"My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesu's blood and righteousness:

"Looking unto Jesus."-Hebrews 12:2

It is ever the Holy Spirit's work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan's work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, "Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you have not the joy of His children; you have such a wavering hold of Jesus." All these are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within. But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self: He tells us that we are nothing, but that "Christ is all in all." Remember, therefore, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee-it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee-it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument-it is Christ's blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith. We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by "looking unto Jesus." Keep thine eye simply on Him; let His death, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou walkest in the morning look to Him; when thou liest down at night look to Him. Oh! let not thy hopes or fears come between thee and Jesus; follow hard after Him, and He will never fail thee.

"My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesu's blood and righteousness:

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly lean on Jesus' name."

Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence. (Psalm 140:13)

Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence. (Psalm 140:13)

Oh, that my heart may be upright, that I may always be able to bless the name of the Lord! He is so good to those that be good, that I would fain be among them and feel myself full of thankfulness every day. Perhaps, for a moment, the righteous are staggered when their integrity results in severe trial; but assuredly the day shall come when they shall bless their God that they did not yield to evil suggestions and adopt a shifty policy. In the long run true men will thank the God of the right for leading them by a right way. Oh, that I may be among them!

What a promise is implied in this second clause, "The upright shall dwell in thy presence!" They shall stand accepted where others appear only to be condemned. They shall be the courtiers of the great King, indulged with audience whensoever they desire it. They shall be favored ones upon whom Jehovah smiles and with whom He graciously communes. Lord, I covet this high honor, this precious privilege. It will be heaven on earth to me to enjoy it. Make me in all things upright, that I may today and tomorrow and every day stand in Thy heavenly presence. Then will I give thanks unto Thy name evermore. Amen.

blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it."-Luke 11:27, 28

"A certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto Him, Blessed is the womb that bare Thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. But He said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it."-Luke 11:27, 28

It is fondly imagined by some that it must have involved very special privileges to have been the mother of our Lord, because they supposed that she had the benefit of looking into His very heart in a way in which we cannot hope to do. There may be an appearance of plausibility in the supposition, but not much. We do not know that Mary knew more than others; what she did know she did well to lay up in her heart; but she does not appear from anything we read in the Evangelists to have been a better-instructed believer than any other of Christ's disciples. All that she knew we also may discover. Do you wonder that we should say so? Here is a text to prove it: "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant." Remember the Master's words-"Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you." So blessedly d!

oes this Divine Revealer of secrets tell us His heart, that He keepeth back nothing which is profitable to us; His own assurance is, "If it were not so, I would have told you." Doth He not this day manifest Himself unto us as He doth not unto the world? It is even so; and therefore we will not ignorantly cry out, "Blessed is the womb that bare thee," but we will intelligently bless God that, having heard the Word and kept it, we have first of all as true a communion with the Saviour as the Virgin had, and in the second place as true an acquaintance with the secrets of His heart as she can be supposed to have obtained. Happy soul to be thus privileged!

The Book of Revelation tells what will be the last message that the God of heaven sends to this dark world

The Book of Revelation tells what will be the last message that the God of heaven sends to this dark world. It's a three-fold message in Revelation 14 and then amplified further in chapter 18 when the message swells to a loud cry and the entire earth is to be lightened with its glory. Much as we all dislike controversy and tension, this three-fold message will arouse the most intense opposition of any in history, resulting in a polarization of humanity into two opposing groups: those who truly keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and those who will constitute a "Babylon" in rebellion against God by accepting and enforcing what is called "the mark of the beast."

This crisis will be brought about deliberately by the work of the Holy Spirit, and no one will be able to stop it from happening. And the three-fold message will not be a triumphalist call to legalism but a revelation of what Christ accomplished for humanity by His sacrifice. This is evident by the fact that some 25 times He is portrayed in Revelation as "the Lamb," and the final "harvest" will be a people "who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth" (14:4). He is revealed in Revelation as "a Lamb as it had been slain ... from the foundation of the world" (5:6; 13:8).

