Good morning,

Relationships matter. If we have trusted Christ to be our Lord and Savior, then God is our Father. He treats us as sons. When we do wrong, we are chastised, in love. Unbelievers are judged in God’s anger.

As you read today’s devotion, thank God you are His son.

Divine punishment–or divine chastisement?

(Arthur Pink)

There is a threefold distinction between divine punishment–and divine chastisement.

The first lies in the character in which God acts.
In the former, God acts as Judge.
In the latter, God acts as Father.

The second distinction lies in the recipients of each.
The objects of the former, are His enemies.
The objects of the latter, are His children.

A third distinction is seen in the design of each.
The one is retributive–the other remedial.
The one flows from His anger–the other flows from His love.

~  ~  ~  ~

“If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?⁸ But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.⁹ Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?” (Hebrews 12:7-9)

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

 

Good morning,

God loves and cares for us. I hope you will encouragement from this devotion.

Our merciful, compassionate Christ!

(J.C. Ryle)

“Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus!” Philippians 1:6

Let us take comfort in the thought that the Lord Jesus does not cast off His believing people because of failures and imperfections. He knows what they are.

He takes them, as the husband takes the wife–with all their blemishes and defects; and once joined to Him by faith, He will never leave them. He is a merciful and compassionate High-priest. It is His glory to pass over the transgressions of His people, and to cover their many sins.

He knew what they were before conversion–wicked, guilty, and defiled; yet He loved them. He knows what they will be after conversion–weak, erring, and frail; yet He loves them. He has undertaken to save them, notwithstanding all their shortcomings–and what He has undertaken, He will perform.

“My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish–ever! No one can snatch them out of My hand.” John 10:27-28

~  ~  ~  ~

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

This week’s lesson is on The Everlasting Presence of God. Psalm 139:1-24 tells us that God knows us, is with us, made us, His thoughts are precious to us, He slays the wicked, and searches and knows our hearts. If we understand this, then it should cause to act in a certain way toward others. Hebrews 13:1-8 tells us how. When we understand our relationship with God, other believers, then it will cause us to serve. Galatians 6:1-10 gives us some suggestions on how to do that. Finally, Colossians 3:23 sums up the lesson.

THE EVERLASTING PRESENCE OF GOD

PSALM 139:1-24

INTRODUCTION:

GOD DWELLS WITH US CONTINUALLY

 PSALM 139

 GOD CARES FOR US

 1) GOD KNOWS US (1-6)

 O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.² Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.³ Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.⁴ For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.⁵ Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

 2) GOD IS WITH US   (7-12)

 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?⁸ If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.⁹ If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;¹⁰ Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.¹¹ If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.¹² Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

3) GOD MADE US (13-16)

 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.¹⁴ I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. ¹⁵ My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.¹⁶ Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

4) GOD’S THOUGHTS ARE PRECIOUS TO US (17-18)

 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!¹⁸ If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

  5) GOD SLAYS THE WICKED (19-21)

Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.²⁰ For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.²¹ Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?

6) GOD SEARCHES US AND KNOWS OUR HEARTS (22-24)

 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:²⁴ And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

HEBREWS 13:1-8

CONDUCT TOWARD OTHERS

1) BROTHERLY LOVE (1)

Let brotherly love continue.                                                    

2) ENTERTAIN STRANGERS (2)                                           

 ² Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

 3) REMEMBER THEM WHICH ARE IN BONDS (3)

 ³ Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

 4) PURITY IN MARRIAGE   (4)                                       

 ⁴ Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

 5) BE NOT COVETOUSNESS, I WILL NEVER LEAVE THEE, NOR FORSAKE THEE (5-6)                                  

 ⁵ Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.⁶ So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

 6) REMEMBER THEM THAT HAVE THE RULE OVER YOU  V.7

 ⁷ Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.

 7) JESUS CHRIST THE SAME YESTERDAY, AND TODAY, AND FOREVER V.8

 ⁸ Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.

GALATIANS 6:1-10

 OPPORTUNITIES FOR SERVICE

1) BEAR ONE ANOTHERS BURDENS (1-6)                             

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.² Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.³ For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.⁴ But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.⁵ For every man shall bear his own burden.⁶ Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.

