Six Ways to Pray for Missionaries

By Pastor Josh Wamble

Throughout the Bible, we are encouraged to approach God with confidence knowing that He will receive us and that He wants to hear from us.  Philippians 4:6-7 say, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Over the next few weeks, we will be posting specific ways you can be praying for different groups of people inside and outside of the church.  This week, we want to think about missionaries.  We do not want to just be sending out missionaries from our church, we want to be supporting them and their work as well.  We want to join them in their work.  One of the best ways we can do that is by regularly praying for them and their families.  Below, we offer six specific ways that you can do so.

1.  Pray for Their Personal Holiness

The nature of mission work means that often God calls missionaries to go where there are few if any believers.  It can be difficult and isolating work.  They do not have a local church near them to worship with, sing with, pray with, study the Bible with.  They often do not have opportunities to hear the Bible preached.  It is easy for them to get discouraged.

Pray that God would be near to them and that they would feel His presence.  Pray that God would keep them faithful.  Pray that even in their busyness to spread the word that they would be faithful to study His word and to read it devotionally.  Pray that their hearts and souls would remain warm toward Christ and the gospel.

Pray that God would protect them from temptation and sin.  Pray that they would be quick to repent and confess their sins to God.  Pray that they would rest in His forgiveness and provision for their souls.

2.  Pray for Them to Get Acclimated to their New Culture

Serving in another context can be very lonely.  The people are different, the food is different, the customs are different, the language is different—everything is different.  They are separated from their families and friends and church in the US, and they often feel disconnected from the people they are serving.  Differences in culture can cause misunderstandings or miscommunications.  They can make missionaries feel like they stick out and don’t fit in or lead to unintentional offenses (sometimes without even knowing that they are being offensive).

Pray that God would bridge this gap.  Pray that they would quickly learn the cultural norms of their new home.  Pray that they would make genuine friendships in their new setting.  Pray for their marriages and their children.

3.  Pray for Gospel Opportunities

People serving as missionaries want to befriend their neighbors and others around them.  They want to build relationships with people in their new cultures.  But, ultimately, they want these friendships and relationships and positions of influence to be used for the spreading of the gospel.  They want to meet the most important need their new friends and neighbors have.

Pray that God would provide opportunities for them to share the gospel with the people around them.  Pray that God would help them to do so in ways that are understandable and clear.  Pray that God would work in the hearts of their hearers that they would respond to the gospel message.

4.  Pray for Their Physical Needs

It is not uncommon for missionaries to suffer from sicknesses or other physical needs.  Eating different foods, coming in contact with different germs or allergens can cause problems.  Often missionaries serve in areas where they are not as familiar with the medical procedures or where access to specific medical care is not available.  Often visits to a doctor or obtaining certain medications can require significant travel.  On top of this, concerns about physical wellbeing (for himself or his family) can take a missionary’s attention away from the work the Lord has called him to

Pray that God would keep them healthy and free from injury.  Pray for the health of their families.  Pray that God would remove these distractions so that they can focus on gospel ministry in their place of service.

5.  Pray for Their Financial Needs

Through the Cooperative Program of the SBC, our church supports more than 3500 missionaries serving with the SBC’s International Missions Board.  Each of these missionaries is fully funded through the financial gifts of churches like ours throughout the US.  We also support missionaries who serve with other agencies and are required to raise some or all of their financial support.

Pray for their support team to grow and that God would provide the finances they need to meet their needs and the needs of their families.  Pray that they would not be worried or anxious over their finances and that they could focus on the work that is before them.

6.  Pray that God Would Call More Missionaries

There is an immense need for missionaries around the world.  There are still many people groups who have not yet heard the word of the gospel.  There are languages and cultures that do not have a single follower of Jesus.  There are others who only have a handful of believers or perhaps even have some churches but still need someone to help them grow to maturity or help them disciple and prepare the men God has called to lead their churches and serve as pastors.

Pray that God would call other individuals and families to go and teach His word.  Pray that God would call individuals and families from our church.  Pray that God would help us to be a good sending church that prepares and supports our missionaries well.

Four Ways to Pray for Your

Fellow Church Members

By Pastor Josh Wamble

Throughout the Bible, we are encouraged to approach God with confidence knowing that He will receive us and that He wants to hear from us.  Philippians 4:6-7 say, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Over the next few weeks, we will be posting specific ways you can be praying for different groups of people inside and outside of the church.  This week, we want to think about church members.  We hope that you are regularly praying for your fellow church members.  Below, we offer six specific ways you can do so.

1.  Pray for Their Personal Holiness

God saves His people by grace alone through faith alone.  He gives new life to people who are dead in their sins.  He transforms His people into new creations in Christ.  We do not and cannot earn our salvation before Him.  Salvation is wholly His work; yet, He calls His people to be holy even as He is holy.  Our obedience comes out of the transformation that He works in us.  Philippians 2:12-13 say, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

Pray that your fellow church members would work out their salvation with fear and trembling.  Pray that they would take sin seriously and fight against it by the power of the Holy Spirit working in them.  Pray that they would spend time in God’s word and prayer and that God would give them grace to live according to it.  Pray that they would resist temptation and sin.  Pray that they would be humble before the Lord and go to Him in repentance and confession when they do sin.  Pray that their consciences would be soft and sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

2.  Pray for Opportunities to Use Their Spiritual Gifts

The bible says that the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to all of His people and that God gathers them in churches where those spiritual gifts can be used for the building up of the whole body.  Pray that God would reveal to your fellow church members the gifts that He has given them.  Pray that they would be bold and confident to use those gifts.  Pray that God would provide opportunities for those gifts to be used in our church.  Pray that our church would be strengthened through each one using his gifts.  Pray that we would each be growing in Christ through the relationships that we have with one another in our church.

3.  Pray for Unity in the Church

Pray that our church would be unified in Christ.  Pray that God would be using His word in the life of our church to sanctify each individual.  Pray that no one would be looking out for his own interests or desires or preferences.  Pray that everyone would be putting others before themselves.  Pray that there would be no rivalries or jealousies among the members of our church.  Pray that we would be quick to forgive each other when we have been wronged.  Pray that we would be humble and quick to ask forgiveness when we have wronged one another.  Pray that gossip and complaining and backbiting would be absent from our church.  Pray that we would be growing together as we study together, worship together, sing together, pray together, listen to preaching together, and serve our community and the world together.

4.  Pray for the Families in the Church

Pray for the many families in our church.

Pray that God would save the children in our church.

Pray for the parents to be faithful in leading their children to the Lord and pray that God would bless those efforts.  Pray that they would teach their children how to read the bible and how to pray.

Pray for the grandparents to be modeling for their adult children and grandchildren what maturity in the faith looks like.  Pray that they would leave a legacy of faithfulness for their families to follow in.

