Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.
Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.
Proverbs 31:28 – 31
With Mother’s Day coming up, it is a good time to remember how important mothers are. I have an example of how one of my own children reminded me of that many years ago.
To maximize the effect, you need to know that I hold a Master plumbing license in a couple of states. At that time, I also held a plumbing contractor’s license in a neighboring state. Quite often I would bring plans home to work on at the dining room table. I was sitting there at the table one weekend several years ago, working away, when one of the kids came running down from upstairs.
He had an urgent look on his face as he ran through the house and then down to the basement. When he came back up from the basement still in a hurry and still looking for someone, I asked him as he ran by, what was the matter? He replied; Where’s Mom? The faucet upstairs won’t shut off!
How important are mothers? Say no more.
Happy Mother’s Day!
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
Can you lose something that is eternal or everlasting? If you can lose it, then whatever it is you have is not everlasting.
Did you come to Christ thinking that you could become lost again? If you did, then you didn’t really trust Christ at all. You were trusting something or someone else, yourself or Christ plus something. Maybe you were trusting your church.
If you think that there is something you can do to lose salvation, then apparently you think there is something you did to gain it. Repent (change your mind based on Scripture) and place your faith in Christ and His merit alone.
For by grace (God’s enabling) are ye saved through faith (a firm persuasion based on hearing); and that not of yourselves: it is the gift (can’t be purchased) of God: Not of works (anything you do), lest any man should boast (praise himself). Ephesians 2:8&9
What the Lord gives is everlasting life. If you are truly trusting Him, you can’t lose the life He gives, because the life He gives is eternal.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one. John 10:27 – 30
If you came to believe that you could lose your salvation after you trusted Christ, then someone taught you incorrectly. Repent (change your mind) and accept the Scripture’s description of the life believers have in Christ as everlasting.
Note: Remember to always interpret unclear passages in Scripture in the light of those that are clear. Eternal or everlasting life is pretty clear, therefore any passage that may seem to indicate you can lose it, must be interpreted otherwise. God never contradicts Himself. God cannot lie.
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. I John 5:13
…..let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…..
All my life I had a longing
For a drink from some clear spring,
That I hoped would quench the burning
Of the thirst I felt within.
Refrain:
Hallelujah! I have found Him
Whom my soul so long has craved!
Jesus satisfies my longings,
Through His blood I now am saved.
Feeding on the husks around me,
Till my strength was almost gone,
Longed my soul for something better,
Only still to hunger on.
Poor I was, and sought for riches,
Something that would satisfy,
But the dust I gathered round me
Only mocked my soul’s sad cry.
Well of water, ever springing,
Bread of life so rich and free,
Untold wealth that never faileth,
My Redeemer is to me.
Written by Clara T. Williams 1875
Music by Ralph E. Hudson 1875
For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;
For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Hebrews 9:24-28
Have you and I ever promised the Lord some great thing and then failed Him in it? Peter did. His story of failure is tucked in and around the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
The wonderful thing about this account is that the Lord Jesus knew everything about Peter before He called him. He knew Peter’s frame. Messiah Jesus knew that Peter would deny Him at that critical moment.
We have to ask ourselves; did it end their relationship? Did the Lord cross Peter off the list? Did He say; I told you so?
Mark’s Gospel is the only account that records the Lord’s tender acknowledgement to Peter by way of the angel at the empty tomb………….read on!
Scene I
And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.
And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.
But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee.
But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I.
And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice.
But he (Peter) spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Mark 14:26-31
Scene II
And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest:
And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth.
But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew.
And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them.
And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a Galilaean, and thy speech agreeth thereto.
But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak.
And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept. Mark 14:66-72
Scene III
And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?
And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.
And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.
And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.
But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. Mark 16:1-7
The Lord Jesus knows you and I.
If you are a first timer to this blog or if you have only been reading the newest articles found on page one, I would like to suggest that you begin by reading the earliest articles, which are found at this time, on page 18.
