integrity in us. He softens our hearts so that we finally live for Christ and do His will. He takes full responsibility for this, lest any man should boast.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. -- Ephesians 2:8-9

Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for His own sins, and then for the people’s: for this He did once, when He offered up Himself. --Hebrews 7:25-27

Christians live by faith, not by sight: not by blind faith, but by the faith that only God can give, which is the faith of Christ, who was perfect, without sin, obedient always to our Father.

We were chosen by God from the foundation of the world, born of God, justified in Christ. We need not worry, for God knows who are His, and He will bring to faith all for whom Christ died.

The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His. --2 Timothy 2:19

For whom he did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified. --Romans 8:29-30

Faith is the gift of God. It is by God’s persuasion in us of the truth of things which we cannot physically see that we may have hope.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. --Ephesians 2:8

We are persuaded, or have faith, because of the substantive “working” of Christ in us. And because of Christ’s spirit within us, we have assurance (faith) that we are indeed true children of God. We would never have faith by our own efforts. It is Christ’s Spirit within us that brings us to believe: He gives us faith. This is why we say it is the faith of Christ, and not our own faith (or faith in Christ), which saves us.

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: the life, which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me. --Galatians 2:20

Every day is a battle, yet each day, although it brings its troubles, shall bring its help.

With faith we view each promise in its connection with the promise giver, our heavenly Father, and we can say with assurance, "God’s grace and mercy will last through all our necessities and we shall never know a real lack. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives!" So cast all cares upon the Lord and anticipate good results from the worst calamities.

“And the Lord shall guide thee continually.” --Isaiah 58:11

“For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens;
God Himself that formed the earth and made it;
He hath established it, He created it not in vain,
He formed it to be inhabited:
I am the Lord; and there is none else.
I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth:
I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain:
I the Lord speak righteousness,
I declare things that are right.
Assemble yourselves and come;
Draw near together,
Ye that are escaped of the nations:
They have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image,
And pray unto a god that cannot save.
Tell ye, and bring them near;
Yea, let them take counsel together:
Who hath declared this from ancient time?
Who hath told it from that time?
Have not I the Lord?
And there is no God else beside me;
A just God and a Saviour;
There is none beside me.
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth:
For I am God, and there is none else.”
--Isaiah 45:18-22

The crown of glory will follow the cross of separation.

The life of separation may be a path of sorrow, but it is the highway of safety; and though the separated life may cost us many pangs and make every day a battle, yet it is a happy life after all. No joy can excel that of the soldier of Christ: Jesus reveals Himself so graciously, and gives such sweet refreshment, that the warrior feels more calm and peace in his daily strife than others in their hours of rest.

We love Him, because He first loved us. --1 John 4:19

We hope to win the crown if we are enabled by divine grace faithfully to follow Christ “without the camp.” A moment’s shame will be well recompensed by eternal honor. A little while of witness-bearing will seem like nothing when we are forever with the Lord.

After death, what cometh?

Upon death, what wonder-world will open upon our astonished sight? What scene of glory will be unfolded to our view?

For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither has the eye seen, O God, beside Thee, what He has prepared for him that waits for Him. --Isaiah 64:4

What God has in store for us is truly beyond our ability to imagine. Even in this life, the love of God is beyond our ability to understand.

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. --Ephesians 3:17-19

Although no traveler has ever returned to tell, we know enough of the heavenly land to make us welcome our summons thither with joy and gladness. We have many ungratified desires at present, but soon every wish shall be satisfied and all our powers shall find the sweetest employment in that eternal world of joy.

O Christian, within a very little time we shall be rid of all our trials and our troubles. Our eyes now suffused with tears shall weep no longer. We shall gaze in ineffable rapture upon the splendor of Him who sits upon the throne. Nay, more, upon His throne shall we sit. The triumph of His glory shall be shared by us. His crown, His joy, His paradise, these shall be ours, and we shall be co-heirs with Him, who is the Heir of all things.

