2 TIMOTHY 4:1\u20138<\/b><\/p>\n
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith<\/i><\/p>\n
(2 Tim. 4:7<\/i>).<\/p>\n
If you were to find out that today was the last day of your life, what would your reaction be? Aside from the normal reactions of wanting to tie up loose ends, worrying about loved ones left behind, regretting that you will not be a part of your family\u2019s future, what would your reaction to death itself be? What assurances would you have that you are going to heaven? What comfort would you have knowing that you will spend an eternity with God, or would you have any such comfort at all?<\/p>\n
To be honest, most of us cannot really begin to know how we would act if this were the last day of our lives. But it helps to think about it and prepare. To be sure, we can know something of the assurances of Christ and the hope of heaven. As Christians, we ought to take such delight in our Lord that we actually look forward to death. It should be our goal to live as Paul, who said, \u201cto live is Christ, but to die is gain.\u201d<\/p>\n
The same apostle who penned those words also wrote, \u201cthe time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.\u201d The source of Paul\u2019s comfort was that he would be declared righteous by his Lord and King. God would not hold him to account for his wicked deeds, but would crown him with righteousness because of Christ.<\/p>\n
But notice, Paul\u2019s comfort did not only come from God\u2019s promises, but from the admission that he had persevered in faith. When all was said and done, the lifeline of faith\u2014a gift from above\u2014held him fast. It wasn\u2019t his own goodness, his own service, his own deeds that brought Paul comfort, but that he, by God\u2019s grace, had persevered by trusting in Christ alone.<\/p>\n
It is only by faith that we can hope to face death with such steadfast resolve. To be able to stand at the door of eternity without fear is the desire of every person. But that kind of confidence can only come when you have faith in Christ, who has promised that those who truly believe in Him will never die.<\/p>\n
CORAM DEO<\/b><\/p>\n
Psalm 4\u20136<\/p>\n
Acts 16:16\u201340<\/p>\n
WEEKEND<\/b><\/p>\n
Psalm 7\u201312<\/p>\n
Acts 17<\/p>\n
Fear of death is natural because it is unknown. Death is in itself \u201cunnatural\u201d because it is an act of judgment. So, being afraid is to be expected. But you do not need to be overcome by that fear. In fact, it is possible for you not to fear it at all. Pray today that God will take the fear of death from you. Meditate on the verses below.<\/p>\n
For further study:<\/i> John 14:1\u20138<\/i> \u2022 1 Cor. 15:12\u201358<\/i> \u2022 Phil. 1:19\u201326<\/i> \u2022 Heb. 10:19\u201325<\/i><\/p>\n
WEEKEND<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
2 TIMOTHY 4:1\u20138 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith (2 Tim. 4:7). If you were to find out that today was the last day of your life, what would your reaction be? Aside from the normal reactions of wanting to tie up loose ends, worrying … Continue reading “THE HOPE OF FAITH”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13019\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}