I am suggesting this because although much of the information found here stands alone, there are also sequences which tie together subsequent articles and which build on certain themes and/or Bible doctrine.
The greatest benefit to the reader, in my opinion, is to start at the beginning. You can still check out the most recent article, if you like, on your way there!
…..let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.….
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Psalms 119:105
When you get down…….how do you get back up? When you get discouraged, how do you encourage yourself? When you doubt yourself, where do you get confidence? When you don’t want to go any farther, how do you motivate yourself to take another step?
Do you have a life verse? A life verse is a Bible verse that you come back to over and over again. It contains a promise or an encouraging truth to which you cling regardless of how you feel or regardless of what is going on around you. It is what you stand upon and build your life on. It is God’s promise to you. It is personal. It is purposeful.
If you don’t have a life’s verse, start reading your Bible and don’t stop until He gives you something. Check out these verses: Habakkuk 3:16&17, Phil 4:13, Psalm 1, Psalm 34, Psalm 120:1, Isaiah 40:31, Psalm 66:16, Isaiah 41:10, II Timothy 1:7, II Corinthians 12:10, Jeremiah 33:3……..and yes, you can have more than one life’s verse.
For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: Ephesians 3:1 – 9
I am not entirely satisfied with the title given above which includes the word today, because the mystery revealed here in Ephesians 3, was revealed to the apostles and the prophets by the Spirit in the early church.
New revelation like unto this mystery is not the standard of the Bible believing church today because the Canon of Scripture is closed. I have included it because it teaches us the work of the Holy Spirit in regard to revelation and because it is closely related to His work of illumination in the present.
The apostle Paul uses the word mystery to refer to something previously unknown. Something hidden in God from the beginning and not previously revealed until the time of Paul’s writing (as it is now revealed).
W.E. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of NT Words has the following to say concerning the word mystery.
Musterion, primarily that which is known to the “mustes”, the initiated (from mueo, to initiate into the mysteries: cp. Phil. 4:12, mueomai, “I have learned the secret”, R.V.) In the N.T. it denotes, not the mysterious (as with the English word), but that which, being outside the range of unassisted natural apprehension, can be made known only by Divine revelation, and is made known in a manner and at a time appointed by God, and to those only who are illumined by His Spirit. In the ordinary sense a mystery implies knowledge withheld; its Scriptural significance is truth revealed. Hence the terms especially associated with the subject are “made known”, “manifested”, “revealed”, etc. The definition given above may be best illustrated by the following passage: “the mystery which hath been hid from all ages and generations: but now hath it been manifested to His saints” (Col. 1:26, R.V.).
W.E. Vine provides the following cultural background to the Greek word “musterion” or “mystery” used in the Ephesians passage:
Among the ancient Greeks ‘the mysteries’ were religious rites and ceremonies practiced by secret societies into which anyone who so desired might be received. Those who were initiated into these ‘mysteries’ became possessors of certain knowledge, which was not imparted to the uninitiated, and were called ‘the perfected’, cp. I Corinthians 2:6-16 where the Apostle has these ‘mysteries’ in mind and presents the gospel in contrast thereto; here ‘the perfected’ are, of course, the believers, who alone can perceive the things revealed;….
The mystery revealed by the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul is that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.
So far this study has centered on the Holy Spirit making something known which was previously hidden. That is revelation. God’s purpose and His will for mankind has been revealed to us through Scripture of which the Holy Spirit is the author.
The Holy Spirit not only gave us the Bible, His work continues as He illuminates believers or gives them understanding of God’s Word.
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God….Ephesians 3:9.
……..to make all men see……..
To make see is from the Greek word photizo. According to W.E. Vine the meaning of this word is to illumine or to enlighten. Other forms of the word mean to give light or to shine.
In verse 9 of Ephesians 3, photizo is used in the sense of illuminating all men, so that according to Romans 1, they are without excuse. It also carries the sense of giving understanding to all believers.
Paul further elaborates on understanding and illumination in I Corinthians 2 as follows:
Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But as it is written, 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.
But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:5-8
………let the word of Christ dwell in you richly……