There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. --Hebrews 4:9

How different will be the state of the believer in heaven from what it is here! Here we are born to toil and suffer weariness, but in the land of the immortal, fatigue is never known. Anxious to serve our Master, we find our strength unequal to our zeal: our constant cry is, "Help us to serve you, O Lord, our God."

And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. --Revelation 7:13-17

Here, our best joys bear "mortal" on our brows; our sweetest birds fall before Death’s arrows; our most pleasant days are shadowed into nights; and the flood-tides of our bliss subside into ebbs of sorrow.

Here, Christians are always unsettled; we feel that we have not yet attained. There, all are at rest; they have attained the summit of the mountain; they have ascended to the bosom of their God—higher they cannot go.

Ah! Christians, the hot day of weariness lasts not forever; the sun is nearing the horizon; it shall rise again with a brighter day than we have ever seen upon a land where all serve God day and night and yet rest from their labors. Ah, toil-worn laborers, only think when we shall rest forever! It is a rest eternal; a rest that “remaineth.”

Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. --1 Corinthians 2:9

Here, rest is, but there, it is perfect.

In heaven, everything is immortal; the harp abides unrusted, the crown unwithered, the eye undimmed, the voice unfaltering, the heart unwavering, and the immortal being is wholly absorbed in infinite delight. O happy day it will be when mortality shall be swallowed up of life and the Eternal Sabbath shall begin.

And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him; and they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God gives them light: and they shall reign forever and ever. --Revelation 22:1-5

We shall be departing from all we have known and loved here, but we shall be going to our Father’s house—to our Father’s home, where Jesus is—to that royal city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

This shall be our last removal, to dwell forever with Him we love, in the midst of His people, in the presence of God.

“My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” -- Ezekiel 37:27

We shall be made perfect in Christ when we go home to heaven.

In this present dispensation, we are by no means perfect. Our minds are still darkened by the influence of sin; our consciousness is still beclouded by the effects of sin. The lust of the flesh often still dominates and controls us to a certain extent, and we do not live the fullness of our spiritual life.

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. --1 Corinthians 13:12

Jeremey Camp - There Will Be a Day

As the apostle Paul has it, "We behold a dim image, as in a dark glass; but we do not as yet see face to face;" we do not fully understand the truth of God. Sometimes the darkness seems to break and there are moments when we behold more clearly the beauty of God's plan and the work of salvation. However, even at those best moments of our present life upon earth, the darkness of sin has not been fully dispersed and we do not see face to face. And as it is with our knowledge, so also it is with our will, with our feelings, and with our desires: our will is still under the influence of sinful perversion. But when the Lord Jesus Christ shall appear, we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is.

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. --1 John 3:1-2

There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. --2 Timothy 4:8

“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne.” --Revelation 3:21

Doubting ones! We have often said, “I fear I shall never enter heaven.” Fear not! All the people of God shall enter there.

“There is one throne in heaven that Paul the apostle could not fill; it was made for me, and I shall have it. 'But can I forfeit it?' No, it is entailed. If I be a child of God I shall not lose it; it is mine as securely as if I were there.”

Poor doubting ones, see the fair inheritance; it is ours. If we believe in the Lord Jesus, if we have repented of our sins, if we have been renewed in heart, we are God’s people and there is a place reserved, a crown laid up, a harp specially provided for each one of us.

No one else shall have your portion; it is reserved in heaven for you, and you shall have it before too long, for there shall be no vacant thrones in glory when all the chosen are gathered in.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” -- John 10:27-30

“Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no one take thy crown.” --Revelation 3:11

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims,
Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles:
That, whereas they speak against you as evildoers,
They may by your good works, which they shall behold,
Glorify God in the day of visitation.
Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake:
Whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors,
As unto them that are sent by Him for the punishment of evildoers,
And for the praise of them that do well.
For so is the will of God,
That with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness,
But as the servants of God.
--1 Peter 2:11-16

“He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before His angels.” --Revelation 3:5

We must patiently endure with hope as an anchor of the soul, and we will obtain the promise at the end, the power of an endless life.

