2 Corinthians 4:1-15

So strong, so beautiful is hope that it is scarcely possible to overpraise it. It is the divine alchemy that transmutes the base metal of adversity into gold. In the midst of death Paul could be bold and buoyant because he had firm confidence in the final outcome. "For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake," he said, but his heart remained cheerful knowing that "our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all"...

For Reading and Meditation:     1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Having spent the past days identifying the nature of the problem which almost caused the psalmist to give up, we pause today to focus on another great value of the book of Psalms - the fact that it presents its teaching in the form of a recital of experiences. We have exactly the same kind of teaching in the...

For Reading and Meditation:
     2 Corinthians 4:7-12

Today we stay with the thought that half our spiritual perplexities would never arise if we started out by being prepared not to understand immediately the things that God does or allows. We must accept that one of the fundamental principles of the Christian life is the truth that there will be many times when...

For Reading and Meditation:     Isaiah 40:21-31

T he man-centered focus that is creeping into today's Church must be resisted at all costs. Such matters as disciplining children, marital problems and establishing proper priorities should be addressed also, but we must be careful that "market forces" do not mold our theology. People may want to know about these...

For Reading and Meditation:     1 Peter 4:7-19

We continue focusing on the fact that many Christians are persecuted, not because of identifying with Christ, but because of their tactlessness and folly. This eighth Beatitude - "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" - does not apply to such people. Let us...

For Reading and Meditation:     1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

We continue meditating on the importance of looking at life "steadily and whole". I venture to suggest that people who are not Christians are unable to see life as a whole. How can they, when their thinking takes place only on the level of the natural? Natural thinking is notoriously partial and incomplete....

We should never forget that the gospel is the good news of the glory of Christ. True, it concerns the One who was crucified and who was buried. But He is no longer on the Cross, no longer in the Tomb. He has risen, has ascended to heaven, and is the glorified Man at God's right hand.

We do not present Him as the humble Carpenter of Nazareth, the suffering Servant or the Stranger of Galilee. Neither do we present Him as the effeminate do-gooder of modern religious art.

We preach...

"God has shone in…for the shining forth." Here we learn that we are not meant to be the terminals of God's blessings but only the channels. The expression "God has shone in" refers to our conversion. Whereas in the original creation He commanded light to shine, in the new creation He Himself has shone in our hearts.

But He did not do it in order that we might selfishly hoard the floodtide of His blessings. Rather He did it so that the knowledge of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ...

It is important to know the devices of our enemy, the Devil. Otherwise he is likely to take advantage of us.

We should know that he is a liar, and has been from the beginning. In fact, he is the father of lies (John 8:44). He lied to Eve by misrepresenting God, and he has been doing it ever since.

He is a deceiver (Revelation 20:10). He mixes a little truth with error. He imitates or...

On the previous page, we noted three areas in which the cults expose themselves as being untrue to the Christian faith that has been once-for-all delivered unto the saints. There are other characteristics of the cults of which we should not only be aware but which we should carefully avoid in our own Christian fellowships.

For instance, their leaders build up what we might call a personality cult, setting themselves forth as virtual messiahs and wonder-men. Men with charisma often...