2) SOW RIGHTEOUSNESS  (7-8)                          

⁷ Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.⁸ For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

3) DO GOOD TO ALL MEN   (9-10)                                 

⁹ And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.¹⁰ As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

CONCLUSION:

 COLOSSIANS 3: 23

 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

 

 

Good morning,

Listening. We think we know how to do it, but do we? Today’s devotion will explain how we can be better listeners to the things of God.

Consider carefully how you listen!

(J.C. Ryle)

“Consider carefully how you listen!” Luke 8:18

We learn from this verse, the great importance of right hearing. The words of our Lord Jesus Christ ought to impress that lesson deeply on our hearts. He says, “Consider carefully how you listen!”

The degree of benefit which men receive from all the means of grace–depends entirely on the way in which they use them.

Private PRAYER lies at the very foundation of religion–yet the mere formal repetition of a set of words, when “the heart is far away“–does good to no man’s soul.

Reading the BIBLE is essential to the attainment of sound Christian knowledge–yet the mere formal reading of so many chapters as a task and duty, without a humble desire to be taught of God, is little better than a waste of time.

Just as it is with praying and Bible reading–so it is with LISTENING. It is not enough that we go to Church and hear sermons. We may do so for fifty years, and be nothing bettered, but rather worse! “Consider carefully,” says our Lord, “how you listen!”

Would anyone know how to listen aright? Then let him lay to heart three simple rules: 

For one thing, we must listen with FAITH, believing implicitly that every Word of God is true, and shall stand. The Word in old time did not profit the Jews, “not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.” Hebrews 4:2

For another thing, we must listen with REVERENCE–remembering constantly that the Bible is the book of God. This was the habit of the Thessalonians. They received Paul’s message, “not as the word of men–but the Word of God.” 1 Thessalonians 2:13

Above all, we must listen with PRAYER—praying for God’s blessing before the sermon is preached, and praying for God’s blessing again when the sermon is over. Here lies the grand defect of the hearing of many. They ask no blessing–and so they receive none. The sermon passes through their minds like water through a leaky vessel, and leaves nothing behind.

Let us bear these rules in mind every Sunday morning, before we go to hear the Word of God preached. Let as not rush into God’s presence careless, reckless, and unprepared–as if it did not matter how we listened. Let us carry with us faith, reverence, and prayer. If these three are our companions–then we shall listen with profit, and return with praise!

~  ~  ~  ~

Three things to make us better listeners. Let’s try them and see how much more we get out of each message.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

 

Good morning,

Christ’s death, sacrifice on the cross, redemption by His blood, and resurrection, are abhorrent to many church goers.

This devotional was written in 1884. It is as timely today as it was then.

Old fossils unsuited to the present times!

(J.C. Ryle, 1884)

“For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare himself for battle?” 1 Corinthians 14:8

We need a more certain sound about the work and offices of our Lord Jesus Christ. Men nowadays will dwell exclusively on His prophetic office, the beauty of His personal character, the splendid example of His kindness, patience, condescension, purity, and self-denial. All this, however true, is only half the truth–and by far the least important half too.

The main thing about Christ, of which this age never hears enough, is . . .
the atonement He made by His death,
His vicarious sacrifice on the Cross,
the redemption He obtained for man by His blood,
His victory over the grave by His resurrection,
His active life of intercession at God’s right hand,
and the absolute necessity of simple faith in Him.

These blessed truths are seldom made enough of in this day. They are either judiciously dropped as offensive–or coolly left in the background as old fossils unsuited to the present times! If there is not a vast amount of veiled heresy around us, I am greatly mistaken.

“Ask for the old paths, where the good way is–and walk in it. Then you will find rest for your souls.” Jeremiah 6:16

~  ~  ~  ~

Meditate on this and then share it with someone else.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

 

Good morning,

The Bible is an exciting book. It tells us how we began, where we are going, and how we will finish. Cradle to grave. It gives us the answer of why people rebel.

It has stories about love, war, rebellion, courage, and faith. It tells of individuals who followed God and those who opposed Him.

It tells of a loving God, who sent His Son to pay the sin debt for sinful man, that they might be redeemed.

This devotion tells us even more.

Never let us read any portion of God’s Word without looking up for divine teaching!

