Ephesians 1 - Blessed with Every Spiritual Blessing

The book of Ephesians was written in AD 60 or 61 during Paul’s first Roman imprisonment, and is known as one of the four prison epistles. The others are Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. If we recall from Acts, Paul spent some time in Ephesus at the end of his second missionary journey, and more than two years on his third missionary journey. There were so many converts to Christianity on his third missionary journey, that Demetrius the silversmith, along with his fellow craftsmen became upset because their idol making business was suffering. As a result, they stirred up a riot, and led Paul to leave the city.

The book of Ephesians is one of the most highly esteemed of the Paulene epistles, and has been termed the crown of Paulinism. Unlike many of his epistles in which he addresses problems in the Church, Paul explains some of the great themes and doctrines of Christianity. It can be divided into two clear sections: in the first three chapters, he focuses on the essential doctrines of the Christian faith and all that God has given us through the person of Jesus Christ. In the second three chapters, he focuses on how we as believers are to act in light of these blessings. In other words, applying the principles taught in the first three chapters makes possible what he tells us to do in the second. Charles Spurgeon said the following about the book of Ephesians: “The Epistle to the Ephesians is a complete Body of Divinity. In the first chapter you have the doctrines of the gospel; in the next, you have the experience of the Christians; and before the Epistle is finished, you have the precepts of the Christian faith. Whosoever would see Christianity in one treatise, let him ‘read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest’ the Epistle to the Ephesians.”

Before jumping into the first chapter of Ephesians however, I want to first take a look at Jesus’ words to the Ephesians in the book of Revelation, because I think that it may be relevant for us as we study. It states:

“To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’ (Rev 2:1-7)

Often times we refer to the Ephesians as losing their first love, but here Jesus clearly says they left it. They left it because they got so caught up in doing for the Lord, that they forgot just to spend time with Him like they did when they were first saved. If we recall when we got saved, we were so grateful for what the Lord did for us in saving us and delivering us from the bondage of sin, we wanted to spend time with the Lord in the Word and in prayer. We did it out of love and gratitude.

Now, laboring for the Lord, weeding out sin and false prophets, and persevering are all good things. In fact, they were doing this because the apostle Paul had warned them before leaving them the second and final time. He warned them that savage wolves would come in among them, and even men who were part of them would attempt to draw the disciples away. So, it was not that these things were bad, but that they had neglected their primary motivation for doing them. If you or I find ourselves in the same predicament as the Ephesians in the book of Revelation, I’m going to submit to you that studying the book of Ephesians, the first three chapters in particular, is a good way to remind ourselves of what we have in Christ, and to renew our first love. According to Jesus, this is actually a matter of repentance; to go back and do the first works. Having said all this, let’s go ahead and jump into the first chapter of Ephesians.

He begins with a similar greeting to his other letters by identifying himself as the apostle Paul, and states that it is by the will of God. Paul was regularly challenged by others as to his apostleship, but he was specifically called by the Lord on the road to Damascus. He addresses the saints that were in Ephesus, as well as all the faithful in Christ Jesus, that’s you and me. He greeted them with grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. There is only one place we can get grace and peace, and that is from God the Father through the person of Jesus Christ. Without it, we are still God’s enemies and subject to His wrath.

The next 12 verses are actually one sentence in the original language, and helps set the tone for the rest of the book. Paul blesses God the Father, and this word is only used in connection with praise to God. He praises God because he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. That’s not just some or most, but EVERY blessing. And, we don’t have to do anything to earn it; Jesus has done it all for us. That’s something worth praising God for! Some of these blessings are realized now, and some will be realized in eternity. Nevertheless, they are still all ours because we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Next, he will list some of these blessings for us.

First, we are chosen. God the Father chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. This is quite incredible really: God chose us long before He created us, knowing everything we would do and not do, and He still did it anyway. This alone is a testament to His grace. He chose us that we would be holy and without blame before Him in love. We often see ourselves in light of our sins and failures, but in Christ, God sees us holy and without blame.

Second, He predestined us (marked us out beforehand) to be His sons by adoption by Jesus Christ. Predestination is connected to His foreknowledge: In Romans 8:29 it states, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” He knows ahead of time who will accept His offer of salvation. We have already seen Paul describe God’s love for us, and it is this love that compels Him to draw us to Himself. We know He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So, as we can see, God foreknows believers, they are chosen by Him, and predestined to be adopted sons. Paul continues in Romans 8, “Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” Where our part comes is responding to God’s calling. In order to be a believer, we must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.

