Zephaniah 3

 Zephaniah 3:9-20  “For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the LORD and serve him with one accord.  10  From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones, shall bring my offering.  11  “On that day you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me; for then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain.  12  But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the LORD,  13  those who are left in Israel; they shall do no injustice and speak no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue. For they shall graze and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.”  14  Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!  15  The LORD has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.  16  On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak.  17  The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.  18  I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach.  19  Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.  20  At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says the LORD.

MOST DISORDERED

 Man, by the apostasy, is become a most disordered and rebellious creature, opposing his Maker, as the First Cause, by self-dependence; as the Chief Good, by self-love; as the highest Lord,by self-will; and as the Last End, by self-seeking. Thus he is quite disordered. -- John Flavel.

Assurance Grows

 Assurance grows by repeated conflict, by our repeated experimental proof of the Lord’s power and goodness to save; when we have been brought very low and helped, sorely wounded and healed, cast down and raised again, have given up all hope, and been suddenly snatched from danger, and placed in safety; and when these things have been repeated to us and in us a thousand times over, we begin to learn to trust simply to the word and power of God, beyond and against appearances: and this trust, when habitual and strong, bears the name of assurance; for even assurance has degrees.

John Newton  (1725 – 1807)

God is Good, not Severe. God Loves His Children.

 Satan is ever seeking to inject that poison into our hearts to distrust God’s goodness – especially in connection with his commandments. That is what really lies behind all evil, lusting and disobedience. A discontent with our position and portion, a craving from something which God has wisely held from us. Reject any suggestion that God is unduly severe with you. Resist with the utmost abhorrence anything that causes you to doubt God’s love and his loving kindness toward you. Allow nothing to make you question the Father’s love for his child.

A. W. Pink (1886-1952)

in respect to God

 In respect to God, the death of Christ was justice and mercy.  In respect to this world, the death of Christ was murder and cruelty.  In respect to Himself, the death of Christ was obedience and humility.  In respect to His elect, the death of Christ was wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption.

John Flavel (1627 – 1691)

I cannot trust myself

 I cannot trust my senses to interpret how far or near God is to me, because there have been many times where God has been present with a saint in scripture, but they sensed that He was absent. Many have sensed they were cursed when they were truly being blessed.

I cannot trust my feelings to interpret what is good and approved of by God, because I, and many saints in the scriptures, have felt great pleasure in many sins in the past.

I cannot trust human reason, in and of itself, to interpret what is possible, because simple reason teaches that a woman in very old age with a barren womb cannot have children, but God gave a child to Abraham’s wife, Sarah, as He promised, who was old and barren.

I cannot wholly trust myself. I am still in this corrupt flesh, and I have so many sinful and selfish inclinations that I hate, that even my best Christian duties are tainted with some sort of vainglorious desires that sneak their way in. I am so prone to be spiritually lazy. I am so prone to assume the worst, and be unloving. If God removed His gracious hand from me, I would stray forever.

I can only trust the word of God. I can only trust Jesus Christ. He truly loves me, and He knows everything about everything. He is good, and I know He doesn’t love me for what He can get from me, because everything is His, and I can add nothing to Him. -- Joshua Arnold

Dark Days and Endurance

 There may come a time in our Christian walk when all seems cold and dark, our hearts will be perplexed and our souls will be downcast. Storms will come, and shake us to our core. The Enemy will come and look to convince you that you are not a child of God, and that He has abandoned you. And if we walk by sight, we will surely be likely to believe that lie during our time of great weakness.

But we must remind ourselves that the Christian walk is not by sight, it is by faith. We grab hold of God’s promises in Christ by faith. By faith, we believe the victory that God has promised over the momentary failings we have seen with our eyes. If we walk by only what we can see with our eyes, we are going to find corruptions in ourselves and failings in our walk. God may be out of sight for a moment, but He is not out of covenant. He will never forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).

Although all seems cold and dark, Jesus Christ the Sun of Righteousness will shine upon the face of your soul again, and the cold and darkness that smothers you will flee you at once. It will be like the Spring has finally come, and Summer will come before you know it where all will be warm, and the birds will be chirping while the fruit multiplies everywhere. In the meantime, during this cold and dark night of the soul, you are given the grace to endure. You cannot command yourself to be happy, but you can command yourself to rejoice and praise.

Rejoice and praise Him, because you will see His smile again , and His warming love will fill your heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. You may not understand now, but it is good for you to be afflicted at the moment. The storms you are enduring right now are shaking you at your roots, and loosening the soil of faith so that your roots may go deeper into the ground of faith. Your great God is still on the Throne, Christ is still your Righteousness, the LORD is still for you, and you may come to Him in boldness no matter how many times you’ve shamefully failed. You are not capable of exhausting His love for you.