(James Smith, “The Evening Sacrifice; Or, A Help to Devotion” 1859)

“Open my eyes–that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law.” Psalm 119:18

God’s Book is a book of wonders! It is a wonderful record . . .
of God’s power in creation,
of His wisdom in providence,
and of His grace in redemption.

It has the stamp of infinity upon it. We cannot penetrate its heights, fathom its depths, or traverse its lengths and breadths–but as we are taught of God. The Holy Spirit, who composed it and inspired holy men to write it, must unfold and reveal it to our minds–or we shall never . . .
see its glory,
be impressed with its majesty,
or rejoice in its divine truths.

Never let us read any portion of God’s Word without looking up for divine teaching. Never let us imagine that we know all that is contained in any one verse of God’s blessed Book–for there is a fullness in the holy Scriptures not to be found anywhere else.

Oh, ever blessed Spirit of God, who has given us Your holy Word to . . .
instruct our intellects,
sanctify our hearts, and
regulate our lives–we beseech You to . . .
enlighten our minds to understand it,
open our hearts to receive it,
give us faith to believe it, and
enable us to reduce it to practice in our every-day life!

O may we be given grace . . .
  understand the sublime doctrines,
believe the precious promises, and 
  practice the holy precepts of Your blessed Word!
Lord, unveil to us the types, unfold to us the prophecies–and apply to our hearts, the consolatory portions of the sacred Scriptures. May we hide the Word in our hearts, that we may not sin against You. O to catch the meaning, taste the sweetness, and feel the power–of Your holy truth! O Lord, open our eyes, and unfold the truth to us this night! O Lord, soften our hearts, and bring home Your Word with power!

“Then He opened their understanding–that they might understand the Scriptures.” Luke 24:45

“Behold, God is exalted in His power! Who is a teacher like Him?“ Job 36:22

~  ~  ~  ~

Today read God’s word, the Bible, with these things in mind. Allow God to speak and then follow His leading.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

 

Good morning,

What do jewels and God’s people have in common? Read on and find out.

God’s jewels!

(Thomas Watson, “Religion Our True Interest“)

“They will be Mine!” says the Lord Almighty, “in the day when I make up My jewels!” Malachi 3:17

God’s people are His jewels–His own special treasure!

In what sense are the saints, God’s jewels?

Jewels are precious things; the Hebrew word for jewels signifies a treasure. A treasure is made up of costly things–gold, and diamonds and rubies. Such a precious treasure, are the saints to God.

They are jewels for their sparkling quality. Their holiness shines and sparkles in God’s eyes! (Song of Solomon 4:9), “You have ravished My heart, with one glance of your eyes!” That is, with one of your graces.

The godly are jewels for their scarcity. Diamonds are not common. Just so, the godly are scarce and rare. There are but few of these to be found. There are many false professors (as there are many plastic diamonds)–but few true Christians. Among the millions in Rome, there were but few senators. Just so, among the swarms of people in the world–there are but few true believers.

The godly are jewels for their price. Queen Cleopatra had two jewels which were worth half the price of a kingdom. Thus the saints are jewels, for their value. God esteems them at a high rate; He parted with His best jewel for them–Christ’s precious blood was shed to ransom these jewels!

The saints are jewels for their adorning quality. Jewels adorn those who wear them. The saints are jewels which adorn the world. Their piety mixed with prudence honors the gospel. Hypocrites eclipse true religion and make it badly spoken of. The saints as jewels, render it illustrious by their sanctity.

God the Father has chosen these jewels, and set them apart for Himself!

Christ has bought these jewels with His blood!

The Holy Spirit has sanctified them. When they were a lump of sin–He made them into His jewels! He will string these pearls together–and put them into His celestial cabinet!

Bless God who has wrought such a change in you! From lumps of dirt and sin–He has made you into His jewels!

~  ~  ~  ~

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

 

 

Good morning,

Today we finish our teaching on Malachi. Malachi writes about Judah’s disobedience, God’s immutability, the coming of John the Baptist, and Jesus. He teaches on robbing God, the book of remembrance, and the day of the Lord. This closes the Old Testament with a curse for disobedience. The New Testament starts with the blessing of the Savior, Jesus Christ.