Third, we have been adopted. Under Roman law, after the adoption was complete, the adopted son had all the rights and privileges of a legitimate son in his new family, and completely lost all rights in his old family. He was seen as a new person to the degree that even his old debts and obligations were abolished as if they had never existed. That’s a pretty good picture of what we have in Christ. We are a new creation, and all our old debts of sin have been canceled.

Fourth, we are highly favored. The Lord has done all this for us according to the good pleasure of His will. In other words, He didn’t do it begrudgingly; He took pleasure in it. This gives glory to the grace of God by which He has made us accepted (highly favored) in the beloved. The word for “beloved” here is actually a verb in the original. It is the word agapao, and refers to God’s divine love that He gives to us even though we are unworthy of it.

Next, we have been redeemed, forgiven, and have become recipients of God’s grace. Paul states that in Jesus, we have redemption through His blood and the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace, which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence. The word redemption means a release effected by a payment of ransom. We have been released or set free from sin by the blood of Jesus. This grace given to us is not a small amount or just enough, but it’s abounding. God has done all this in His wisdom. It wasn’t the law that made men righteous, for the law can only reveal our sin. Paul said in Romans, “I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.” Any one of us who have tried to be righteous on our own quickly find out how impossible of a task it really is. It is the law that paves the way for the grace of God and shows us our need for a Savior. On the other hand, it is the grace of God through Jesus Christ that has made us free from sin (Rom 6:14).

Picking up in verse 9, “Having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.” although there were certainly prophecies of the Messiah and Savior, the idea of salvation by grace through faith was not fully revealed until the time was right. The Bible doesn’t tell us why God picked the time that He did to send His Son into the world, but there are some observations worth noting. There were two relatively recent world empires that had conquered the known world, predicted by the Prophet Daniel, and they both made some major contributions that would aid in spreading the Gospel. At the time of Jesus’ birth, the known world was under the control of Rome, and it was a relatively stable and peaceful time in the empire. The empire had spread throughout much of Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East, and it had a great network of roads, kept safe by Roman soldiers. This greater ease of travel would have aided early Christians in spreading the Gospel, whereas it would not have been possible in other eras. Second, although Rome had conquered the known world, the Greek culture still prevailed. This meant that the common Greek was the trade language, and was spoken by most people in the empire, making communicating the Gospel possible to more people. Third, there was a great anticipation among the Jews that the Messiah would come. Fourth, the Jews had been under the Law for over 1,300 years, which was ample time for them and the whole world to see that no one could live up to its demands. The school master had done its job.

God the Father will gather together in one all things in Christ. This has the idea of uniting or adding numbers with the sum written at the top (Christ). In the end, God will add everything up, and those who are in Christ will be with Him, while those who are not will be judged.

Next, we have been given an inheritance. In verse 11 it states, “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.” This inheritance is Heaven. Jesus died in order that we would receive it, and via the grave or the rapture, we will. Peter said of our inheritance: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5) So, as we can see, it is incorruptible, undefiled, does not fade away, and is being reserved for us.

We have been predestined to it by God who works all things according to the counsel of His will. God always makes the right plans, and He always carries them out perfectly. This is to bring glory to God, for it is offered to those who first trusted in Christ (the Jews), and to the Gentiles.

Now, we get into the role the Holy Spirit plays in the salvation of nonbelievers. Nonbelievers, as a result of hearing the word being preached, are saved by trusting in Christ. After believing, they are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. In ancient times, a seal was a signet ring or stamp pressed into wax or clay, and signifies ownership and security. The thing being stamped is being marked for security and preservation. In other words, we are stamped with the Holy Spirit, meaning we belong unto God, being preserved by Him. Paul goes on to say that He is our guarantee or down payment until the redemption of the purchased possession. It’s like when you buy a house, you are required to put down earnest money as security you will pay the rest later. As the buyer, you can back out, but you may lose your earnest money. However, God never backs out on His end of the bargain. Remember, we are marked and preserved until the day of redemption, and the Holy Spirit lives inside us as God’s earnest or guarantee He is coming back for us. The author of Hebrews in quoting the Old Testament says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Heb 13:5)

Next, Paul says that after he had heard of their faith in the Lord Jesus and love for all the saints, he hadn’t stopped giving thanks for them, and praying that God would give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. He wanted them to know more of who God is. It’s important to note that the answers to Paul’s prayers are a spiritual revelation from the Holy Spirit through the written Word. David Guzek writes, “Our Christian life must be centered around this purpose – to know God as He is in truth, as revealed by His Word, and to correct our false, idolatrous ideas of who God is.” He wanted the eyes of their understanding to be enlightened that they would know all they had in Christ (i.e. the hope of His calling, the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints in verse 18. He also prayed they would know the exceeding greatness of His power toward us, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places. This is pretty incredible, for we have that same resurrection power inside of us through the person of the Holy Spirit.