Pray for the many young families in our church who are currently pregnant.  Pray for mothers’ health and that the babies would be growing and developing.  Ask God to be preparing them to be new parents and that Jesus would be at the center of their parenting.  Pray that God would save their children.

Pray for those in our church who would like to have children but have not yet been able to.  Pray that God would give them children.  Pray that he would give them contentment with their current situation.  Pray that God would keep them from any envy or jealousy and that He would give them genuine happiness for those around them who do have children.

Pray for the marriages in our church.  Pray that husbands would love their wives and wives would love their husbands.  Pray for them to be patient with each other and serve one another.  Pray that they would prioritize each other and their family time above everything else.

Life can be hard, and all believers face temptations and difficulties.  We need each other.  Commit to faithfully and regularly pray for your fellow church members and pray that God would strengthen His church.

Six Ways to Pray for Your Pastors

By Pastor Josh Wamble

Throughout the Bible, we are encouraged to approach God with confidence knowing that He will receive us and that He wants to hear from us.  Philippians 4:6-7 say, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Over the next few weeks, we will be posting specific ways you can be praying for different groups of people inside and outside of the church.  This week, we want to think about pastors.  We hope that you are regularly praying for your pastors.  Below, we offer six specific ways you can do so.

1.  Give Thanks to God for Them

In Ephesians 4:11-12, Paul says that God gives pastors to His churches for the purpose of building them up and equipping them for the work of the ministry.  Thank God for how He has blessed our church with the pastors that He has given us and that He would use their different gifts in the life of our church.

 2.  Pray for Their Personal Holiness

A 19^th century Scottish pastor famously said, “The greatest need of my people is my own holiness.”  This is certainly a great need in the church if not the greatest.  Far too often, we have heard about pastors who have made a shipwreck of their ministry in one or another.  Some have fallen into some grievous sin like adultery, out of control anger, pornography use, plagiarizing sermons, or the like.  These sins do not just affect the individual pastor.  They are difficult on the pastors’ families and their churches as well.

Pastors face temptations that are unique to ministry as well as temptations that are common to all believers.  Pray that God would keep your pastors from temptation and deliver them from temptations when they do come.  Pray that they would be quick to confess their sins and repent of them.  Pray that they would love the Lord and His word and seek to follow Him in all areas of their lives.

3.  Pray for Their Preaching and Teaching

Maybe the biggest responsibility a pastor has to his church is to rightly preach and teach God’s word.  Pray that they would prioritize time to study God’s word.  Pray that the Holy spirit would help them to understand it well.  Pray that the Holy Spirit would lead them to apply it well to the church.  Pray that God would help them to present what they have learned in a way that connects with the church and it easily understood and applied.  Pray that they would have the boldness and conviction to preach and teach the truth even when it is hard or challenging.

4.  Pray for Their Leadership

Pray that God would lead them as they lead His church.  Pray that they would think well about how to lead in specific situations.  Pray that they would work well together and have good discussions that lead to clarity on how the Lord is directing them.  Pray that God would give them wisdom and help the to see things from His perspective.  Pray that the church would follow their lead.

5.  Pray for Their Families

Ministry can sometimes be hard on families and especially children.  Many pastors’ kids grow up to resent the church for taking so much time from their dad or for how their parents were treated by the church.  Pray that that would not be the case with the children of our pastors.

Pray that our pastors would manage their time well and prioritize time with their families and children.  Pray that they would not feel pressure from the church to be perfect.  Pray that they would see and feel the church’s love for their dads and for their families.  Pray that the pastors’ wives would feel supported, respected, honored, and loved by their church.  Pray for their marriages and for their parenting.

6.  Pray for Their Health

Pray that God would keep your pastors healthy.  Pray that the anxiety and worry they feel for the members of the church would not weigh them down.  Pray that they would deal with the stress of their positions in healthy ways.  Pray that they would get good rest and have healthy patterns of time off and away from the work of the ministry.

Life can be hard, and pastors face many of the same challenges and difficulties that other believers face.  There are also unique challenges and pressures that come with being a pastor.  Be faithful and regular in praying for your pastors and pray that God would use them to strengthen His church.

Answers in August: Part Four

Questions and Answers

By Pastor Josh Wamble

This past Sunday, we continued our annual Answers in August series.  This year we are studying the doctrine of Eternal Security or the perseverance of the saints.  We started this series off last week by talking about the view that it is possible for people to fall away from salvation.  You can watch week one here or listen to week one audio here.  You can watch week two here or listen to week two audio here.  You can watch week three here or listen to week three audio here.  You can watch the final week here or listen to week four audio here.  Below, I want to provide a short summary of the questions and discussion we had on 8/27.

1.  What Biblical passage is most assuring to you that God will keep you secure?

Romans 8:31-39

John 6:37

Ephesians 1:7-14

Hebrews 7:22-25

2.  Why was this topic chosen?

This doctrine is very strengthening to believers and their faith.  Often believers have questions or a lack of assurance especially as they see people who have fallen away from the church and are no longer around.  Studying what the Bible says about God’s determination to save His people is very reassuring to believers.

3.  How do we keep in balance what the Bible says about the need for believers to persevere and the promise that God will keep those who are His?

There is a need to read the scriptures and believe all that they say.  Everything int eh Word is true.  Some things are harder to understand or accept than others, but as followers of God, we need to work hard to understand all that the Bible says in light of everything else the Bible says.

4.  Is there a danger in presenting salvation as “just believe and you will be saved”?

There is a danger or problem, but it is not corrected by changing the message of the gospel that we preach.  The Bible does say that salvation is by grace alone though faith alone.  The problem comes in when the church and individual believers do a poor job of discipleship after someone has believed the message of the gospel or a poor job of following up when someone leaves the church.

5.  How should we respond to someone who seems to have fallen away from the truth?

We should be direct with them and not avoid the difficult awkward questions, but it must happen in the context of a relationship of love and trust.

6.  How do we counsel and help people who are coming back from a time of sin discern whether they were genuinely saved before or are just now being saved?

Believers continue to fight against temptations and sin.  It is not surprising or confusing when we see believers sinning and fighting sin.  That doesn’t mean the person was never genuinely saved, but it could mean that.  When we try and help people think through that situation, we should help them to ask questions of themselves and their own situation.  In the end, we cannot make that decision for anyone else as we trust the Holy Spirit to convict them and assure them and convince them.

7.  Should we use books, sermons, or other materials that were written by people who seemed to be faithful at the time but have since denounced the faith and rejected God?

This is a very complicated and perplexing question.  If the person is known enough that their name being connected to the material could be a distraction or cause a problem, do not use that material.  If the material is good and the book or resource was written long enough ago that their reputation or life situation is unknown and not likely to cause a distraction, then we should be free to use that material.