According as His divine power hath given unto us
All things that pertain unto life and godliness,
Through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises:
That by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature,
Having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
And beside this, giving all diligence,
Add to your faith virtue;
And to virtue knowledge;
And to knowledge temperance;
And to temperance patience;
And to patience godliness;
And to godliness brotherly kindness;
And to brotherly kindness charity.
For if these things be in you and abound,
They make you that ye shall neither be barren
Nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But he that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off,
And hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure:
For if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly
Into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
--2 Peter 1:3-11

"Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name." --Revelation 3:12

“Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” --Revelation 22:14

Mercy Me - I Can Only Imagine

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Why is it Difficult for a Jew to Become a Christian?

According to Cecil Hook (Honor the Emperor):

The Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah because they were looking for a physical king and a physical kingdom.

Historically, Israel had been ruled in a combined political-religious system administered by prophets, priests, Levites and, later, kings. During the time of Christ's ministry, they were subjugated to Rome, which was a galling situation.

The Jews expected a Messiah who would deliver them from Rome. When they heard John the Baptist proclaim, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand,” they interpreted it as, “The restoration of David’s earthly throne is at hand” and that they would be freed from Rome.

Jesus gave no encouragement to that. He selected no army to defend or empower Himself. All along, Jesus stressed the spiritual nature of His reign. In veiled figures, His parables were emphasizing the spiritual character of the kingdom of heaven, yet Israel's earthly expectations were so strong as to survive His death and resurrection.

How sad it is that even today many believers expect Him to return and reign over an earthly kingdom.

According to the Zionism & Israel Information Center (Converting to Judaism):

Members of the Jewish faith believe that there is one God, who is omnipotent and indivisible, and with whom the Jews have a covenant, a special relationship of ethical and moral obligations and of protection.

The Jewish God, unlike the Christian trinity, has no distinct parts. The "spirit of God" mentioned in the Bible is understood metaphorically.

Jews allow no pictures or images of God. The orthodox Jew undertakes, in addition to 613 commandments, dietary proscriptions, daily prayers, refraining from travel and work on the Sabbath, and numerous other obligations.

Jews can view Jesus as a wise Jewish teacher, but Jews do not believe in the divinity or resurrection of Jesus.

The afterlife, resurrection at the end of days, heaven and hell, have become a part of Jewish theology and different Jewish traditions, though they did not apparently constitute part of the beliefs of Mosaic Judaism.

Conversion and Converts in Judaism

In addition to a long period of study, conversion to Judaism requires a ceremony of immersion in a ritual bath, and for males, circumcision. Converted Jews often change their family name to "ben Avraham," the son of Abraham. Those who become Jewish are adopted into the family of Abraham as though they were his actual descendants, and are initiated into the covenant of Abraham, as commanded to all Jews. Therefore, males who wish to convert to Judaism must undergo circumcision in Conservative and Orthodox rites. If they are already circumcised, there is a symbolic ceremony that takes the place of circumcision. At least some Reform and Reconstructionist rabbis will apparently perform conversion without circumcision. However, Reform Judaism also have a Berit Milah (circumcision) program.

Jews who convert to Christianity or to "Messianic Judaism" are no longer considered part of the Jewish community by Jewish religious authorities and by most other Jews.

Jewish religious thought holds seemingly contradictory views of conversion and converts. For example, consider these different quotes:

The only reason God exiled the Jews among the nations was so that converts could be added. (Pesachim 87b)

Continuous evil comes to those who accept converts. (Yevamot 109b)

Converts are as difficult for Israel like a nasty sore. (Yevamot 109b)

'The Souls they made in Charan.' These are the converts which Avraham and Sarah converted. This teaches us that whoever brings a gentile close and converts him it is as if he created that person. (Bereshit Rabah 39)

The names of Gerim are as dear to me as idolatrous wine poured on the altar. (Vayikra Rabah 1)

Even a gentile who converted and busies himself with Torah is considered as if he were the chief priest (Cohen Gadol). (Bamidbar Rabah 8)

Come and see how beloved converts are to God... (Ruth Rabah 2)

The major fear engendered by converts is that they would be insincere or ignorant and would introduce non-Jewish and unacceptable customs into the Jewish community, such as polytheism and idolatry. In the first centuries of the exile, however, Judaism was apparently an active and very successful proselytizing religion.