The Father has seated Jesus far above all principality, power, might, dominion, and every name that is named, both now and in the ages to come. In other words, Jesus is ruler of all, including Satan and all the various demonic entities (He’s far above them). Remember, they are created beings, created by none other than Jesus Himself. Paul told the Colossians that Jesus disarmed the principalities and powers, and made an open spectacle of them, triumphing over them through His death, burial, and resurrection. (Col 2:15)

Lastly in chapter 1, the Father has put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head of all things to the Church. God gave Jesus to us as our head, we are His body, and He fills us with His blessings. Next time I hope to cover chapter 2.

    

 

2 Samuel 10 - The Courage and Faith of a General

Previously in 2 Samuel, we saw how David kept a promise he made to Jonathan, Saul’s son. Mephibosheth was Jonathan’s son, and he was lame in his feet. He was hiding out in Lo Debar, probably trying to avoid being executed for being heir to Saul’s throne. When David found out about him, he brought Mephibosheth to his own house to eat bread at his table continually, and he restored to him all of his grandfather Saul’s land. David then told Ziba, Saul’s servant, that he and his sons and servants should work the land and bring in the harvest for Mephibosheth. Not only was David not wiping out a potential heir to Saul’s throne, he was going above and beyond the call of duty by blessing Mephibosheth in this way. Picking up in chapter 10, we will see another battle highlighted that some believe to be a further expounding of the battle in chapter 8.

Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, died, and his son, Hanun, took the throne. If we recall from 1 Samuel, Nahash had gone to war with the inhabitants of Jabish Gilead (Israelites), and Saul had come to their rescue. Somehow between then and now, Nahash had showed kindness to David, and David wanted to return the favor by sending comforters to Hanun after his father’s death.

When David’s servants came into Ammon, Hanun’s servants were suspicious of them, and accused David of sending them as spies to overthrow the city. So, Hanun took David’s servants, shaved off half their beards, cut off their garments at their buttocks, and sent them away. In the eastern culture, a beard was a sign of manhood, so this was a big insult. David chose not to act hastily, but told the men to stay at Jericho until their beards grew back.

The Ammonites, seeing that they had made themselves repulsive to David, hired 20 thousand footmen of the Syrians of Beth Rehob and Zoba, one thousand men from the king of Maacah, and 12 thousand men from Esh-Tob. When David heard of it, he sent Jobb and all the mighty men to go to Ammon. When they got there, the Ammonites had set the battle in the city gate, and the others were in the field.

Joab, seeing that the battle was before and behind him, divided his army into two groups. He picked some of the best soldiers to go with him to fight the Syrians, and left the rest of them with his brother, Abishai. He told him that if the Syrians were too strong for him, then Abishai could come help him, but if the Ammonites were too strong for Abishai, then he would help his brother. It is interesting that Joab did not accept total defeat as an option, but was confident that between the two groups of soldiers they would be victorious. This could be because he knew the potential of his own men, or that he was confident in the Lord’s protection and strength. What he says next makes me believe the latter when he says, “Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what is good in His sight.” Joab, despite his many faults, was displaying great courage and faith here, and this is what made him the general of David’s mighty men.

When they drew near to the battle, the Syrians fled from before Joab, and the Ammonites followed suit. Joab could have pursued after them, but perhaps thought it better to walk away from the fight. Again, it was David’s goal originally to show Hanun kindness. We should always seek to walk away from a fight if possible, but when it is not possible, then we should seek to win quickly and decisively.

The Syrians, however, were not willing to walk away from the fight. Instead of accepting defeat, they sent for re-enforcements as far as the Euphrates River, and came to Helam to fight. This time David went with the army, and he took all of Israel to fight with the Syrians.

Again, the Syrians fled before David and his men, and David killed 700 charioteers, 40 thousand horsemen, and struck Shobach the captain of their army who died there. When all the kings who served Hadadezer of the Syrians saw that the Syrians were defeated, they made peace with Israel and served them. The Syrians were also afraid to help the Ammonites anymore. This battle left some unfinished business in Rabbah of the Ammonites that David will choose to tackle the following Spring.

