God is FAITHFUL

God Is Not Finished With Me Yet

“He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:24 ESV)

This is the absolute bottom line of the New Covenant! Salvation belongs to the Lord, and he will accomplish it for us. Praise him! God calls us and he is faithful. He will do it!

At least two other references ought to be mentioned here too.

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion

at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6 ESV)

And the faithful saying:

“If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful—

for he cannot deny himself.” (2 Timothy 2:11–13 ESV)

Philippians 1:6 presents the scope of the project to save us. God has begun a good work in us. He started the work and we are in the process of being saved by him. It will not be completed until the day of Jesus Christ. That day may come in part for us individually before it comes on a global scale. If we die before Christ returns then our salvation will be very nearly completed. Our bodies will wait for the full day of the Lord to come for salvation. Our bodies will then be raised incorruptible. We ought to have confidence that God will complete what he has started, and we ought to have patience. We cannot expect the completed project before God’s time. Remember the phrase “Please be patient with me, God is not finished with me yet?” Remember we are in process. But never doubt that God will bring the project to completion in his time. God is not a contractor who does not complete his work!

The faithful saying from Timothy brings in more of our responsibility to suffer, die, endure, and be faithful. It also contains a warning that if we deny him he will deny us. Our perseverance is important. It is the one who overcomes who receives salvation. If we deny him we have no assurance that he began a good work in us. The denial indicates that we were never one of his children. (See 1 John 2:19) We should never allow our assurance of salvation to become a presumption. Make sure of your salvation. “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves” (2 Corinthians 13:5 ESV) If God is working in us it will be demonstrated in our growing walk with the Lord.

But the fantastically encouraging thing is that this faithful saying ends with the promise that God remains faithful even when we have failed. He cannot deny himself. We come to God not on our own. We come in the person of Jesus Christ. God cannot deny Jesus Christ! We are saved by the work of Jesus. This is how God completes the good work! Praise God!

How to raise your kids...OLD School!

John Gill was an English Baptist pastor who served one church his entire life! He lived from November 23 1697 to October 14, 1771. He was an amazing theologian, and a fanatic original language scholar. He wrote many books, among them is the following:

A Body of Practical Divinity

BOOK IV.

Of Private Worship, Or Various Duties, Domestic, Civil, And Moral

Chapter 2.

Of The Respective Duties Of Parents And Children

Here is John Gill's comment on Ephesians 6:4. I thought this was really good, and I tried to put it into my sermon last Sunday, but it just did not work.

“And this exhortation may have respect to the training of them up in a religious way; in the external ways of God, and paths of godliness, in which they should walk; from whence they will not easily and ordinarily depart (Prov. 22:6). It becomes them to set good examples to them, of sobriety, temperance, prudence, &c. and to keep them from the company of such from whom they may learn what is evil; for evil communications corrupt good manners; and whereas the seeds of all sins are in children, which soon appear, they should check them early, and nip them in the bud, and expose the sinfulness of those vices they are most inclined unto; as using naughty words, and telling lies, &c. they should frequently pray with and for them, as Abraham for Ishmael; whereby they will be sensible, that they have not only their temporal good, but their spiritual and eternal welfare at heart; and they should bring them under the means of grace, the ministry of the word; and teach them to read the scriptures as soon as may be; and instruct them in the knowledge of divine things, as they are able to receive it; which seems to be meant by paideia, the nurture of the Lord.

Though I cannot say I truly approve of the method of education used by some good people; as by teaching them the Creed, a form of belief, saying, I believe, so and so, before they have any knowledge of and faith in divine truths; and to babble over the Lord’s Prayer, as it is commonly called, and other forms of prayer; which seems to have a tendency to direct them to rest in an outward form, and to trust in an outward show of righteousness; which they need not be taught to do, it is natural unto them; and whenever they receive the grace of God, all this must be untaught and undone again.

It is proper to instruct them in the necessity of faith in God and in Christ, and of the use of prayer; and to lay before them the sinfulness of sin, and show them what an evil thing it is, and what are the sad effects of it; to teach them their miserable estate by nature, and the way of recovery and salvation by Christ; and to learn them from childhood to read and know the holy scriptures, according to their capacity; and by these to be “admonished” of sin, and of their duty, to fear God, and keep his commandments; which may be meant by the “admonition of the Lord”; and the proper opportunity should be taken to instill these things into their minds, when their minds begin to open, and they are inquisitive into the meaning of things; (see Deut. 6:20) and these several respective duties are to be carefully attended to; since the peace and order of families, the good of the commonwealth, and the prosperity of the church, and increase of the interest of Christ, greatly depend upon them.”

It turns out I am my brother’s keeper.

“For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord.” (1 Thess. 3:8)

Paul makes this hefty statement to tell the people in Thessalonica how he felt when Timothy reported back that they were doing really well and in fact they had great affection for Paul.

Is this statement representing a healthy point of view? Is it hyperbole? Let’s just say yes and no! It is a healthy thing to say and think, and it probably is not hyperbole. Paul is expressing the wonderful thing about human relationships. The way God has made us is to be in a covenant community. We should care deeply about people, and know that they care about us. Paul says his life depends on their faith. He has risked his life to bring them the good news, and he is exuberant that they are sticking with it. They need to know that it matters so much to Paul that they stay with the Lord. They need to feel the pressure of having Paul dependent upon their walk with God.

The famous statement of John surely fits here too: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” (3 John 4) John could take a lot of suffering in his exile if he heard that his investment in the lives of his “children” was producing fruit. He was dependent upon them for joy.

I believe that God has made us to be social beings and interdependent on others. It is a very good thing to care about others and have others care about you. Who is encouraged when you are standing fast in the Lord? They would be so disappointed to hear that your faith was falling apart and that you are not walking with the Lord. Allow this to be a healthy motivation to stay faithful to the Lord. People are watching you. They may know of a trial that you are undergoing and they are watching how you take it. Think of the whole network of your family and friends who would be impacted negatively by your slipping away.

On the other side of things, do you have people for whom you care deeply? Pray for people. Fervently intercede for their spiritual life. If you can, serve in a teaching role or somehow directly contribute to the spiritual growth of a few people. We are designed to care for others. It is healthy and righteous to love others and be effected by their standing fast in the Lord.