The call to "worship Him" results in a vast throng who sing from the depths of their hearts, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, ... Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him who sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever" (5:12, 13). No one will ever sing such a song unless his/her heart has been humbled into the dust by a realization of what it cost that Lamb of God to save us, who "has redeemed us to God by [His] blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation" (5:9; cf. 14:6, 7).

Clearly, the message that is to lighten the earth with glory will be about Christ and Him crucified, about "His blood." "When I survey the wondrous cross, ... I pour contempt on all my pride." That's the essence of the third angel's message.

And the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this. (2 Chronicles 25:9)

And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this. (2 Chronicles 25:9)

If you have made a mistake, bear the loss of it; but do not act contrary to the will of the Lord. The Lord can give you much more than you are likely to lose; and if He does not, will you begin bargaining and chaffering with God. The king of Judah had hired an army from idolatrous Israel, and he was commanded to send home the fighting men because the Lord was not with them. He was willing to send away the host, only he grudged paying the hundred talents for nothing. Oh, for shame! If the Lord will give the victory without the hirelings, surely it was a good bargain to pay their wages and to be rid of them.

Be willing to lose money for conscience' sake, for peace's sake, for Christ's sake. Rest assured that losses for the Lord are not losses. Even in this life they are more than recompensed: in some cases the Lord prevents any loss from happening. As to our immortal life, what we lose for Jesus is invested in heaven. Fret not at apparent disaster but listen to the whisper, "The Lord is able to give thee much more than this."

God "desires all men to be saved

We read in 1 Timothy 2 that God "desires all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (vs. 4). We believe it. But how seriously does He "desire" that?

(a) He gave (did not merely lend) His Son to be our Savior (vs. 6). But for anyone to be "saved" truly, he must learn to be happy in heaven, to be "pure in heart" (Matt. 5:8). That means a change of heart, a "renewed mind" (Rom. 12:2), a total change of character. But what is God doing to make that possible for sinners? Has He piled up roadblocks to make it difficult?
(b) He gives us the Holy Spirit whose first work is to "convict [convince] the world of sin" (John 16:7, 8). He cannot employ force. But the Holy Spirit does more than merely convict us of sin; He does all for us that Christ did 2000 years ago for the people of His day, for He convicts "of righteousness, because [Christ has gone] to the Father, and we see Him no more" (vs. 10). So the Spirit does all that Christ did long ago!
(c) The third work the Spirit does for us to convict us of "judgment, because the prince of this world [Satan] is cast out" (vs. 11). The Holy Spirit assures us that His power is stronger than the power of Satan; and that is the reason why Jesus says, "My yoke is easy, and My burden is light," because as it was with Saul of Tarsus, "it is hard for [us] to kick against the goads" (Matt. 11:30; Acts 26:14).
(d) So much does the Lord "desire" us to be saved, that Jesus says the Holy Spirit actually makes it hard for anyone to be lost! We can resist and reject all that He does for us; but a wise writer has said that "all along the road that leads to [eternal] death there are pains and penalties, there are sorrows and disappointments, there are warnings not to go on. God's love has made it hard for the heedless and headstrong to destroy themselves."
(e) Jesus says His "yoke is easy" and it is "hard" for us to resist Him. The Father "desires all men to be saved," and He cannot do more to save those "all men" than He is doing!