To say that we are in a battle today as Christians is an understatement. Truthfully, we are surrounded by evil, trying to swallow us up along with the rest of the culture. Is our tendency to simply retreat and accept defeat, or to be like Joab who put his trust in the Lord and fought anyway? Men, we may have many faults, but we are the generals of our homes, and this requires great courage and faith     on our parts. Let us be of good courage, be strong for our families and our communities, and may the Lord do what is good in His sight.

 

Psalm 1 - Blessed Is the Man

 

If you would ask them, most people would answer that they want to live a blessed life. The question is then, how does one go about living a life that is blessed? I think the first Chapter of the book of Psalms gives us some definite insights. It states:

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.  The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.  Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.  For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”

The word “blessed” here means How happy, (how happy is the man). Interesting that the Lord wants us to be happy in life: Being a Christian doesn’t mean being somber, depressed, and in a bad mood all the time. He wants us to fully enjoy life.

When a former pastor of ours was teaching through the book of Psalms, one of the things he pointed out in Psalm 1 is that it starts out by saying the man is blessed who does not do certain things. There are both positive and negative commands in the Scriptures: We may not always like the negative commands, but The Lord begins here by saying we must not do certain things to enjoy blessing.

The first thing the Lord tells us is, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly”. Counsel is not the giving of instruction, say for example, in teaching someone how to change the oil in his car, otherwise, we would not be able to go to school, work, or anything in which we would learn something unless they were Christians. Counsel is the giving of advice, and by its nature, involves discerning the difference between right and wrong or wisdom and foolishness. The ungodly, in the most basic sense, are nonbelievers, and are contrasted with the righteous, believers who are submitted to the word of God. However, we do need to use caution, for sometimes this bad counsel can come from believers who are not submitted to the word of God themselves or those who merely profess to be believers. This can be more dangerous, since we have a tendency to trust people more who sound spiritual. Many people (believers included) seek advice from worldly sources such as an unsaved co-worker, college professor or humanistic psychologist instead of finding guidance through the Scriptures. They then wonder why things do not turn out as they had hoped. The Bible contains answers to all the important questions in life that we need. Therefore, our primary source for counsel/advice should come from God’s Word and the Holy Spirit who teaches them to us. The Psalmist wrote, “Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.” (Psalm 119:24) Jesus told His disciples, “But the Comforter (Counselor), which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” (John 14:26)

Our second source of counsel should be from those individuals who hold God’s Word in high esteem. It’s not that a nonbeliever always will give bad advice, but their entire outlook on life is different. This will have an overall effect on their world view, and consequently on the advice they will give. If you or I am receiving counsel from someone who is not a believer and not using the Scriptures as the foundation of the advice they are giving us, we need to stop listening to them. Solomon wrote, “Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge.” (Proverbs 19:27) When it involves matters of right and wrong or wisdom and foolishness, we need to seek advice from those who are believers, and will use the Scriptures as their primary source of direction.

The next step after walking in the counsel of the ungodly is to stand in the way of sinners. At this point the person is no longer just following bad advice from an ungodly person, but they are standing with them. This implies a fellowship taking place. Instead of surrounding themselves with godly persons who love the Lord, they surround themselves with sinners as their close circle of friends. When you or I are walking in sin, we naturally do not want to hang out with those who are doing right because their doing right shines light on our sins. People who do not want to walk in godly counsel will often seek the person(s) that will tell them the thing they want to hear, as if to attempt to justify their behavior. Unfortunately, this only serves to take them down a path leading them further away from the Lord, and will only lead to more compromise on what they know to be right. As we read in Romans 1, they become futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts are darkened. They become more hardened to the conviction of their sin, and as a result do not see the need to accept the Gospel. Almost synonymous with hardness of heart is unbelief. They refuse to believe the truths found in the Scriptures, and the Lord is far from their thoughts. This can only lead to more foolishness, since at the heart of foolishness is unbelief. For a believer, they also become hardened to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and will end up in a backslidden state. The apostle Paul wrote, “Be not deceived: evil communications (company) corrupt good manners.” (1 Corinthians 15:33) So, as we can see, it is important that our close circle of friends are believers who want to obey the word of God.