Joshua Arnold

Faith Defined.

 What does faith mean? In our culture it is often mistaken for a blind belief in something that is unreasonable. To call the Christian faith a “blind faith,” however, is not only demeaning to Christians, but an outrage to God. When the Bible speaks of blindness it uses this image for people who, by their sin, walk in darkness. Christianity calls people out of the darkness, not into the darkness. Faith is the antidote to blindness, not the cause of it.

At its root, the term faith means “trust.” To trust God is not an act of unreasonable belief. God demonstrates Himself to be eminently trustworthy. He gives ample reason for us to trust Him. He proves that He Himself is faithful and worthy of our trust.

There is a huge difference between faith and credulity. To be credulous is to believe something for no sound reason. It is the stuff of which superstition is made and thrives on. Faith is established upon coherent and consistent reasoning and upon sound empirical evidence. Peter writes, “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Peter 1:16).

Christianity does not rest upon myths and fables but on the testimony of those who saw with their eyes and heard with their ears. The truth of the gospel is based on historical events. If the account of those events is not trustworthy, then indeed our faith would be in vain. But God does not ask us to believe anything on the basis of myth.

The book of Hebrews gives us a definition of faith: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Faith comprises the essence of our hope for the future. In simple terms this means that we trust God for the future based on our faith in what He has accomplished in the past. To believe that God will continue to be trustworthy is not a gratuitous faith. There is every reason to believe that God will be as faithful to His promises in the future as He has been in the past. There is a reason, a substantive reason, for the hope that is within us.

The faith that is the evidence of things unseen has primary but not exclusive reference to the future. Nobody has a crystal ball that works. We all walk into the future by faith and not by sight. We may plan and make projections, but even the best foresight we have is based upon our educated guesses. None of us has experiential knowledge of tomorrow. We view the present and can recall the past. We are experts in hindsight. The only solid evidence we have for our own future is drawn from the promises of God. Here faith offers evidence for things unseen. We trust God for tomorrow.

We also trust or believe that God exists. And although God Himself is unseen, the Scriptures make it clear that the invisible God is made manifest through the things that are visible (Romans 1:20). Though God is not visible to us, we believe that He is there because He has manifested Himself so clearly in creation and in history.

Faith includes believing in God. Yet that kind of faith is not particularly praiseworthy. James writes, “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!” (James 2:19). Here sarcasm drips from James’s pen. To believe in the existence of God merely qualifies us to be demons. It is one thing to believe in God; it is another thing to believe God. To believe God, to trust in Him for our very life, is the essence of the Christian faith.

Summary

1. Christianity is a faith because it is based on a body of knowledge revealed by God.
2. Faith is not a blind leap into darkness, but a trust in God that moves us out of darkness into light.
3. Faith is simple, but not simplistic.
4. Faith is not credulity. It is based on sound reason and historical evidence.
5. Faith provides the substance for our future hope.
6. Faith involves trusting in what is not seen.
7. Faith means more than believing in God; it means believing God.

R. C. Sproul, Essential Truths of the Christian Faith (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1992).

Spiritual Discernment is Wholly Lost Until we are Regenerated

 (this article is copy and paste from the website: Monergism)

BY JOHN CALVIN

The following selection by John Calvin was taken from book 2, chapter 2 parts 18-21 of The Institutes of The Christian Religion, translated by by Henry Beveridge, Esq. A must read for all Christians who aspire to better understand the Bible's teaching on man's spiritual impotence prior to the regeneration of the Holy Spirit.

18. The limits of our understanding

We must now explain what the power of human reason is, in regard to the kingdom of God, and spiritual discernments which consists chiefly of three things - the knowledge of God, the knowledge of his paternal favour towards us, which constitutes our salvation, and the method of regulating of our conduct in accordance with the Divine Law. With regard to the former two, but more properly the second, men otherwise the most ingenious are blinder than moles. I deny not, indeed, that in the writings of philosophers we meet occasionally with shrewd and apposite remarks on the nature of God, though they invariably savour somewhat of giddy imagination. As observed above, the Lord has bestowed on them some slight perception of his Godhead that they might not plead ignorance as an excuse for their impiety, and has, at times, instigated them to deliver some truths, the confession of which should be their own condemnation. Still, though seeing, they saw not. Their discernment was not such as to direct them to the truth, far less to enable them to attain it, but resembled that of the bewildered traveller, who sees the flash of lightning glance far and wide for a moment, and then vanish into the darkness of the night, before he can advance a single step. So far is such assistance from enabling him to find the right path. Besides, how many monstrous falsehoods intermingle with those minute particles of truth scattered up and down in their writings as if by chance. In short, not one of them even made the least approach to that assurance of the divine favour, without which the mind of man must ever remain a mere chaos of confusion. To the great truths, What God is in himself, and what he is in relation to us, human reason makes not the least approach. (See Book 3 c. 2 sec. 14, 15, 16.)

