Word of Encouragement (9/30/2020)

Let’s continue to go over some truths to remember in times of temptation.

“6. When you face temptation, let Christ’s promises to those who overcome temptation (Rev. 2 and 3) motivate you to resist. He has promised that those who overcome will eat of the tree of life in the paradise of God (2:7), will not be hurt by the second death [or, eternal death] (2:11), and will be given the hidden manna and a white stone with a new name (2:17). They will be given authority over nations and the morning star (2:26-28). They will be clothed in white garments, and Christ will confess their names before the Father (3:5). They will be pillars in the temple of God, will have the name of God and the new Jerusalem written upon them (3:12), and will sit with Christ on His throne (3:21). What incomparable promises those are!

“7. In your ongoing struggle with temptation, take heart in the sure promise of Romans 16:20, that ‘the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.’ They day of Satan’s doom and your victory is soon to come.

“8. If you fear that you are falling away from God because of your sins, remember that His counsel, upon which your salvation is founded, is sure and unchangeable (Eph. 1:4). Remember that His love for you is from everlasting and is therefore unchangeable (Jer. 31:3), and that He is able to guard you for an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading, ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Pet. 1:4-5). Thus, your assurance is not in yourself but in Him. As you lay hold on Him, He will hold you fact, for as a man will not lose what he buys with his own money, so Christ will not lose you, whom He purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28).”

(Of course, we all know that this assurance is only for the elect. You may fear that you may not be one of the elect, in which case all these promises would benefit you nothing. That’s true. But I’d like you to acknowledge that, even as you don’t know whether you are elect or not, you don’t know for sure that you are not of the elect. Our election is part of God’s secret knowledge and no mortal is privy to that. One thing we know for sure is that genuine faith, which is the possession of God’s elect, is something that brings you back to God in the end no matter how many and great your sins are, how big your shame is, how disappointed you are in yourself, how beaten down you are by the world, etc. No matter how tough it gets, you confess with Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69). As long as you embrace God’s promise of eternal salvation, you have the assurance that you are God’s elect. The biggest temptation we have to fight off is the temptation of despair. But those, who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ and His grace for sinners, must abandon all despair. Let us cling to Christ with all of our being!)