Close kin to being foolish is being scornful. A fool rejects biblical truth, while a scorner both rejects it and mocks it. He also mocks at anyone that attempts to live their lives according to the Truth. The third part of verse 1 states that the person sits in the seat of the scornful. This is speaking to sitting in the seat of judgment. This is not true or righteous judgment, but a hatred and condemnation for those who seek to do what is right. They have now become scornful, and seek to place judgment on those who do not follow in the same path as they. Even when they want to get wisdom, they are unable to obtain it. Proverbs says, “A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not: but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth.” (Proverbs 14:6) The book of Proverbs has a lot to say about the scornful man, and when a person reaches this point there is no reasoning with them. Many times, the only thing that can be done to them is to punish them. If they continue in this state, they can only expect to face the wrath of God on judgment day. When a believer becomes scornful, they will often find themselves in a state of discipline from the Lord.

Notice how this is a natural progression that a person follows: You first walk with someone, when you arrive at your destination you stop/stand still, and then you sit down. The walking in ungodly counsel leads to the standing with/fellowshipping with sinners, and the standing with sinners leads to the sitting in the scornful seat with them. We begin investing time and emotion into these relationships, and do not want to give them up.

In contrast, if a believer does not walk down the path of the ungodly, and delights in the Lord’s Word, He promises blessing. Verse 2 says that the man delights in the law of the Lord, and meditates on it day and night. The Word meditate means that he is chewing on it, like a cow that chews the cud. Moses stated the following in Deuteronomy: “these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7) The Lord and His Word should constantly be on a believer’s mind and heart. If they are constantly renewing their minds with God’s Word, it becomes more and more difficult to think on worldly things. It is also important to study all of God’s Word. The apostle Paul told the Ephesian elders, “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” (Acts 20:28) Studying the whole counsel of God’s Word helps believers compare Scripture with Scripture, so that they do not take it out of context. Studying the entire Bible, comparing Scripture with Scripture, is one of the best protections against false teaching. If you have never read through the whole Bible, I would strongly encourage you to do so. You can read through the whole Bible in a year if you read three chapters a day, and five on Sundays. Once you have finished, start over and read through it again. This is by no means the only way to read and study the Bible, but I cannot think of a better way for new believers or believers who are not familiar with the word to know the whole Counsel of the Scriptures.

Not only is it important to study and know God’s word, but believers need to obey what it says. Jesus told His disciples, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15), and “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love (John 15:10).  James says, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.  For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.  But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (James 1:22-25).

When believers delight in and walk in obedience to the word of God, there is a natural blessing that takes place. “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” If a person delights in God’s Word, they will soak it up like water and put it into practice in their lives. They will then bring forth fruit in the Lord’s timing, they will not wither or dry up spiritually, and whatever they do will prosper. The Lord told Joshua, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Josh 1:8) This is a cause-and-effect relationship: Because of the work Jesus accomplished at Calvary, believers are blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ, and by obeying the Word they put themselves in a place where they can enjoy these blessings to the fullest.

The ungodly are not like this tree planted by the rivers of water, but are like chaff driven away by the wind. The chaff is the outer shell or hull of grain, that once separated from the kernel, was thrown into the air, and the wind blows the chaff away. On the day of judgment, the ungodly will be found to have no substance or value in their works, and as a result, will not be able to stand before God. Sinners (those who have rejected Jesus Christ) will not be able to stand in the congregation of the righteous, for they have rejected the only provision for their sin in exchange for their own filthy rags. This will leave them weighed in the balances and found wanting. The Lord knows the way of the righteous; He knows those whose names have been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, who have had their sins washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ. He also knows the ungodly who will perish. The books will be opened, they will be judged according to their works, and be thrown into the lake of fire (Rev 20:11-15).

In closing, let us consider what path we are on. If you are not a Christian, you are clearly on the path of the ungodly. You will be carried away on the day of Judgment, and cast into Hell, along with the devil and his angels. Repent and believe the Gospel! Place your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and trust that what he did on the cross is sufficient to pay your sin debt in full. You will then be forgiven of all your sins and receive eternal life. As believers, we have all been on the path of the ungodly at one point. We need to pray that we can quickly recognize when we begin to go astray, and then to repent as well.   We need to delight in God’s word, meditate on it day and night, and obey what it says. Then we will be like the tree by the rivers of water, and we will bring forth fruit in God’s timing. We will not wither or dry up spiritually, for we have drunk from the water that Jesus said, if a man drinks, he will never thirst again. As we come to know the Scriptures, they teach us the right way to go, so that whatever we do we will prosper. How happy we will be in life, in death, and in eternity to come.