"And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost."-Acts 2:4

"And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost."-Acts 2:4

Rich were the blessings of this day if all of us were filled with the Holy Ghost. The consequences of this sacred filling of the soul it would be impossible to overestimate. Life, comfort, light, purity, power, peace; and many other precious blessings are inseparable from the Spirit's benign presence. As sacred oil, He anoints the head of the believer, sets him apart to the priesthood of saints, and gives him grace to execute his office aright. As the only truly purifying water He cleanses us from the power of sin and sanctifies us unto holiness, working in us to will and to do of the Lord's good pleasure. As the light, He manifested to us at first our lost estate, and now He reveals the Lord Jesus to us and in us, and guides us in the way of righteousness. Enlightened by His pure celestial ray, we are no more darkness but light in the Lord. As fire, He both purges us from dross, and sets our consecrated nature on a blaze. He is the sacrificial flame by which we are enabled !

to offer our whole souls as a living sacrifice unto God. As heavenly dew, He removes our barrenness and fertilizes our lives. O that He would drop from above upon us at this early hour! Such morning dew would be a sweet commencement for the day. As the dove, with wings of peaceful love He broods over His Church and over the souls of believers, and as a Comforter He dispels the cares and doubts which mar the peace of His beloved. He descends upon the chosen as upon the Lord in Jordan, and bears witness to their sonship by working in them a filial spirit by which they cry Abba, Father. As the wind, He brings the breath of life to men; blowing where He listeth He performs the quickening operations by which the spiritual creation is animated and sustained. Would to God, that we might feel His presence this day and every day.

Lukewarmness is halfway between being cold in devotion to Christ and being hot.

Lukewarmness is halfway between being cold in devotion to Christ and being hot. It is a spiritual disease in the last days' church that is the most difficult problem God has ever had to deal with. It makes Christ nauseated, because He knows what it cost Him to save us. As the last-days' church is positioned on the very verge of the final crisis in the controversy with Satan, for us to be "blah" in our response to Him is like someone being an adult with only the mind of a child. It's like a bride coming to the wedding when her heart is divided about her love for the prospective bridegroom, "blah" about it, says "yes" half-heartedly.

If the heavenly Bridegroom were to go on with "the marriage of the Lamb" with only that half-hearted "I do" from His people, that would be keen embarrassment for Him for eternity! So, what can He do?

Whip them into shape? That won't work, any more than for a bridegroom to force his bride to say "I do." Increase His offers of great reward? That would be like marrying a man for his money,--well, Jesus won't stoop to encouraging that. Fear of hell or hope of reward in heaven--these two motivations have failed. There is only one possible solution: win the heart-felt love of His people that will forever deliver them from lukewarmness.

Appreciating His agape-love at His cross, realizing what it cost Him to save us--this alone can heal this terrible disease of lukewarmness. Satan will try to prevent such a revelation of agape as long as possible; but Zecharaiah 12:10-13:1 tells us that the revelation will come. The latter rain of the Holy Spirit, so long anticipated and prayed for, will be a repentance deeper than any other in history. Heaven will "pour upon the house of David ["the angel of the church of the Laodiceans"] and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem [the people], the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced" at the cross, and they shall experience the repentance that heals lukewarmness forever. Good News!

Now will I rise, saith the Lord; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself. (Isaiah 33:10)

Now will I rise, saith the Lord; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself. (Isaiah 33:10)

When the spoilers had made the land as waste as if devoured by locusts, and the warriors who had defended the country sat down and wept like women, then the Lord came to the rescue. When travelers ceased from the roads to Zion, and Bashan and Carmel were as vineyards from which the fruit has failed, then the Lord arose. God is exalted in the midst of an afflicted people, for they seek His face and trust Him. He is still more exalted when in answer to their cries He lifts up Himself to deliver them and overthrow their enemies.

Is it a day of sorrow with us? Let us expect to see the Lord glorified in our deliverance. Are we drawn out in fervent prayer? Do we cry day and night unto Him? Then the set time for His grace is near. God will lift up Himself at the right season. He will arise when it will be most for the display of His glory. We wish for His glory more than we long for our own deliverance. Let the Lord be exalted, and our chief desire is obtained.

Lord, help us in such a way that we may see that Thou Thyself art working. May we magnify Thee in our inmost souls. Make all around us to see how good and great a God Thou art.