8.  Can/does the Holy Spirit use unbelievers the same way He does believers?

God can and does use anyone that he wants.  He can and does use the talents of unbelievers to glorify Himself and strengthen His church.  In Phil. 1:15-18, Paul speaks of some who preach the gospel out of envy and selfish ambition.  Even in this case, Paul rejoices because God is using this preaching of the gospel with bad motives to accomplish His purposes.  However, we should be careful with these types of resources knowing that those who produce them are not seeking to honor God with them.

9.  If you were going on a trip and could only take the Bible and one other book, what would the other book be?

Pilgrim’s Progress, Michael Jordan biography, book of maps

Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, Wendell Berry novel, large phone book (for kindling)

Church directory as prayer tool

Historical biography or other historical book

10.  How should we relate to other believers/denomination who disagree with us on this doctrine?

There are some things that we can partner with and other things that we can’t.  To the extent that partnering with them would cause us to compromise on what we think the Bible teaches, then we would not be able to.  We could partner together for the sake of ministries such as distributing food to people who need it or cleaning up after a tornado or other natural disaster, but we could not partner together to preach or plant churches, or etc.

11.  If we are visiting a different type of church with different doctrine should we participate in their worship? More specifically, should we participate in the Lord’s Supper at a church whose understanding of what the Lord’s Supper is and what it does and what it’s for is different from ours?

There are some churches whose doctrine is so different from ours that we should not participate in the Lord’s Supper.  Catholic churches come to mind.  Their understanding of the Lord’s Supper is so different that we shouldn’t join them in it.

Answers in August—Part Three:

Scripture’s Consistency

By Pastor Josh Wamble

This past Sunday, we continued our annual Answers in August series.  This year we are studying the doctrine of Eternal Security or the perseverance of the saints.  We started this series off last week by talking about the view that it is possible for people to fall away from salvation.  You can watch week one here or listen to week one audio here.  You can watch week two here or listen to week two audio here.  You can watch week three here or listen to week three audio here.  Below, I want to provide a short summary of what we talked about on 8/20.

During this final teaching week of this year’s Answers in August series, we considered three topics: Firstly, how should biblical passages that seem to talk about people actually falling away from the faith be understood?  We looked at three specific passages.  Secondly, how should believers treat people they know who seem to have fallen away?  Thirdly, can people have real assurance of their salvation?

How Should These Biblical Passages be Understood?

1.  Acts 5:1-11

In this passage, we read about Ananias and Sapphira, a married couple, who sold some land that they owned, kept some of the money, and donated the rest of the money to the church.  None of that is a problem.  The problem is that they both claimed to have donated everything to the church.  The issue is not about money; the issue is about lying to God and to the Holy Spirit.  God directly killed both Ananias and Sapphira for their lies.  Many people read this passage and conclude that Ananias and Sapphira were believers who fell away from grace and lost their salvation.  There are two problems with this understanding.

Firstly, the text of Acts 5:1-11 does not say that either Ananias or Sapphira were believers.  Secondly, the text of Acts 5:1-11 does not say that either Ananias or Sapphira fell away from grace and lost their salvation.  In fact, the Bible does say that if they did fall away from grace, they were never believers to start with.  One of those statements must be false.  Either they were not believers, or they did not lose their salvation.  Both of those things cannot be true.

It seems to me that they were probably true believers.  They were members of the early church, and nothing in the passage leads us to believe that they were not genuinely converted members.  However, the text never tells us that they stopped being believers.  It only says that they suffered punishment or consequences for their sin.  Suffering or experiencing consequences for sin is not something that believers are immune to.   Believers are forgiven for the eternal consequences for sin, but that does not mean that they always avoid temporal consequences for sin.  History is full of believers who have suffered greatly on earth for their sins.  These consequences include jail, sickness, broken relationships, lost ministry positions, lost trust and reputations, and even death.

Consider Moses who sinned against God.  God did not abandon him or turn away from him.  Moses did not lose his relationship with God.  However, he did suffer the consequence of not being allowed to enter the Promised land.  Instead, he died on the opposite side of the Jordan River.  It seems to me that Ananias and Sapphira found themselves in a similar situation.

2.  Hebrews 3:12-14

In these verses, the church as a whole is encouraged to watch out for one another—to help one another follow the Lord faithfully.  The church is even warned that there may be some who are members of the church who do in fact fall away.  They are to watch out for these people and do what they can to help them not fall away.

The key to understanding this passage correctly is found in verse 12.  The author presents the possibility of some in the church having “an evil unbelieving heart, leading [them] to fall away.”  What is significant here is the order that these events are listed and what situation causes the other situation.  He does not describe someone who falls away and stops believing.  Instead, he describes someone whose evil unbelieving heart leads him to fall away.  The evil unbelieving heart comes first, and it is what causes the falling away.

In other words, he is describing someone who is in the church but is not really a believer.  He has an unbelieving heart.  He is not truly believing or trusting in Jesus.  The result is that this unbeliever will eventually fall away from the church.  He is not falling away from God or from salvation.  He never has faith in God and salvation to begin with.

3.  Hebrews 6:1-9

This passage is probably the hardest NT passage to understand if it is true that someone cannot fall away from the faith and lose his salvation.  What makes it so difficult is how the person who falls away is described.  In verses 4 and 5, this person is described as having “once been enlightened” and having “tasted of the heavenly gift” and having “been made a partaker in the Holy Spirit” and having “tasted the good word of God.”  On the surface, it seems almost undeniable that these are descriptions of a genuine believer.  When those four descriptions are added together, the argument is even stronger.

The key to understanding this passage rightly is found in verse 9.  There, the author says, “Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation.”  He says that he is convinced of better things in the lives of those he is writing to—things better than having “once been enlightened” and having “tasted of the heavenly gift” and having “been made a partaker in the Holy Spirit” and having “tasted the good word of God.”  Moreover, these “better things” are things that “belong to salvation.”  This means whatever the other things (being enlightened, tasting the heavenly gift, partaking of the Holy Spirit, and tasting the good word of God) are describing, they are not describing things that belong to salvation.  This may be counter-intuitive because of what comes into our minds when we hear and think of these “other things” (partaking of the Holy Spirit, being enlightened, and etc.), but we should let the author tell us what they mean or don’t mean and not make those assumptions ourselves.  He doesn’t tell us what he means by those things, but he does tell us what he does not mean by them.  He does not mean “things that belong to salvation.”