MALACHI 2:10-4:6

For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. (3:6)

INTRODUCTION

GOD PUNISHES FAMILY DISLOYALTY, DIVORCE, AND TREACHARY (2:10-17)

Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?¹¹ Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.¹² The Lord will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the Lord of hosts.¹³ And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand.¹⁴ Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.¹⁵ And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.¹⁶ For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the Lord of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.¹⁷ Ye have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?

JOHN THE BAPTIST, JESUS, JUDGMENT, IMMUTABILITY (3:1-6)

Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.² But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:³ And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.⁴ Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.⁵ And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.⁶ For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

ROBBING GOD AND VAIN SERVICE (3:7-15)

Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?⁸ Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.⁹ Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.¹⁰ Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.¹¹ And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.¹² And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.¹³ Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?¹⁴ Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts? ¹⁵ And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.

THE BOOK OF REMEMBERANCE (3:16-18)

Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.¹⁷ And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.¹⁸ Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

THE DAY OF THE LORD (4:1)

For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS (4:2-4)

 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.³ And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.⁴ Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.

ELIJAH IS TO COME BEFORE THE DAY OF THE LORD (4:5-6)

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:⁶ And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

CONCLUSION

ONE GOD CREATED US

GOD IS UNCHANGEABLE

GOD JUDGES ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS

JESUS IS COMING TO RULE AND REIGN

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good morning,

We serve a God who never changes. Unfortunately, we sometimes forget what God has done. This was Israel’s position in Isaiah 45. So, God reminds them and us, who He is and what He has done.

“I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:⁶ That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else.⁷ I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things. ⁸ Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it.⁹ Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?” (Isaiah 45:5-9)

God states He is the Lord. There is no other. He created all things. He makes peace and brings judgment. He concludes that Israel should not strive against their Maker. Neither should we.

Then He speaks of Israel’s future. He says that Israel will be saved. He restates that He created the earth.

“But Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.¹⁸ For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else.¹⁹ I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.” (Isaiah 45:17-19)

God is not finished with Israel! He has a plan. The plan is being executed as we speak.

As believers in Christ, we must remember that Israel is God’s chosen people. Gentiles are grafted in and must never forget that. The blessings and the curses were for Israel, not the Gentiles.

Reflect on God as creator and Lord of all.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

 

 

Good morning,

Believers’ in Christ know all about sin. They are surrounded by it, stained by it, and tempted by it. Sin is not our friend. We are told to “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:10-11)

Today’s devotional deals with sin.

We ought to hate it with a deadly hatred! 

(J.C. Ryle)

“As He drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a dead person was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.” Luke 7:12

We see here, what sorrow sin has brought into the world. We are told of a funeral at Nain. All funerals are mournful things, but it is difficult to imagine a funeral more mournful than the one here described. It was the funeral of a young man, and that young man the only son of his mother, and that mother a widow. There is not an item in the whole story, which is not full of misery. And all this misery, be it remembered, was brought into the world by sin. God did not create it at the beginning, when He made all things “very good.” Sin is the cause of it all! “Sin entered into the world” when Adam fell, “and death by sin.” Romans 5:12

Let us never forget this solemn truth. The world around us is full of sorrow. Sickness, and pain, and infirmity, and poverty, and labor, and trouble–abound on every side. From one end of the world to the other–the history of families is full of lamentation, and weeping, and mourning, and woe.

And whence does it all come? Sin is the fountain and root to which all must be traced. There would neither have been tears, nor illness, nor deaths, nor funerals in the earth–if there had been no sin. We must bear this state of things patiently. We cannot alter it. We may thank God that there is a remedy in the Gospel, and that this present life is not all. But in the meantime, let us lay the blame at the right door. Let us lay the blame on sin.

How much we ought to hate sin! Instead of loving it, cleaving to it, dallying with it, excusing it, playing with it–we ought to hate it with a deadly hatred! Sin is the great murderer, and thief, and pestilence, and nuisance of this world. Let us make no peace with it. Let us wage a ceaseless warfare against it. It is “the abominable thing which God hates!” Happy is he who is of one mind with God, and can say, I “abhor that which is evil.” Romans 12:9

~  ~  ~  ~

To abhor evil should be the desire of our hearts. We should try to avoid it at all costs. When confronted, turn away. When stricken, repent.

Remember, “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.¹² Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.¹³ Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.¹⁴ For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” (Romans 6:11-14)

Please read Romans 6 to understand these principles.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001