As much as ten percent of the population of the ancient Roman world were probably Jewish at one time and, in addition, there are many whose grave inscription reads "Yereh Elohim" (God fearing); meaning that while they had not converted to Judaism, they had accepted monotheism and many tenets of Judaism.

Conversion activity stopped because it was outlawed by Christianity and Islam. At least some streams of Judaism, however, are actively reaching out for converts today.

Judaism and Zionism

We believe that Israel and Zionism hold a central place in Judaism. Zion and the holy land certainly hold a central place in the Jewish faith and prayers. However, it is not necessary to be a Jew to support Israel or the right of the Jews for a state, and support for Israel or Zionism is not a requirement for conversion to Judaism.

Is It Hard to Become a Jew?

It is much more difficult to become a Jew than it is to become Christian or a Muslim. Becoming a Jew means joining a people as well as a faith, assuming a new ethnic identity, and joining a worldwide community centered on Israel, on the Jewish history and the Jewish faith. Therefore, conversion to Judaism entails a long period of study, learning and preparation.

Different Types of Jews

The foundations of the Jewish faith are given in the the Old Testament Bible and in the later law books, particularly the Mishna, the Talmud and the Shulhan Aruch. These are variously interpreted by different streams and factions and rabbis.

There are four main streams of Judaism: Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist.

Orthodox Jews are the strictest and, unfortunately, may not recognize the conversions performed by other rabbis. While there is no recognized central authority for the Jewish religion, if the Israeli chief rabbinate and rabbinical accepts a conversion or decides that a person is Jewish according to Halachic (Jewish religious) law, that decision is honored by all other streams. However, the reverse is not true.

A person may be accepted as a Jew according to the law of return by the Israeli government, but that does not mean that they are recognized as a Jew for purposes of marriage by the chief rabbinate.

According to David Novak (Edith Stein, Apostate Saint):

The recent canonization of Edith Stein as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross by the Roman Catholic Church poses a number of very serious challenges to living Jews, we who are still members of the people to whom Edith Stein believed she also belonged, even at her death in Auschwitz.

Theologically speaking, Edith Stein was arguably the most significant Jewish convert to Christianity of this century. In general, Jewish tradition regards such persons as apostates who have removed themselves from the normative Jewish community in a radical way, even if they still consider themselves part of the body of the Jewish people, as Stein did.

Judaism in fact also regards such persons as part of the body of the Jewish people. "A Jew who has sinned is still a Jew" is an important talmudic principle. Nevertheless, an apostate is an apostate, even when a person of extraordinary intellectual and moral virtues. Our reactions in such cases, however great or small the person before us is, range from anger to sorrow. We cannot very well be indifferent.

In the case of Edith Stein, though, it seems we Jews must be more precise in giving reasons why we cannot celebrate with Catholics the life and death of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. We need to give theologically cogent reasons for why we would have had to distance ourselves from her in life (as her pious Jewish mother did), and why we would have joined that segment of her family who chose not to attend her beatification by Pope John Paul II in Cologne in 1987.

Stein's case is not an easy one for us. Jews have been able to dismiss most modern Jewish converts to Christianity as people motivated by social or professional ambition, self-hatred, ignorance, or mental imbalance. But anyone who knew Edith Stein, or who knows anything about her life, would have to admit that none of these categories applies to her. Indeed, Edith Stein comes across as sui generis.

She might be the most uniquely problematic Jew for us since Saul of Tarsus.

The easiest way to deal with the problem is to accept the liberal assumption that one's religious convictions are a matter of individual choice, and that everyone must respect the choice of everyone else to believe whatever they want and practice any religion or no religion, as they choose.