19. Man's spiritual blindness shown from John 1:4-5

But since we are intoxicated with a false opinion of our own discernment, and can scarcely be persuaded that in divine things it is altogether stupid and blind, I believe the best course will be to establish the fact, not by argument, but by Scripture. Most admirable to this effect is the passage which I lately quoted from John, when he says, "In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not," (John 1: 4, 5.) He intimates that the human soul is indeed irradiated with a beam of divine light, so that it is never left utterly devoid of some small flame, or rather spark, though not such as to enable it to comprehend God. And why so? Because its acuteness is, in reference to the knowledge of God, mere blindness. When the Spirit describes men under the term "darkness" he declares them void of all power of spiritual intelligence. For this reason, it is said that believers, in embracing Christ, are "born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God," (John 1: 13;) in other words, that the flesh has no capacity for such sublime wisdom as to apprehend God, and the things of God, unless illumined by His Spirit. In like manner our Saviour, when he was acknowledged by Peter, declared that it was by special revelation from the Father, (Matth. 16: 17.)

20. Man's knowledge of God is God's own work

If we were persuaded of a truth which ought to be beyond dispute, viz., that human nature possesses none of the gifts which the elect receive from their heavenly Father through the Spirit of regeneration, there would be no room here for hesitation. For thus speaks the congregation of the faithful, by the mouth of the prophet: "With thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light," (Ps. 36: 9.) To the same effect is the testimony of the Apostle Paul, when he declares, that "no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost," (1 Cor. 12: 3.) And John Baptist, on seeing the dullness of his disciples, exclaims, "A man can receive nothing, unless it be given him from heaven," (John 3: 27.) That the gift to which he here refers must be understood not of ordinary natural gifts, but of special illumination, appears from this - that he was complaining how little his disciples had profited by all that he had said to them in commendation of Christ. "I see," says he, "that my words are of no effect in imbuing the minds of men with divine things, unless the Lord enlighten their understandings by His Spirit." Nay, Moses also, while upbraiding the people for their forgetfulness, at the same time observes, that they could not become wise in the mysteries of God without his assistance. "Ye have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land; the great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and these great miracles: yet the Lord has not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this, day," (Deut. 29: 2, 3, 4.) Would the expression have been stronger had he called us mere blocks in regard to the contemplation of divine things? Hence the Lord, by the mouth of the Prophet, promises to the Israelites as a singular favour, "I will give them an heart to know me," (Jer. 24: 7;) intimating, that in spiritual things the human mind is wise only in so far as he enlightens it.

This was also clearly confirmed by our Saviour when he said, "No man can come to me, except the Father which has sent me draw him," (John 6: 44.) Nay, is not he himself the living image of his Father, in which the full brightness of his glory is manifested to us? Therefore, how far our faculty of knowing God extends could not be better shown than when it is declared, that though his image is so plainly exhibited, we have not eyes to perceive it. What? Did not Christ descend into the world that he might make the will of his Father manifest to men, and did he not faithfully perform the office? True! He did; but nothing is accomplished by his preaching unless the inner teacher, the Spirit, open the way into our minds. Only those, therefore, come to him who have heard and learned of the Father. And in what is the method of this hearing and learning? It is when the Spirit, with a wondrous and special energy, forms the ear to hear and the mind to understand. Lest this should seem new, our Saviour refers to the prophecy of Isaiah, which contains a promise of the renovation of the Church. "For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee," (Is. 54: 7.) If the Lord here predicts some special blessing to his elect, it is plain that the teaching to which he refers is not that which is common to them with the ungodly and profane.