If we start with the understanding that they do not describe the benefits or fruit of salvation, we can try to deduce what they are describing.  If we are told that “being enlightened” does not mean “being saved” then maybe it is describing someone who has heard the truth, understood the truth, and even to some extent believed the truth but has not trusted in Jesus for salvation.  This shouldn’t be too hard for us to imagine.  Surely, we all know people who would agree that the principles of the Bible are good and maybe believe that following them will lead them to being a better person or that the morality of the Bible is good or that they want their children to grow up in church and be influenced by the truths of the Bible, but they, themselves, do not believe the gospel.  They are not trusting in Jesus for salvation.

If “tasting the heavenly gift” doesn’t describe someone who is being saved, then maybe it describes someone who has experienced the benefits of the goodness of God.  They have received blessings from God and/or from His church (genuine believers) but they, themselves, are not repenting of their sin and trusting in Jesus alone for salvation.

If “being made a partaker in the Holy Spirit” does not describe someone who is being saved, then maybe it describes someone who has a connection to a church and have experienced or partaken in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Perhaps this person is even an active member of a church and serves alongside genuine believers.  Perhaps he attends regular worship services and Bible studies with genuine believers.  Perhaps he has partaken in the gifts of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control), but he is not genuinely trusting Jesus’s death and righteousness for his own salvation.

If “having tasted the good word of God” does not describe a genuine believer, maybe it is describing someone who has been connected to a church for a significant amount of time and has learned the Bible.  Maybe he has heard it preached and taught for years and recognizes God’s goodness in it; yet, he is not trusting in the good news of Jesus that the word describes for his own salvation.

Although the author doesn’t tell us precisely what he means by these phrases, he does tell us very clearly what he does not mean by them.  They do not describe the benefits and fruit of salvation.  They do not describe people who have been genuinely saved.  They do not describe his readers.  In the case of his readers, he is confident of better things—things that actually do belong to genuine and true salvation.

How Should Believers Treat People Who Seem to Have Fallen Away?

1.  Treat Them with Love

People who fall away from the faith are either people who have never believed the gospel to begin with and are walking away from the church or are people who are genuine believers but are in the midst of serious sin but will one day repent and come back to the Lord.  Either way, we should treat these people with love.  Often these are people that we know and have deep relationships with—people that we have known for a long time and are close to.  We have loved them for a long time and should continue to love them

We should continue spending time with them and talking with them about the gospel.  It is tragic to think of people who have left the church for whatever reason and never hear from those who remain who were so dear to them for such a long time.  We should call them and send them cards and go out to eat with them and invite them to our homes and go to their homes.

2.  Treat Them with Concern

The way this love looks is that we try to bring them back.  We should treat them like we would any other unbeliever.  Whether they are truly unbelievers who have never trusted the gospel or genuine believers who are in the midst of serious sin, they are living like unbelievers, and we should treat them as such.  Of course, this doesn’t mean that we treat them badly or avoid them or shame them.  If means that we should look for opportunities to speak to them about the Jesus and the gospel.  We should ask them about their lives and what is going on with them.  We should genuinely listen to them and try to help them with their problems, suffering, questions, doubts, anger, or whatever they may be dealing with.

We should also pray for them like we would any other believer.  We should pray that God would convict them of their sins and open their hearts to trust in Jesus.  We should pray that the Holy Spirit would be spurring them to read their Bible and using His word in their lives.  We should be praying that God would make Himself known to them and give them the faith to believe.  We should pray that God would give you and others opportunities to speak to them about the gospel.

3.  Treat Them with Seriousness

Finally, we should treat them with seriousness because they are in a very serious situation.  This doesn’t mean that we can never have fun with them, but it does mean that we should take their situation with the utmost seriousness.

There may come a time (after much prayer and pleading with them) to remove them from the membership of the church.  This should not be done lightly or flippantly.  It should not be done quickly.  If this time comes, it should only be done out of a desire for their good and for the good of the church.  It should be done through much grief and many tears but with their good in mind.  The goal is always that they would see the seriousness of their situation and turn to the Lord.  The goal is for their salvation.

Paul describes this happening in the church in Corinth.  We read about it in 1 Corinthians 5:5.  There Paul tells the church to remove a certain man from the church.  He says doing so is the equivalent of turning him over to Satan.  This is not in any way an act of anger or malice.  Instead, Paul says the goal is the destruction of his flesh and the salvation of his spirit.  Paul teaches the Corinthian church, and us, that this drastic measure is a way of helping the man to see the end of his sin and turn from it to the Lord in faith and repentance.  This is always the goal.

Can People Have Real Assurance of Their Salvation?

In 1 John 5:13, he says that he has written that particular letter so that his readers would know that they have salvation.  Below, I want to highlight three specific foundations for our assurance of salvation before the Lord.

 1.  The Author of Your Salvation

The Bible is clear that God is the one who saves His people.  We do not save ourselves.  Salvation is a work of God from the beginning to the end.  If God has decided to save His people, there is no one or no thing that can prevent Him from doing so.  Further, the Bible tells us that if God begins saving someone, He will not stop.  He will bring that work to completion.  God never fails in anything He sets out to do.  This should bring us great assurance and confidence before the Lord.

2.  The Nature of Your Salvation

Over the last couple of weeks, we have talked about what salvation is.  We have used an analogy from middle school and high school science class.  In scientific vocabulary, there is a difference between a physical reaction and a chemical reaction.  Physical reactions include things like mixtures and suspensions.  In these reactions, different substances are combined.  Their physical characteristics may change, but their chemical properties remain the same.  Mixtures and suspensions and other physical reactions can be reversed, and the components go back to their original states.

With chemical reactions, there is such a drastic change that they cannot be reversed.  Fire is an example of a chemical reaction.  In a fire, wood and oxygen and heat are combined in such a way that they can never go back to the way they were.  They are changed into a new substance—ash.

God’s work in saving sinners is like a chemical reaction.  There is no going back.  The old is gone and all things are new.  The sinner changes into a saint.  The rebel is changed into a friend.  The dead are made alive.  When this happens there is no undoing it.  This should also bring us great assurance and confidence before the Lord.

3.  The Circumstances of Your Salvation

Finally, there is a very practical ground of assurance in the life of a believer.  Often when believers are doubting their salvation, they are told to look back and remember the Lord working in their life.  This is not necessarily bad advice.  The Bible is full of examples where God tells his people to set up a monument as a reminder of His working in their midst.  Sometimes they are told to regularly practice certain rituals and festivals during which they recount the goodness of God to their children and each other.  These are good things for us to do as well.  We should look back on and remember when the Lord saved us, when we professed our faith publicly in baptism, and when He has worked mightily in our lives.

However, there is another ground for our assurance.  It is a better indicator of whether or not we are following the Lord.  In 1 John (the book that John wrote so that his readers would know they are saved), John points us to the present instead of the past.  You should ask yourselves a couple of questions:  Are you currently believing and trusting the Lord?  Are you currently repenting of your sin?