For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance. (Matthew 13:12)

For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance. (Matthew 13:12)

When the Lord has given to a man much grace, He will give him more. A little faith is a nest egg; more faith will come to it. But then it must not be seeming faith, but real and true. What a necessity is laid upon us to make sure work in religion and not to profess much, and possess nothing! For one of these days the very profession will be taken from us, if that be all we have. The threatening is as true as the promise.

Blessed be the Lord, it is His way when He has once made a beginning to go on bestowing the graces of His Spirit, till He who had but little, and yet truly had that little, is made to have abundance. Oh, for that abundance! Abundance of grace is a thing to be coveted. It would be well to know much but better to love much. It would be delightful to have abundance of skill to serve God but better still to have abundance of faith to trust in the Lord for skill and everything.

Lord, since Thou hast given me a sense of sin, deepen my hatred of evil. Since Thou hast caused me to trust Jesus, raise my faith to full assurance. Since Thou hast made me to love Thee, cause me to be carried away with vehement affection for Thee!

Here are some questions that perplex many Christians

Here are some questions that perplex many Christian people around the world: what is "the latter rain" of the Holy Spirit? Is that blessing falling today, like showers of rain on thirsty crops? What is the purpose of this blessing that the Bible says God will "pour out" on His people worldwide (Zech. 10:1)? Is it possible that Satan can counterfeit the blessing and send his substitute for the real thing? If so, how can we distinguish between God's true latter rain and the counterfeit?

There are some simple, clear facts that will at least begin to clear up our perplexity:

(1) The story of the "former rain" (see Joel 2:23) will help explain what is the "latter rain." It was at Pentecost that God's true people (those who believed in Christ) received the outpouring of God's true Holy Spirit. Now, after two millennia, we expect the gift of the Holy Spirit to be given again as the complement of the "former" blessing.

(2) The "former rain" was the light of truth that was given as a gift--it was the perception of the truth that God's professed people had rejected, murdered, and crucified the Lord of glory. That blessing was not a loud noise so much as it was bright light: Peter proclaimed that those people present there had crucified the Messiah, the Son of God. "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart" (Acts 2:36, 37).

(3) The latter rain will therefore be a gift of the Holy Spirit that will bring the true and ultimate conviction of sin that only He can bring to human hearts: the guilt of the crucifixion of Christ is OUR sin. But that is a truth that we don't comprehend clearly, as yet. According to Zechariah 12:10-13:1, when God's people do grasp that reality, there will come the greatest repentance of the ages. It will become the "final" experience of reconciliation with Christ, something known as "the final atonement."

(4) This will make possible a movement, a second "Pentecost," a message to be proclaimed worldwide that will "lighten the earth with glory," and prepare a people for Christ's return

I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: Lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. (Isaiah 27:3)

I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: Lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. (Isaiah 27:3)

When the Lord Himself speaks in His own proper person rather than through a prophet, the word has a peculiar weight to believing minds. It is Jehovah Himself who is the keeper of His own vineyard; He does not trust it to any other, but He makes it His own personal care. Are they not well kept whom God Himself keeps?

We are to receive gracious watering, not only every day and every hour "but every moment." How we ought to grow! How fresh and fruitful every plant should be! What rich clusters the vines should bear!

But disturbers come; little foxes and the boar. Therefore, the Lord Himself is our Guardian, and that at all hours, both "night and day." What, then, can harm us? Why are we afraid! He tends, He waters, He guards; what more do we need?

Twice in this verse the Lord says, "I will." What truth, what power, what love, what immutability we find in the great "I will" of Jehovah! Who can resist His will? If He says "I will," what room is there for doubt? With an "I will" of God we can face all the hosts of sin, death, and hell. O Lord, since Thou sayest, "I will keep thee," I reply, "I will praise Thee!"

God would have His people separate from sinners, His call to them is, "Come ye out from among them."

Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew. (Deuteronomy 33:28)

The more we dwell alone, the more safe shall we be. God would have His people separate from sinners, His call to them is, "Come ye out from among them."...A worldly Christian is spiritually diseased. Those who compromise with Christ's enemies may be reckoned with them.

Our safety lies, not in making terms with the enemy, but in dwelling alone with our Best Friend. If we do this, we shall dwell in safety despite the sarcasms, the slanders, and the sneers of the world. We shall be safe from the baleful influence of its unbelief, its pride, its vanity, its filthiness.

God also will make us dwell in safety alone in that day when sin shall be visited on the nations by wars and famines. The Lord brought Abram from Ur of the Chaldees, but Abram stopped halfway. He had no blessing till, having set out to go to the land of Canaan, to the land of Canaan he came. He was safe alone even in the midst of foes. Lot was not safe in Sodom though in a circle of friends. Our safety is in dwelling apart with God.

Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed. (Isaiah 54.4)

Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed. (Isaiah 54.4)

We shall not be ashamed of our faith. Carping critics may assail the Scriptures upon which we ground our belief, but every year the Lord will make it more and more clear that in His Book there is no error, no excess, and no omission. It is no discredit to be a simple believer; the faith which looks alone to Jesus is a crown of honor on any man's head and better than a star on his breast.

We shall not be ashamed of our hope. It shall be even as the Lord has said. We shall be fed, led, blest, and rested. Our Lord will come, and then the days of our mourning shall be ended. How we shall glory in the Lord who first gave us lively hope and then gave us that which we hoped for!

We shall not be ashamed of our love. Jesus is to us the altogether lovely, and never, never, shall we have to blush because we have yielded our hearts to Him. The sight of our glorious Well-beloved will justify the most enthusiastic attachment to Him. None will blame the martyrs for dying for Him. When the enemies of Christ are clothed with everlasting contempt, the lovers of Jesus shall find themselves honored by all holy beings, because they chose the reproach of Christ rather than the treasures of Egypt.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, (James 1:5)

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (James 1:5)

If any of you lack wisdom. There is no "if" in the matter, for I am sure I lack it. What do I know? How can I guide my own way? How can I direct others? Lord, I am a mass of folly, and wisdom I have none.

Thou sayest, "Let him ask of God." Lord, I now ask. Here at Thy footstool I ask to be furnished with heavenly wisdom for this day's perplexities, and for this day's simplicities; for I know I may do very stupid things, even in plain matters, unless Thou dost keep me out of mischief.

I thank Thee that all I have to do is to ask. What grace is this on Thy part, that I have only to pray in faith and Thou wilt give me wisdom'. Thou dost here promise me a liberal education, and that, too, without an angry tutor or a scolding usher. This, too, Thou wilt bestow without a fee--bestow it on a fool who lacks wisdom. O Lord, I thank Thee for that positive and expressive word "It shall be given him." I believe it. Thou wilt this day make Thy babe to know the hidden wisdom which the carnally prudent never learn. Thou wilt guide me with Thy counsel and afterwards receive me to glory.

The greatest "evangelism" of all time was what happened at Pentecost.

The greatest "evangelism" of all time was what happened at Pentecost. It was not emotionalism, and what brought the deep conviction of truth on people's hearts was not the miracle of the apostles' speaking foreign languages--a "sign and wonder" indeed, but not the real thing that did it: the apostles proclaimed what had happened when the Son of God died on His cross.

They didn't "mince words," or say it daintily; "YOU murdered the Prince of life, the Son of God!" They laid the guilt of the ages upon the souls of those Jews and Gentiles. There was no political making friends and influencing people, no attempt to make the message palatable, to "win" the top leaders by psychology. It was the most direct super-confrontation that has ever been between lowly people and religious society leadership (read it in Acts 2:23, 36; 4:10; 5:30, etc.).

Ordinary people like the apostles could never have galvanized themselves to tell it like they did had it not been for the ten days of repentance they spent beforehand. They had knelt very low in self-humiliation; what fools they had been! The Holy Spirit had eleven men in whom self had been "crucified with Christ." This made it possible for the Son of God to be exalted in them.