On this view, Edith Stein had a right to become a Catholic and change her name to Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, just as the Catholic priest Father Kenneth Cox had a right to become a Jew and change his name to Abraham Carmel.

At the political level, most Jews and most Catholics have accepted the liberal idea of religious freedom. Some see it as a necessary part of the social contract that enables us to participate in civil society. Others see it as being in the best interest of faith itself, which cannot legitimately be coerced. Pragmatically, we realize that our religious communities are probably better off without people who have found a spiritual home elsewhere and do not want to be with us anymore. All this is how we talk and have to talk in the public square. But while that talk is not disingenuous, it is secondary to the primary commitments of both Jews and Christians.

The most fruitful dialogue between Jews and Catholics (and other Christians as well) has been about our relations in the public realm, where we have discovered significant common ground on such issues as public morality and religious liberty.

Nevertheless, the discovery of such commonality, beneficial as it is, does not change the fact that, at the deepest level of our existence, Jews and Christians are making not only different communal claims, but rival communal claims. The best way to God, the one that ought not be exchanged for something less, is either by the Torah and the Jewish tradition or by Christ and the Church. The choice is unavoidable. One cannot accept Christ and still be part of the normative Jewish community; one cannot live by Torah and still be part of the Church.

Early in our common history, indeed almost simultaneously, Jewish authorities ruled against the practice of Christianity by Jews, and the Church ruled against the practice of Judaism by Christians ("judaization"), even by Christians born as Jews. Our acceptance of the liberal order of civil society has, for the most part, enabled us to make these rival communal claims civilly, and without fear of political repercussions. But that accommodation should not make us slide into the superficiality of civil religion or the disorientation of religious syncretism. Sometimes Jews and Christians have to speak to each other without the mediation of the secular public realm, as we must when speaking about Edith Stein.

Because Judaism and Christianity are both covenantal religions, the relationship of the individual Jew or Christian to God is always within covenanted community. Stein, even when physically alone in her nun's cell, was still existentially part of the community. The community in which one hears the voice of God structures how one hears that voice and interprets what it says.

There is no universal revelation until the end of history, which is why election is the doctrine of identity for both Christians and Jews. God chooses us; we do not choose God, at least originally. That election is either by natural birth or by the rebirth of conversion, which is very much like adoption. We only can accept or reject the community into which, as one former Christian philosopher put it, we have "been thrown."

Based on these covenantal assumptions, it follows that both Judaism and Christianity assert what liberals can only regard as an unfair asymmetry: One can check into the covenant, but one cannot check out of it. A convert is "born again," which also means that from God's perspective he or she has retroactively always been in the community. An apostate, conversely, does not quit the community existentially; he or she is only absent without leave. Excommunication bars a sinful Catholic from receiving the sacraments, not from the Church herself, just as herem, the ban of ostracism, does not mean that a Jew is no longer a Jew.

So Jews regard Edith Stein as a Jewish apostate, but always a Jew nonetheless. And she agreed with us about her Jewish identity; it is about her apostasy that she obviously had a different opinion. We cannot avoid the question of apostasy because it brings us face to face with the rival truth claims our two communities make, to ourselves, to each other, and to the world.

Judaism and Christianity alike present themselves as the fullest truth of God's relationship with the world, but both can recognize more limited forms of truth elsewhere. Confirmation in one's covenant does not imply having a monopoly on God. As the prophet Amos (9:7) put it to the overly proud people of Israel, "Are you not for me like the Ethiopians?" This view enables us to live with other people in good faith and to have genuine respect for them and their traditions.

This approach, common in form but different in substance for us, might be summarized in the talmudic principle that "one is to rise, not descend, in holiness." To illustrate, let me set up four possible situations and suggest the Jewish answer to each of them. (A Christian answer would be substantively different in two of the scenarios, but I think the Christian logic would have to be the same as Jewish logic in all of them.) The four situations are:

• a pagan wanting to convert to Christianity instead of Judaism;
• a pagan wanting to convert to Judaism instead of Christianity;
• a Christian wanting to convert to Judaism;
• a Jew wanting to convert to Christianity.