If you cannot answer yes to both of these questions, there is something in your life that needs to be addressed.  It may be that you are not a believer and have never believed or repented, or it may be that you are genuinely converted but you are in the midst of some serious sin that you are not dealing with.  Either way, you should seek the Lord in repentance, confession, and trust.  If you can answer yes to both of these questions, that should bring great assurance and confidence before the Lord.

We hope that you have enjoyed this year’s Answers in August series and from this blog series.  We hope that you have benefitted from both.  Of course, this is a big topic, and we have only had a limited amount of time to consider it.  We only looked at 3 passages in detail even during our last service.  I am sure you have other questions that have not been addressed.  If so, we invite you and encourage you to be present for our final meeting this Sunday (8/27) at 6:00.

During this service, we will spend the entire hour doing nothing but taking and discussing your questions.  All four of your pastors will be up front to address and discuss anything that you want to bring up.  If you have questions, there are several ways that you can get them to us.

1.  You can come and ask those questions yourselves in person on Sunday night.

2.  If you are not comfortable asking out loud in front of everyone, you can send those questions in through email or by phone. You can email any of your pastors or the church office.  If you would prefer, you can call the church office and leave your question with our administrative assistant.  Contact information is available on this website.  We will be happy to answer these questions on Sunday.

3.  If you prefer, you can write your questions on a slip of paper and hand them to one of your pastors or turn them in in the church office.

4.  You can ask one of your pastors in private between now and Sunday, and we will address it in front of the group.

All of these questions that are not asked in person will be kept anonymous.

Whether you have questions or are interested in hearing your pastors answer other people’s questions, we hope to see all of you on Sunday!

Answers in August Part Two

Eternal Security

By Pastor Josh Wamble

This past Sunday, we continued our annual Answers in August series.  This year we are studying the doctrine of Eternal Security or the perseverance of the saints.  We started this series off last week by talking about the view that it is possible for people to fall away from salvation.  You can watch week one here or listen to week one audio here.  You can watch week two here or listen to week two audio here.  Below, I want to provide a short summary of what we talked about on 8/13.

There are several Christian denominations and traditions who believe that those who have been genuinely saved and truly born again will persevere to the end and remain children of God throughout eternity.  Some of these include

Congregational Churches                                      Presbyterian Churches

Baptist Churches                                                     Anglican Churches (Especially Reformed Branches)

We examined four reasons or arguments that are often given in favor of understanding the Bible this way.

1.  Clarification of the Position

Those who believe in eternal security do not believe that no one can or will ever fall away.  That is a distortion of this position.  Those who maintain that “eternal security” is biblical acknowledge the biblical passages that talk about people who have fallen away as well as their own experiences.  This position does not say that no one ever falls away; it says that true genuine believers who have been born again in Christ Jesus will never fall away.

The Bible makes it clear that there are people who do not remain faithful to the very end, but the bible also says that these individuals only appear to be believers.  When we hear of people who have fallen away from the gospel or encounter such people in our own lives, our conclusion should not be that they have lost their salvation but that they were never truly converted to begin with.

Several biblical passages say as much, and two are especially clear.  In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus warns of the final day of judgement.  He says that when that day comes, there will be those who claim to be His disciples.  Many of them will even claim to have prophesied and done many great works in His name.  On that day, Jesus will declare, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”  While it may appear as though these were followers of Jesus who fell away at the end, the truth is they were never genuinely converted to begin with.  Jesus never knew them.

A second passage that makes this point explicit is found in 1 John 2:19.  There we read of false teachers who have gone out into the world spreading their deceitful message.  The significant point for our purposes here is that these false teachers have gone out from the church.  These are people who at one time had all the markings of true believers, yet John writes, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.  But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.”  Two things in this passage are worth noting.  First, John points out that the reason they left the church and abandoned the truth of the gospel is that they were not really a part of the believing community to begin with.  Secondly, he says that if they had really been part of the community, then they would not have fallen away and left.

2.  The Author of Salvation Guarantees Its Success

Other passages of scripture ground the assurance that those who trust in the Lord will remain faithful to the end in the author of salvation.  If God is the one who saves people, then their perseverance in the faith is rooted in the faithfulness of God and His determination to complete the work of salvation in the lives of His people.

In John 3:16, we are assured that anyone who believes in Jesus “will not perish but have eternal life.”  This is the reason that God sent His Son, Jesus, showing His love for the world.  Later, in John 6:35-40, Jesus says that His work of salvation is guaranteed to be effective because it is the working out of God’s eternal purposes and plans.  All that the Father gives will come, and none who comes will ever be cast out!  God’s will is that He “would lose nothing of all that he has given” to Jesus.  There is a further promise that all of those who rust in Christ will be raised up on the last day.  No exceptions are given.

God makes the same point throughout Paul’s writings as well.  In Ephesians 1:13-14, Paul writes that those who heard the gospel and believed on Jesus were sealed with the Holy Spirit who is a guarantee of a future inheritance.  In Romans 8:31-39, Paul assures his reader that nothing at all in all of creation could possibly separate genuine believers from the love of God in Christ Jesus.  A third example of these types of assurances in Paul’s writings is found in Philippians 1:6.  There Paul guarantees his reader that “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Finally, in 1 Peter 1:3-5, Peter tells His readers that God, Himself, has caused them to be born again to a living hope.  This loving hope is based on the future when the inheritance that is being kept for them in heaven will be revealed and finally realized.

The assurance that salvation cannot fail and that those who believe in Jesus will remain faithful to the very end is rooted in the truth that God is the one who saves people, and He will not fail in his purposes!

3.  The Nature of Salvation Guarantees Its Success

The guarantee of salvation’s success is also rooted in the very nature of salvation itself.  Salvation is not a temporary change.  It is permanent and complete.  Salvation entails a total transformation of those who are saved.  Their very natures are changed.  The dead have become alive.  The old has gone and those who are saved have been completely made new.  There is no going back from this sort of transformation.

In Ephesians 2:5, Paul says that those who believe in Jesus have been made alive together with Christ.  In 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul we read that all those in Christ are new creations.  The old has passed away, and all things have been made new.  In John 10:27-29, we see that salvation has an inward effect on those who believe.  Jesus says that those who are really His hear and recognize His voice.  Like sheep with a loving and trusted shepherd, they listen to Him and follow Him.

