Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant. Isaiah 56:12.
The evil servant says in his heart, “My lord delayeth his coming.” He does not say that Christ will not come. He does not scoff at the idea of His second coming. But in his heart and by his actions and words he declares that the Lord’s coming is delayed. He banishes from the minds of others the conviction that the Lord is coming quickly. His influence leads men to presumptuous, careless delay. They are confirmed in their worldliness and stupor. Earthly passions, corrupt thoughts, take possession of the mind. The evil servant eats and drinks with the drunken, unites with the world in pleasure seeking. He smites his fellow servants, accusing and condemning those who are faithful to their Master. . . .
The advent of Christ will surprise the false teachers. They are saying, “Peace and safety.” Like the priests and teachers before the fall of Jerusalem, they look for the church to enjoy earthly prosperity and glory. The signs of the times they interpret as foreshadowing this. But what saith the Word of Inspiration? “Sudden destruction cometh upon them.” . . .
Men are putting afar off the coming of the Lord. They laugh at warnings. The proud boast is made, “All things continue as they were from the beginning.” “Tomorrow shall be as this day and much more abundant.” 2 Peter 3:4; Isaiah 56:12. We will go deeper into pleasure loving. But Christ says, “Behold, I come as a thief.” Revelation 16:15. At the very time when the world is asking in scorn, “Where is the promise of his coming?” the signs are fulfilling. While they cry, “Peace and safety,” sudden destruction is coming. When the scorner, the rejecter of truth, has become presumptuous; when the routine of work in the various money-making lines is carried on without regard to principle; when the student is eagerly seeking knowledge of everything but his Bible, Christ comes as a thief.
Maranatha p. 144
“““““““““““““““`
Prayer Requests
——Please pray for my friend Shorty Johnson. I’ve known Shorty for over 40 years, he is my dear brother in Christ, and one of my oldest and dearest Christian friends. He was rushed to the emergency room and pronounced dead they gave him CPR for 45 minutes and the second they stopped his heart started back up. Pastor Tom
““““““““““““““““`
Dear Friends,
When Esther was a little girl, she saw a commercial on TV for a baby doll. This was no ordinary doll. Instead of being stiff, cold, and lifeless, this doll was made of rubber that could be filled with warm water. This caused it to feel like it was a real baby. How Esther wanted one of those dolls!
Eileen decided that she would get her one for Christmas. This was no easy task. Many other little girls had seen that commercial and begged for that doll. Their parents had thought that it would make a wonderful present. Every store was sold out of that toy. The doll was nowhere to be found.
After calling and calling store after store for the baby doll, Eileen finally located a store that had a few left. She convinced the clerk to set one aside for her. We immediately drove to town to buy it. Eileen’s joy knew no bounds as she anticipated Esther’s delight at receiving the coveted prize.
When Esther unwrapped her gift, she was just as happy as Eileen had thought she would be. Any other present was forgotten as she went to the sink, turned on the hot water, and used the blue funnel to fill the baby doll with warm water. How she cuddled and cuddled that doll! Eileen felt well rewarded for all of her effort in finding it.
Each day, Esther played with that doll. Each night she filled it with very warm water and cuddled it as she went to sleep. Over time, however, she played with it less and less during the day only using it at night. As summer brought warm nights, the doll was discarded amongst her other toys. In a year or two, it was rarely used for anything but a hot water bottle. She had fond memories of that doll, however, and got one for Emma for her birthday with much the same results.
How often we treat the gospel in the same way. When we first hear the Good News of Salvation, we embrace it with delight. Our Bible becomes our constant companion. We read and study its pages with diligence. We tell everyone we meet about our Wonderful Saviour. Sadly, over time, we begin to allow other things to crowd our mind. We lose our “first love.” Such was the experience of the first of the seven churches spoken of in Revelation. “Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes [a licentious group of people who claimed that it didn’t matter what they did as long as they only believed–{see The Web Bible Encyclopedia}], which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” Rev 2:1-7
How vital it is that we keep that zeal, that fervor that marked our first acceptance of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. How important that we continue “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 2:13,14
May we “give diligence to make your calling and election sure” that we may never lose our first love experience. 2 Peter 1:10 May we daily “study to show [ourselves] approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Tim 2:15 May we “continue thou in the things which [we have] learned and [have] been assured of,” “which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” 2 Tim 3:14; 1 Cor 2:13 (Isa 28:10)
Rose