Why was it the prototype of all genuine "evangelism"? What Jesus had said a short time earlier happened: "On the last and most important day of the festival [Feast of Tabernacles] Jesus stood up and said in a loud voice, 'Whoever is thirsty should come to Me and drink. As the scripture says [Song of Solomon 4:15] "Whoever believes in Me, streams of life-giving water will pour out from his heart."'" Jesus said this about the [Holy] Spirit" (John 7:37-39, TEV). That was the "former rain."

The "latter rain" (which is still future) will be a re-play.

The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my payer. (Psalm 6:9)

The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my payer. (Psalm 6:9)

The experience here recorded is mine. I can set to my seal that God is true. In very wonderful ways He has answered the prayers of His servant many and many a time. Yes, and He is hearing my present supplication, and He is not turning away His ear from me. Blessed be His holy name!

What then? Why, for certain the promise which lies sleeping in the psalmist's believing confidence is also mine. Let me grasp it by the hand of faith: "The Lord will receive my prayer." He will accept it, think of it, and grant it in the way and time which His loving wisdom judges to be best. I bring my poor prayer in my hand to the great King, and He gives me audience and graciously receives my petition. My enemies will not listen to me, but my Lord will. They ridicule my tearful prayers, but my Lord does not; He receives my prayer into His ear and His heart.

What a reception this is for a poor sinner! We receive Jesus, and then the Lord receives us and our prayers for His Son's sake. Blessed be that dear name which franks our prayers so that they freely pass even within the golden gates. Lord, teach me to pray, since Thou hearest my prayers.

People are often scared to think about the "two covenants" (the Old and the New)

People are often scared to think about the "two covenants" (the Old and the New), for fear that it's a theological puzzle beyond their understanding.

In truth, it's the simplest problem in the Bible to grasp: the New Covenant is the promises of God to Abraham and to his descendants by faith (that means you if you believe John 3:16)--that He will bless you abundantly now and forever. That's the New Covenant (you can read the seven promises in Genesis 12:2, 3). In contrast, the Old Covenant is the promise of the people at Mt. Sinai to "do" everything that that they think God requires (Ex. 19:8).

Under the Old Covenant we see the Ten Commandments as ten stern demands. But under the New, we see them as ten glorious promises that the Lord will save us from the sin mentioned there. For example, the seventh: under the Old Covenant it's a stern demand that we never covet our neighbor's spouse, never look on someone lustfully, etc.

But under the New Covenant, it's a promise that the Lord will hold us by the hand forever and save us from falling into that hole (the wrong woman, or man) that Proverbs 22:14 says is a "deep pit." The wonderful promise applies to us in our teenage years, also. (That's when it's especially precious.)

But is there no condition regarding what we must do?

Yes: we must believe the Preamble to the Ten Commandments. We must believe that by virtue of His sacrifice of Himself on His cross, the Lord Jesus has delivered us "out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." By becoming our new Head of the human race, our new Adam, Christ has adopted the human race in Himself (Eph. 1:3-7); He has become the "Savior of the world" (John 4:42--that is, in a legal or judicial sense), but "especially" so of "those who believe" (1 Tim. 4:10). That's the practical. His love (agape) constrains us to live joyfully unto Him; self-sacrifice for Him is a joy.

That's the truth of the Preamble to the Ten Commandments. You must believe it. Choose to. You believe; let Him "help [your] unbelief" (He will! Mark 9:24).

The only news God has for anyone at any time is Good

The last book of the Bible is clear: the only news God has for anyone at any time is Good. The final message in Revelation 14 is "the everlasting gospel," which never means Bad News. But God cannot force people to believe His Good News; He "proclaims liberty throughout all the land," all the earth (Lev. 25:10). He wants everyone to be free, and everyone is free to believe His Good News, or to believe the author of Bad News, Satan. This freedom is bestowed upon the human race "in Christ," as His gift. But each human being must learn, be taught, his freedom. That teaching of freedom is the "gospel."