We also see throughout the New Testament that the final judgment of God’s people has been brought into the present.  Eternal life is not only something that believers wait for and expect in the future.  They experience and possess this eternal life already—in the present.  In John 3:36, Jesus says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.”  He has it now in the present.  Again, in John 5:24, Jesus says, “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. … he … has passed from death to life.”  In John 6:47 where Jesus says, “whoever believes has eternal life.”  A final example is found in Romans 8:1 where Paul writes, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

The very nature of salvation itself means that it cannot be lost.  That is not how salvation works.  Salvation is a wholistic work that affects people down to their very core.  A person who has been saved is so different that there is no going back—it cannot be undone.

4.  The Preservation of the Saints

We have been calling this doctrine Eternal Security or Perseverance of the Saints.  In the Bible, God emphasizes the need and expectation for believers to persevere in the faith—to continue believing and trusting throughout their lives into eternity.  But, the Bible also addresses this same truth from the opposite perspective.  It is true that believers must (and will) persevere, but it is also true that God preserves His own.  Not only are believers to hold fast to Jesus, Jesus is holding fast to them.

At the end of Jude, we read that God is “able to keep [believers] from stumbling and to present [them] blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy.”  Not only is He able to do so, He actually does keep them.  In John 10:27-29, Jesus says that he is holding on to His sheep.  They are in His hands and also in the Father’s hands, and no one is able to snatch them out.  Their position is secure not only as long as they are holding fast to Jesus but also as long as Jesus and the Father are holding fast to them!

Two other places in the NT make this point plain as well.  In 2 Timothy 1:12, Paul says that He is fully trusting in Jesus and is “convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.”  Finally, in 1 Peter 1:3-5, we read, God “has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”  Not only is the inheritance of final full salvation being kept in heaven for the believer by God, the believer himself is also being guarded by God’s power so that he will not fall away and lose the inheritance!

We should keep both of these perspectives in balance.  It is absolutely necessary for believers to persevere in their faith, fight against sin, and watch out that they not be deceived by temptation and fall away from the faith.  This truth should motivate believers to work hard using the graces God has given to remain faithful.  At the same time, the truth that God is actively working on behalf of his children to protect them from temptation and so that they will not fall away should bring great assurance in the future promises God has given.

The Bible does give warnings against falling away and urge people to continue in the faith.  How we live does matter.  However, the Bible also says that God is faithful to save His people and that nothing and no one can prevent Him from accomplishing His purposes in His church.  If you are trusting in Christ, if you are hoping in the promises that God has made, you can have assurance that God, Himself, is holding on to you and will not allow you to fall away.

Answers in August (Part One):

Eternal (In)Security

By Pastor Josh Wamble

This past Sunday, we started our annual Answers in August series.  This year we are studying the doctrine of Eternal Security or the perseverance of the saints.  We started this series off by talking about the view that it is possible for people to fall away from salvation.  You can watch that service here or listen to the audio here.  Below, I want to provide a short summary of what we talked about.

There are several Christian denominations and traditions who believe that those who have been genuinely saved and truly born again can still lose their salvation and go back to being lost under certain circumstances.  Most of these traditions trace their roots and history to Arminian or Wesleyan origins.  Some of them include:

Wesleyan—Methodists, Nazarenes

Restoration Movement—Churches of Christ, Some Christian Churches, Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ)

Charismatics—Assemblies of God, Pentecostals, United (Oneness) Pentecostals

Anabaptists—Mennonites, Amish

Others—Catholics, Some Lutherans

We talked about five reasons or arguments that are often given in favor of understanding the Bible this way.

 1.  Free-Will

One reason those who believe that true and genuine believers can ultimately fall away and be finally lost, believe that because of their understanding of free will.  They say the Bible teaches that people are created with freedom of choice and are able to make real decisions that have real consequences.  We see this very clearly in the lives of Adam and Eve.  God gave them a command in the garden with the real possibility of either obeying or disobeying.  They had a real choice, and (as we know) they chose to disobey.  We are currently living in a world where the consequences of that choice are felt every day.

Just like with Adam and Eve, God gives all people this freedom of choice.  The Bible is filled with commands from God and the history of people disobeying those commands.  These commands are not only found in the Old Testament, they are found in the New Testament as well.  People are given real freedom to obey or disobey and then held accountable for those choices.  God would not be just if He held people responsible for the decisions they make if there were not really free to make them.

They say that people do not lose this freedom when they are saved and born again.  All people still have freedom and the ability to make real choices.  We can trust that God will not go back on His promises to people.  He will not stop His work of salvation, but that does not mean that people are not free to reject His work in their lives even after they have initially accepted it.

2.  The Bible Warns People Against Falling Away from God’s Grace

A second reason that they believe this way is because the Bible itself warns people to be careful that they do not end up falling away.  It does this is several passages.  We considered a few of them on Sunday night.

In 1 Corinthians 10:12, Paul is reminding the believers in Corinth about times in the past when the people of Israel turned away from the Lord and suffered the consequences of their unfaithfulness.  He tells them that one of the reasons these events were recorded in the Old Testament is for our benefit.  He tells the Corinthians that they should learn from these examples and be careful that they don’t turn from God and fall away the way the Hebrews did.

In Hebrews 2:1, they are told that we must pay very close attention to the truth of the gospel that we have heard (and believed).  They are told that there is a danger of drifting away from these truths—especially in the context of false teachers whoa re teaching a different (false) gospel.  In the next chapter (Heb. 3:12-14), the writer tells the whole church to take care or be careful and keep a watch on one another.  He says that they are to help one another to remain faithful.  He refers to them here as “brothers” which implies that they are real believers and warns them not to “fall away from the living God.”

Finally, in Colossians 1:21-23, Paul encourages the church by reminding them of how God has saved them and reconciled them to Himself through the death of Jesus.  He tells them that God’s purpose is to make them “holy and blameless and above reproach.”  But then, He says that God will do this “if indeed you continue in the faith” and not shift away from “the hope of the gospel” that they heard.  So, it seems, that God has a plan for His people, but this plan will only be completed if His people do not turn away from him.  The implication is that if they do shift away from the gospel, then God will not complete His work of sanctifying them.

Why would God give these warnings to His people if there was not the real possibility of falling away?  If people cannot fall away from God’s grace and lose their salvation, these would just be empty threats, right?

3.  The Bible Encourages Believers to Continue in the Faith

The next reason people have for this belief is that in the Bible, God gives encouragement for people to continue believing and remain in the faith.  This is the opposite of the last reason.  God does both—He warns not to fall away, and He encourages to remain faithful.

In Hebrews 6, the writer is reminding his readers about Abraham and how he trusted God’s promises to give him a son.  In verses 11 and 12, he tells them to “show the same diligence.”  He tells them not to be sluggish or lazy in their trusting God.  He tells them to follow the positive examples of those who remained faithful to the end and inherited the promises.  Here it seems like the way to be sure that they will inherit the promises of salvation is to diligently remain faithful to the very end.