It thus appears that none can enter the kingdom of God save those whose minds have been renewed by the enlightening of the Holy Spirit. On this subject the clearest exposition is given by Paul, who, when expressly handling it, after condemning the whole wisdom of the world as foolishness and vanity, and thereby declaring man's utter destitution, thus concludes, "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned," (1 Cor. 2: 14.) Whom does he mean by the "natural man"? The man who trusts to the light of nature. Such a man has no understanding in the spiritual mysteries of God. Why so? Is it because through sloth he neglects them? Nay, though he exert himself, it is of no avail; they are "spiritually discerned." And what does this mean? That altogether hidden from human discernment, they are made known only by the revelation of the Spirit; so that they are accounted foolishness wherever the Spirit does not give light. The Apostle had previously declared, that "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him;" nay, that the wisdom of the world is a kind of veil by which the mind is prevented from beholding God, (1 Cor. 2: 9.) What would we more? The Apostle declares that God has "made foolish the wisdom of this world," (1 Cor. 1: 20;) and shall we attribute to it an acuteness capable of penetrating to God, and the hidden mysteries of his kingdom? Far from us be such presumption!

21. Without the light of the Spirit, all is darkness

What the Apostle here denies to man, he, in another place, ascribes to God alone, when he prays, "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation," (Eph. 1: 17.) You now hear that all wisdom and revelation is the gift of God. What follows? "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened." Surely, if they require a new enlightening, they must in themselves be blind. The next words are, "that ye may know what is the hope of his calling," (Eph. 1: 18.) In other words, the minds of men have not capacity enough to know their calling.

Let no prating Pelagian here allege that God obviates this rudeness or stupidity, when, by the doctrine of his word, he directs us to a path which we could not have found without a guide. David had the law, comprehending in it all the wisdom that could be desired, and yet not contented with this, he prays, "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law," (Ps. 119: 18.) By this expression, he certainly intimates, that it is like sunrise to the earth when the word of God shines forth; but that men do not derive much benefit from it until he himself, who is for this reason called the Father of lights (James 1: 17,) either gives eyes or opens them; because, whatever is not illuminated by his Spirit is wholly darkness. The Apostles had been duly and amply instructed by the best of teachers. Still, as they wanted the Spirit of truth to complete their education in the very doctrine which they had previously heard, they were ordered to wait for him, (John 14: 26.) If we confess that what we ask of God is lacking to us, and He by the very thing promised intimates our want, no man can hesitate to acknowledge that he is able to understand the mysteries of God, only in so far as illuminated by his grace. He who ascribes to himself more understanding than this, is the blinder for not acknowledging his blindness.

From The Institutes of Christian Religion by John Calvin

Regeneration and Effectual Calling

 Wayne Grudem

Regeneration is a secret act of God in which he imparts new spiritual life to us. As the gospel comes to us, God speaks through it to summon us to himself (effective calling) and to give us new spiritual life (regeneration) so that we are enabled to respond in faith.

Effective calling is thus God that Father speaking powerfully to us, and regeneration is God that Father and God the Holy Spirit working powerfully in us, to make us alive. Sometimes the term irresistible grace is used in this connection. It refers to the fact that God effectively calls people and also gives them regeneration, and both actions guarantee that we will respond in saving faith.

The term irresistible grace is subject to misunderstanding, however, since it seems to imply that people do not make a voluntary choice in responding to the gospel - a wrong idea, and a wrong understanding of the term irresistible grace. The term does preserve something valuable, however, because it indicates that God's work reaches into our hearts to bring about a response that is absolutely certain - even tough we respond voluntarily. - Wayne Grudem from Systematic Theology (pg. 699)

the unbeliever clings to sin.

 John Owen said, “Sin clings to the believer against his will, but for the unbeliever he clings to sin with his will.

Vos on Repentance

 Our Lord’s idea of repentance is as profound and comprehensive as His conception of righteousness. Of the three words that are used in the Greek Gospels to describe the process, one emphasizes the emotional element of regret, sorrow over the past evil course of life, metamelomai; Matt. 12:29-32; a second expresses reversal of the entire mental attitude, metanoeo, Matt. 12:41, Luke 11:32; 15:7, 10; the third denotes a change in the direction of life, one goal being substituted for another, epistrephomai; Matt. 13:15 (and parallels); Luke 17;4, 22:32. Repentance is not limited to any single faculty of the mind: it engages the entire man, intellect, will and affections… Again, in the new life which follows repentance the absolute supremacy of God is the controlling principle. He who repents turns away from the service of mammon and self to the service of God.

-Geerhardus Vos

Scripture Every Day -- John Piper.

 

Absolutely Essential

I have never met a mature, fruitful, strong, spiritually discerning Christian who is not full of Scripture, devoted to regular meditation on Scripture, and given to storing it in the heart through Bible memorization — and that’s not a coincidence. So, what I want to do is persuade our new believing friend that it is absolutely essential, after coming to faith in Christ, to be radically, deeply, experientially devoted — unshakably, unwaveringly persuaded — that reading and meditating on and understanding and memorizing and enjoying the Scriptures is absolutely essential for the Christian life, which would include being in the word every day with the aim that we will meet God there and, little by little, the glory of his truth will fill and transform our lives.

