But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil. — 2Th 3:3 KJV
The child of God has learned that he would rather suffer evil to happen to him than to commit sin.
Yes, indeed! We are on the winning side! Paul mentions the Lord and His purposes. They are twofold. He intends to ground His own and to guard His own: “But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil”... The Lord would give them both stability and protection. “The Lord is faithful,” he reminds them. God does not exempt His people from the natural disasters and ills of life. He does not promise immunity from dislike, discrimination, detention, and even death. What He does promise is that He will temper the wind to the shorn lamb. He will not allow Satan to go beyond a certain line that He Himself draws with an unerring hand (Job 1:12; 1 Cor. 10:13). Moreover, He promises to make a way of escape, and often that escape is a result of His own sufficient grace (2 Cor. 12:7–10). -John Phillips
We are surrounded by seen and unseen evils and temptations to commit evil. Worse than that, our very hearts desire it. We need the Lord! We ought to tremble when we consider the propensity that lies within to sin!
But God is faithful.
This is in contrast to verse 2,
And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith. — 2Th 3:2 KJV
Spurgeon commented:
What a wonderful contrast this is, and how suggestive of comfort! “Not all have the faith. But the Lord is full of faith, faith-ful,” true. He keeps all His promises.
Even we must lament our lack of faithfulness. But our God can keep us from the evil within.
Our Saviour prayed thus:
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. — John 17:15 KJV
How is God to keep us from evil?
His Spirit teaches our hearts to change our palate and diet, what we desire, and what we devour.
Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: — 1Pe 2:1-2 KJV.
The Puritans taught that meditation replaces sinful habits with those that please God’s Spirit. William Bridge showed, “As it is a heartwarming work, so it is that which will keep your hearts and souls from sinful thoughts. When the vessel is full, you can put in no more.” As Watson pictured, “Meditation is a golden shield to beat back sin!… Meditation makes the heart like wet tinder; it will not take the devil’s fire.” -David Saxton
The goal of praise and our need to remain faithful is to verbalize our meditations to see it lived out.
Faithfulness to Praise
08/11/2020
Day 223: Faithfulness to Praise
But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil. — 2Th 3:3 KJV
The child of God has learned that he would rather suffer evil to happen to him than to commit sin.
Yes, indeed! We are on the winning side! Paul mentions the Lord and His purposes. They are twofold. He intends to ground His own and to guard His own: “But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil”... The Lord would give them both stability and protection. “The Lord is faithful,” he reminds them. God does not exempt His people from the natural disasters and ills of life. He does not promise immunity from dislike, discrimination, detention, and even death. What He does promise is that He will temper the wind to the shorn lamb. He will not allow Satan to go beyond a certain line that He Himself draws with an unerring hand (Job 1:12; 1 Cor. 10:13). Moreover, He promises to make a way of escape, and often that escape is a result of His own sufficient grace (2 Cor. 12:7–10). -John Phillips
We are surrounded by seen and unseen evils and temptations to commit evil. Worse than that, our very hearts desire it. We need the Lord! We ought to tremble when we consider the propensity that lies within to sin!
But God is faithful.
This is in contrast to verse 2,
And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith. — 2Th 3:2 KJV
Spurgeon commented:
What a wonderful contrast this is, and how suggestive of comfort! “Not all have the faith. But the Lord is full of faith, faith-ful,” true. He keeps all His promises.
Even we must lament our lack of faithfulness. But our God can keep us from the evil within.
Our Saviour prayed thus:
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. — John 17:15 KJV
How is God to keep us from evil?
His Spirit teaches our hearts to change our palate and diet, what we desire, and what we devour.
Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: — 1Pe 2:1-2 KJV.
The Puritans taught that meditation replaces sinful habits with those that please God’s Spirit. William Bridge showed, “As it is a heartwarming work, so it is that which will keep your hearts and souls from sinful thoughts. When the vessel is full, you can put in no more.” As Watson pictured, “Meditation is a golden shield to beat back sin!… Meditation makes the heart like wet tinder; it will not take the devil’s fire.” -David Saxton
The goal of praise and our need to remain faithful is to verbalize our meditations to see it lived out.