In 1 Corinthians 1:21-23, Paul gives a very similar encouragement using an example from his own life.  He tells the church that he, himself, exercises this same diligence.  He says that he disciplines his body and keeps it under control.  His reasoning is especially relevant here.  He says that he does so, “lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”  We can have assurance that Paul was a genuine and true believer, and if he was worried about being disqualified in the end and took pains to make sure that he wouldn’t be, we should take the same measures.

Again, why would God encourage people to make such efforts to make sure that they remain faithful unless the possibility of falling away was a real and dangerous one?

4.  The Bible Gives Examples of People Who Did in Fact Fall Away from God’s Grace

Not only does God give warnings against falling away and encourage His people to remain faithful, but in the bible, He also provides examples of people who seem to have actually fallen away from His grace and stopped believing.

In the beginning of Acts 5, we read about a married couple int eh early church—Ananias and Saphira.  In these days, the church in Jerusalem was facing heavy persecution, and the believers were helping one another often selling some of their possessions and donating the money to the church for the benefit of others.  Ananias and Saphira had sold some property they owned and donated the money to the church for this purpose.  The problem was that they lied about it.  They said that they donated everything when they really had kept some of the money back for themselves.  Again, the problem was not that they kept some of the money but that they lied to God about it.  When Peter confronted them about it separately, they both doubled down on the lie and refused to admit the truth.  Instantly, the Lord struck them down and they were killed.  Some believers point to this passage as an example of two people who had once believed but didn’t remain faithful.  To use the language of Hebrews 3, their evil unbelieving hearts led them to fall away.

Two other examples are found in Paul’s letters to Timothy.  In 1 Timothy 1:19-20, we read about Hymenaeus and Alexander.  Paul urges Timothy to “wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience.”  He tells him that Hymenaeus and Alexander had rejected these things and made shipwreck of their faith.  He says that there are several individuals that have done so but names Hymenaeus and Alexander as examples.  In his second letter to Timothy, he warns about Demas.  Paul was in prison when he wrote 2 Timothy and names several of his former companions and partners in ministry who have left him.  Some of them, Crescens and Titus, it seems have gone to other ministry assignments.  However, in 2 Timothy 4:2 Demas is said to have gone to Thessalonica because he has fallen “in love with this present world.”  This seems like a very clear-cut example of someone who was not only a believer but also a worker for the gospel and a coworker with Paul who has turned away from God and rejected His salvation.  This becomes even more clear when we take into consideration that James says, “friendship with the world is enmity with God” and that anyone who “wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

So, how can anyone say that it is impossible to fall away from grace and lose salvation when God, himself, gives examples of people who have done just that in His word?

5.  Personal Experience

A final reason people give for believing that salvation can be lost is their own personal experiences.  They point to people in their own lives—people they have known closely—who once seemed to be faithful genuine believers but are no longer walking with the Lord.  At one point in their lives, many of these people were leaders in their churches and served in various ministries but now want nothing to do with God or His church.  Many of them are actively denying the gospel and the truths of God’s word and outright opposing Him now.  Many people believe that such a drastic change can only be explained by what the Bible seems to so clearly say—they have fallen away from God’s grace and are not longer one of His children.

I don’t believe the Bible teaches this at all.  I believe this conclusion is a misunderstanding of God’s word in whole and these passages specifically.  However, we can learn from this perspective.  Often Baptists and others get a bad reputation for believing that believers are secure and cannot lose their salvation.  People take that to mean that we are saying sin doesn’t matter, and people can live however they want to as long as they have prayed a prayer or walked down an aisle or been baptized.  This could not be further from the truth.  Sin does matter.  How professing believers live does matter.  Praying a prayer or walking down an aisle or being baptized is not a license to sin or live without any boundaries.

The Bible does give warnings against falling away and urge people to continue on in the faith.  How we live does matter.  However, the Bible also says that God is faithful to save His people and that nothing and no one can prevent Him from accomplishing His purposes in His church.  If you are trusting in Christ, if you are hoping in the promises that God has made, you can have assurance that God, Himself, is holding on to you and will not allow you to fall away.

I look forward to the next two Sunday evenings as we study how both of these things can be true!

All Things for Good?

Romans 8:28

By Pastor Josh Wamble

The Sunday School class I teach has been studying Paul’s letter to the Romans for several months now.  This letter is full of rich truths about what God has done to save His people.  He tells his readers what God has done, but he spends much more time and goes into much more details explaining how he has provided salvation and how that salvation is consistent with God’s righteousness and goodness and how He has been working to this end since the beginning of time.  He refers to the Old Testament time and time again.  He reminds his readers of how God called Abraham and justified him by faith—the same way that the gospel saves us today.

In chapter 8, Paul begins explaining how one aspect of God’s saving work is to redeem His people and deliver them from the power and influence of sin.  He describes how the Holy Spirit works in the life of believers empowering them, confirming and affirming them, and even interceding for them when they don’t know what or how to pray for themselves.  In verse 16, he starts explaining how even though salvation is sure it doesn’t always seem like it or feel like it.  He tells them that salvation has been fully accomplished.  “It is finished.” just as Jesus said.  However, believers do not currently experience the full effects of this salvation.  Instead, Paul tells believers that they still suffer in this life.  He explains that this is necessary until the whole creation experiences the transforming effects of salvation but that the Holy Spirit helps in this suffering.  In verse, 28, Paul writes one of the best-known sentences in the Bible.

And we know that God causes all things work together for good to those who love God, 

to those who are called according to His purpose. (Rom. 8:28 NASB)

This verse has brought much comfort to believers throughout history.  In fact, many would claim this as their very favorite verse in the whole Bible.  However, it does raise a few questions.  I want to spend the space I have below to think through three aspects of this verse—two things it does not mean and one thing that it does mean.

1. It does not mean that all things work together for good for all people.

The promise that God makes here through Paul is that all things work together for good for those who love God—those we are called according to his purpose.  God has committed Himself to His people.  He works for their benefit, and He opposes those who oppose them.  The Bible is clear that there are people who will continue to rebel against God, refuse to worship Him, and resist his grace and mercy in Jesus Christ to the vey end.  While His patience is vast, it will not last forever.  Eventually, they will receive perfect justice.  On that day, they will bow before the Lord, but not willingly.  In the meantime, God does not work for their good.

2. It does not mean that all things are good.

The promise that God makes here through Paul is that all things work together for our good.  Until salvation is fully realized, believers continue to live in a fallen world where things are not the way they ought to be.  In Romans 8:22, Paul says that all of creation groans and longs for sin to be done away with and its effects to be completely reversed.  Until then, death still reigns, and we grieve over ones that we have lost and still love.  We fight against corruption and sometimes fall victim to it from those outside of us and even from within our own selves.  We strain against an unjust system and suffer unfair outcomes.  We deal with pains and sickness and bodies that are wasting away from disease and cancer and old age and injuries from hard labor.  We weep as we see those that we love suffering from these things as well.