But Revelation also makes clear that there is a diabolical opposition to that "everlasting gospel," which is represented as the intoxicating "wine of Babylon" (14:8; 18:2). Thus we see a great conflict going on behind the scenes; it's impossible for Christ to be "revealed" in this last Book of the Bible unless at the same time the deceptions of Christ's enemy, Satan, are also unveiled. And the astonishing "revelation" discloses that his chief means of opposing Christ is through an organization, a message, a philosophy, that is professedly Christian. He has become a grand impostor, "so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God" when it's all a masterful lie (see 2 Thess. 2:3, 4).

Daniel's prophecy is of a "little horn" power that emerged in world history out of the ruins of the ancient pagan Roman Empire, that "speaks great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws" (7:25). One brief example of this frightful "Christian" deception: the pagan idea of the natural immortality of the soul was imported into the Christian Church; it forces people to believe that those who are lost at last must continue to live forever in conscious torment and agony in an endlessly literal burning hell, that the great conflict between Christ and Satan will never be resolved; throughout all eternity Satan will still rule his kingdom ("hell") while side by side God rules His kingdom (heaven). This falsehood has been a curse to humanity, made many people become infidels, created vast cruelties. Its "author"? Babylon.

The point? Make sure the "gospel" you believe is purely biblical, unmixed with any of that Babylonian "wine." The "temple of God" where the impostor "sits" and dishes out falsehood could be closer than you think.

You want the Holy Spirit to help you win some soul to conversion in Christ?

You want the Holy Spirit to help you win some soul to conversion in Christ. Note how Jesus won souls: He always gave them Good News.

Take for instance, the crucified thief on the cross (Luke 23:34-43): Jesus' last chance to win somebody before He had to die! What did He tell the thief? "You will be with Me in Paradise!" simply because the ex-hate-filled man asked to be "remembered." Jesus gave the poor wretch Good News.

Consider again the woman taken in adultery in John 8:1-11 (don't cut the story out of your Bible!). Did He tell her, "Lady, if you will keep straight from now on, God will forgive your sins and then He will accept you"? He gave her Good News: "I do not condemn you! Go and sin no more." I take your condemnation upon Myself; I am paying the price for your sin; I lift from you this burden of guilt, because as the Lamb of God I bear your guilt Myself. His command to "sin no more" was more a promise than a stricture. With this message, she was able to "go and sin no more." She never fell again! Jesus saved her right then and there.

Consider Cleopas and his friend on the path to Emmaus (the story begins in Luke 24:13). They were so overwhelmed with discouragement that they would have given up their faith in Jesus as "the Savior of the world" if they had not gotten help just then. He gave them a Bible study incognito that was full of Good News. He saved them. Go thou and do likewise with some soul who needs Good News.

In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

My Lord's words are true as to the tribulation. I have my share of it beyond all doubt. The flail is not hung up out of the way, nor can I hope that it will be laid aside so long as I lie upon the threshing floor. How can I look to be at home in the enemy's country, joyful while in exile, or comfortable in a wilderness? This is not my rest. This is the place of the furnace, and the forge, and the hammer. My experience tallies with my Lord's words.

I note how He bids me "be of good cheer." Alas! I am far too apt to be downcast. My spirit soon sinks when I am sorely tried. But I must not give way to this feeling. When my Lord bids me cheer up I must not dare to be cast down.

What is the argument which He uses to encourage me? Why, it is His own victory. He says, "I have overcome the world." His battle was much more severe than mine. I have not yet resisted unto blood. Why do I despair of overcoming? See, my soul, the enemy has been once overcome. I fight with a beaten foe. O world, Jesus has already vanquished thee; and in me, by His grace, He will overcome thee again. Therefore am I of good cheer and sing unto my conquering Lord.