Daily Devotional for May 2
All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 2 Timothy 3:12
OPPOSITION is to be expected, and will, doubtless, continue until we finish our course in death. To submit patiently to this opposition is to sacrifice our own natural preferences for the friendship and the pleasures of the present life, and to endure hardness as good soldiers for the Truth's sake, in whatever shape that hardness may come, in our effort to do the Lord's will and work of advancing the interests of His Kingdom. To be really in the Lord's service involves, first, the careful and continual study of God's plan; second, the imbibing of its spirit; leading, thirdly, to an enthusiastic zeal for its accomplishment, and to activity to the extent of ability in its service, at whatever cost or sacrifice it may require. Z.'03-164,165 R3199:2
⤡ Fullscreen Mode
Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out. John 6:37
AS soon as the limit of time expired, God manifested his favor toward the Gentiles by sending the Gospel message to Cornelius, a reverential and holy and generous Gentile. Since then God's favors are as open to the Gentile as to the Jew--”the middle wall of partition” has been “broken down.” The Gentiles and Jews are now both received on the same terms, viz., faith in Jesus and consecration to walk in his steps. It is from this standpoint that we should read the apostle's statement that the Gospel of Christ “is preached to every creature under heaven.” He did not mean, nor would it have been true, that the Gospel had been preached to every creature in the sense of being proclaimed to all. For now, eighteen centuries later, it has not yet been proclaimed to all mankind. What the apostle did mean is that the Gospel is now unrestricted, free to be preached to every creature under heaven, no matter what his nationality--that it is no longer confined to Jews as at first. Now, whoever has “an ear to hear, let him hear” the good message of the kingdom. Now, whoever hears and has a heart to accept God's gracious message, let him present his body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God through Christ. `Z'12-294` R5101:1 (Hymn 291)
⤡ Fullscreen Mode