3. It does not mean that all things work together for our good.

We weep and suffer and long and fight in this world, but we do so with hope knowing that the day is coming when all of those things will be brought to nothing—when God’s promises will be fulfilled, and all things will be made right.  And, in the meantime, we live now even in the midst of all this suffering trusting that God is good and that He can be trusted.  We do so trusting that He really is working all of this together for our good.

With this knowledge and this assurance, we can repeat some of Paul’s other words:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared

with the glory that is to be revealed in us.  (Rom. 8:18 NASB)

Living Now in Light of the End:

2 Peter 3:14-18

By Pastor Josh Wamble

Peter spends the end of his second letter reminding his readers of the promise of the Lord’s return.  He tells them that they can be certain that this promise will be fulfilled even when things on earth don’t seem like it.  He tells them (and us) that we should live our lives here and now in light of the fact that He is coming again.  He gives them (and us) four specific instructions on how we should live while we are waiting on the Lord.

1. Be Diligent (2 Pet. 3:14)

He tells us to “be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish and at peace.”  In 3:10, Peter reminds his readers that Jesus will come back like a thief in the night.  We know that He will return, but we don’t know when that day or hour might be.  We should diligently strive to be found ready that day and hour does come.

2. Count the Lord’s Patience as Salvation (2 Pet. 3:15)

We should be waiting for the Lord’s return expectantly reminding ourselves that it could come at any moment, but not out of fear.  We should be longing for Him to come back and looking forward to that day when our hope of full salvation becomes reality.  Yet, we should also be patient trusting that the Lord’s timing is wiser than we might be able to understand.

One reason for this patience is our understanding that the Lord’s delay is not a purposeless delay.  Peter tells us that his patience is an opportunity for salvation.  I am thankful the Lord delayed his return until after 1997—that made all the difference in my life.  If he had come back before then, I would be experiencing his judgment right now instead of his grace and mercy!

As Peter says, we should count his patience even now as salvation.  We should be making the most use of the time and sharing the gospel with those around us who have not believed, praying for people to come to repentance and faith, praying for the Lord to call more people to Himself, and praying for Him to call more people as pastors and missionaries to work for the salvation of the world which is white for harvest.

3. Take Care (2 Pet. 3:17)

He also tells us to take care or be on guard—to be watchful and mindful because many lawless people are leading others astray.  We are aware of cults and false teachers and other unbelieving people around us actively working to lead people away from the truth of the gospel.  We should be on guard lest we should be led astray as well.

This is happening in a much more subtle way as well.  The very culture around us and the society we live in is constantly telling us how we should be living—what we should value and which sins we should be accepting and even celebrating and how we should be tolerant of various different views even when they are contradictory to the gospel and to one another.  The devil is very tricky in how he has orchestrated this.  We are bombarded with these messages persistently in the books that we read, the TV shows and movies we watch, the music we listen to, the news that we consume—almost everything around us is leading us away from the ways of God.  It’s in the air we breathe.  If we are not actively taking care and guarding what we think and how we think and what we value, we will passively be swept along.

4. Grow (2 Pet. 3:18)

As we await His return, we should work to be found pure and at peace knowing it is the Holy Spirit working in you but using the means He has provided—His word, prayer, His church.  We should be seeking the Holy Spirit and examining ourselves and rooting out sin in our lives—confessing it and repenting of it.  As we do so, as we continually grow in the grace of our Lord, Jesus, we will find it easier to be diligent and see God’s timing from His perspective and guard ourselves and each other from the dangers all around us.

Peter says all of this is to the glory of Jesus Christ.  As we live more and more with the perspective and outlook of God, as we more and more value the things he values and judge our own world rightly, as we more and more live in the image of our savior, as we are slowly and progressively transformed into who He would have us to be, the true value and worth and glory of Jesus is seen.

Let us long and pray for the Lord to return soon, let us also make the best use of the time that we have.  Working by the power of the Holy Spirit for our own holiness and for the good of those around us that they might also come to believe.

Bug Bites and Sin:

Immediate vs. Delayed Results

By Pastor Josh Wamble

A group from our church just returned from a week serving with Steve and Carol Thompson and the staff at Camp Chacauco in Patate, Ecuador.  There were over 170 kids who attended camp during the week.  Many of them were from Baptist churches that the Thompsons and their team have planted in the surrounding towns and areas over the years.  Others were from catholic churches in those areas.  It is a testament to the reputation the Thompsons have built over the last 37 years that these catholic families would send their kids to an evangelical camp.

We had a great week of serving together.  We washed 1800-2400 dishes each day!  We tried to sing songs in Spanish while doing the movements that went along with them.  We got to know and care about kids with whom we could barely communicate.  We worshipped, celebrated a baptism, and shared the Lord’s Supper in a joint worship service with three local churches.  We split up among four teams and led the kids in competitions and activities.  Some of our group even participated in a huge obstacle course involving racing up a mountain, crawling through mud, sliding down a muddy hill, and forming a human pyramid with kids standing on each other’s shoulders 4 or 5 levels high to reach prizes on top of a pole.

There really was only one negative from the week which was that many of us left with multiple bug bites on our legs, arms, hands, and other parts of our bodies.  Over the last week or so, I have caught myself scratching the bites, sometimes to the point of bleeding.  Of course, I know this is bad and only makes the situation worse in the long term, but in the short term it brings relief and makes them feel so good.  This situation has had me thinking about several passages in the proverbs that warn about the consequences of sin.

In Prov. 9:17-18 folly is personified, and she says to a man, “’Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.’  But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.”  The temptations of sin are often like the temptation I have to scratch these bug bites.  Sin often promises immediate rewards.  Temptations come to us promising pleasure.  Sin presents itself as delightful.  We may find ourselves in a situation where lying seems like a way out of a bad situation.  We may be tempted to do whatever it takes to get what we want.  This is what John talks about in 1 John 2:16, “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.”

Over and over, the Bible warns us of the fleeting pleasures of sin.  Scratching bug bites may provide immediate relief, but it leads to worse itching and sometimes even infections in the end.  Sin is the same way.  It may promise pleasure or a good result, and it may even provide some pleasure or solution for a short time.  But, as Prov. 9 says, it ultimately leads to death!

Salvation not only changes our position before God—guilty vs. not guilty, it also changes our natures and how we see the world around us.  May God help up to see sin and temptation for what it is.  Sin is deceitful, may we fight it in our own lives by looking beyond its immediate promises to the ultimate reality of what is being offered—death!