And that may seem obvious to them or to others, but it isn’t obvious, because I know fairly well-along Christians who don’t do this. They don’t do this, and they’ve been Christians for years, and they’re lackadaisical. They think it’s optional because they know so much already and they read so many other books. I don’t regard that as a very good habit at all. I think it’s dangerous.

Ten Reasons to Read Every Day

So, I have ten reasons that I believe this — ten reasons to make Bible reading, Bible understanding, Bible memory essential to the Christian life. Resist feelings of self-sufficiency that say, “I don’t need the Scripture every day.” Here are my ten reasons.

1. Scripture saves.

Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Timothy 4:16)

“God saves us daily by Scripture.”

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Salvation has happened to God’s people, salvation is — at this moment — happening to God’s people, and salvation will happen completely at the resurrection of God’s people, and it is happening now by means. Paul says to hold fast to the teaching and thereby save yourself. God saves us daily by Scripture.

2. Scripture frees from Satan.

You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8:32)

And the context is that Jesus is showing the Jewish leaders that, though they think they are not slaves, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires” (John 8:44). Satan is your enemy, young Christian. He is a thousand times stronger than you are. So, John writes to the young believers,

I write to you, young men,
    because you are strong,
    and the word of God abides in you,
    and you have overcome the evil one. (1 John 2:14)

This is our only hope for defeating a supernatural enemy. Every time Jesus was tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1–11; Mark 1:12–13; Luke 4:1–13), he struck back with “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17), and he had it memorized, so he didn’t have to carry a book in the wilderness.

3. Scripture imparts grace and peace.

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. (2 Peter 1:2)

Knowledge of God gained through Scripture is not identical with grace, but Peter says it is a means of grace. If we want to be made peaceful and powerful through divine grace, Peter says, it happens “in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” That knowledge is found in one place: Scripture.

4. Scripture sanctifies.

Jesus prayed,

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:17)

“We’re all assigned in some measure to handle the word of God.”

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Sanctification is the process of becoming holy — that is, becoming more like Christ and like God, who is perfectly holy. This is not optional. Hebrews 12:14 says, “Strive . . . for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”

We don’t become perfect in this life, but we do become holy. God sanctifies his people. And Jesus prays to his Father, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” It couldn’t be more plain, or more important.

5. Scripture gives joy.

You received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 1:6)

His delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law he meditates day and night. (Psalm 1:2)

Life without joy is unbearable. The Christian life is a life of many afflictions. But in them all, God sustains joy, and he does it by the Scriptures.

6. Scripture protects us from destructive error.

Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God . . . so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine. (Ephesians 4:13–14)

How do young Christians stop being leaves blown around by cultural and theological winds and opinions? Answer: “the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God” — knowledge that they experience not as the opinion of man, but as the word of God. That’s found in one place: the Scriptures.

7. Scripture is the hope of heaven.

And what I mean by this is that full understanding, full enjoyment of the truth of Scripture, will be experienced only in heaven.

Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)

The knowledge of God — all the fullness that a created being can properly comprehend and enjoy — will not be withheld from us indefinitely. The frustrations of our present limitations of understanding and enjoyment will be removed. How fitting it is, then, that we be ever growing now in what will be our final joy in the age to come.

8. Scripture will be resisted by some.

The time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions. (2 Timothy 4:3)

In other words, we need to know the Scriptures so that we’re not taken off guard or knocked off balance or led away by false teachers. We need to receive the Scriptures regularly to be ready to meet those who refuse to receive the Scriptures.

9. The right handling of Scripture is approved by God.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

It is a precious thing to be assigned to do a very important task, and then to find the master worker approving of what he’s asked you to do. We’re all assigned in some measure to handle the word of God. And what a wonderful opportunity to be pleasing to the Lord.

10. Scripture gives and sustains life.

Man shall not live by bread alone,
    but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
    (Matthew 4:4)

Spiritual life — eternal life — just like physical life, must be fed, not by bread, but by the word of God. If you think that you have eternal life as a kind of vaccination against hell, which needs no nourishment, you don’t know what spiritual life is.

So, there are ten reasons for why young believers should resolve with all their might — all the might that God gives them — to make reading and meditating on and understanding and memorizing the Scriptures essential, nonnegotiable, in their Christian life.