By "pagan," I mean someone who neither by birth nor by the rebirth of conversion has ever been a Jew or a Christian.

The Jew would regard the pagan's conversion to Christianity as a good choice inasmuch as Christianity is a valid gentile relationship with the Lord God, maker of heaven and earth, elector of Israel, giver of the Torah, and redeemer of the world. Of course, he would regard the pagan's conversion to Judaism as the best choice possible. A Christian wanting to convert to Judaism has not only made the best choice but is well prepared for it by having been a Christian and, therefore, knowing, however partially, the Lord God of Israel. The final option, the Jew wanting to convert to Christianity, is of course the option of Edith Stein.

Edith Stein accepted what Christians have always had to say to Jews; namely, that Christianity solves the problems of Judaism better than Judaism does because Christianity provides the savior to whom Jews have always looked. She therefore did not consider herself a runaway from Judaism (however rudimentary her own Judaism was) but rather a Jew whose Judaism brought her into the Church. Her logic was clearly supersessionist. How could it have been otherwise? Indeed, had it been otherwise, Edith Stein would have had to have said what Franz Rosenzweig said when he rejected Christian supersessionist claims: "I therefore remain a Jew!" (Rosenzweig, a Jewish philosopher and contemporary of Stein, whom many consider the greatest Jewish theologian of this century, himself almost converted to Christianity.)

Supersessionism is the subject of deep theological debate today. Many Jews have seen it as the core of Christian anti-Judaism. Many Christians are embarrassed by it, seeing it as part of the anti-Judaism that was so easily appropriated by modern anti-Semitism.

Yet, Christian supersessionism need not denigrate Judaism. It can look to the Jewish origins of Christianity happily and still learn of those origins from living Jews, whom Pope John Paul II likes to call "elder brothers."

Christian supersessionism can still affirm that God has not annulled his everlasting covenant with the Jewish people, neither past nor present nor future. Jews can expect no more than that from Christians, and Christians probably cannot concede any more to Judaism. For if Christianity does not regard itself as going beyond Judaism, why should Christians not become Jews? And, conversely, any Jew who believes Christianity supersedes Judaism can only in good faith become a Christian, as Edith Stein did.

Fruitful conversations of late between Jews and Christians have largely bracketed this critical issue for good reasons. It is, nevertheless, the crucial question that leaves the two communities at an impasse. All attempts to get beyond it--be they political, exegetical, or philosophical--have been failures. After all, it is the question of truth, and truth is what we are both all about. To bracket this question is quite different from either suppressing it altogether or reducing all discussion to it.

Edith Stein represents our impasse. She cannot be a bridge between Jews and Catholics because, in this world, one cannot be simultaneously both a faithful Jew and a faithful Catholic. Since the Jewish and Catholic communities are mutually exclusive, and both Jews and Catholics derive their identities from God's covenant with their communities, no member of one community can also be a member in good standing of the other. Moreover, one cannot expect the approval of the covenanted community one has left. As with Abraham our father, the answer to God's call always involves leaving some earlier household in one way or another, and that household does not and cannot provide one with a warm farewell.

In this world, Jews and Christians do have much to say to each other and much to do together. But our more important task of waiting for God we must do separately. The agenda of dialogue must be kept distant from the agenda of conversion. Dialogue is more about this world; conversion is more about the world-to-come.

Until the end time, it is not for us to judge matters of identity, except in the most mundane cases involving communal rights and penalties. Because of that, while we Jews can empathize with Catholics who have found yet another saint, another exemplary holy life, it is not something we can feel (the original meaning of "sympathy") with Catholics any more than we could celebrate the Eucharist with them. At this deepest level we are still strangers to each other. So it seems that we shall remain until the end, when we hope to be the lasting friends of God, and thus of each other.

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