–Clair Huffaker  (The Cowboy and the Cossack)

        “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.”
                    –Ephesians 1:13(NKJV)
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Have you watched or read the news lately?  It’s terrible.  I seldom look at the news for most of it is negative and a person does not know who to believe.  Crazy times, evil times:  Afghanistan, Cuba, riots in the streets, the virus and now a new strain, murders rampant, earthquakes, famine.  My mercy, it looks like a scene right out of the Book of Revelation.
However, today I want to focus on something different–the Good News.

               “The time that was appointed has come, and the Kingdom of God is here.  Repent and believe the good news.”
                              –Mark 1:15(Barclay)

The New Living Translation states it this way, “The Kingdom of God is near!  Turn from your sins and believe this Good News!”  Most translations use the term “gospel” which means “good news.”  Jesus brought good news to men if they will accept it.  The truth is in front of them, now they must determine whether they will believe the truth or accept the lie.  Let’s look at this “good news.” (I’m borrowing from William Barclay’s, The Gospel of Mark).

       1)  It is good news of truth.  With Jesus we have the light.  Man can see the truth clearly.  
                    Galatians 2:5; Colossians 1:5.

       2)  It is good news of hope.  Man hopes this works, he hopes that works–he should put his hope in the good news of Jesus Christ.  “The coming of Jesus brings hope to the hopeless heart.”
                    Colossians 1:23

       3)  It is good news of peace.  Man strives for peace in vain.  There is evil locked in the heart of man and there can be no peace without Christ–the Prince of Peace.  There can only be peace with Christ and that includes victory of the self-warring soul.
                    Ephesians 6:15

       4)  It is good news of God’s promise.  “All non-Christian religions think of a demanding God; only Christianity tells of a God who is more ready to give than we are to ask.”  The promises of God are sure and He is faithful.
                    Ephesians 3:6

       5)  It is good news of immortality.  Death and then it is over.  “Life was the road to death.”  Jesus came to give us life; we are on the way to life rather than death.  In death, since it was conquered by Christ, there is now eternal life.
                    2 Timothy 1:10

       6)  It is good news of salvation.  “It is not simply liberation from penalty and escape from past sin; it is the power to live life victoriously and to conquer sin.”  There is that wonderful assurance that we are saved!
                    Ephesian 1:13

So don’t get down in the sloughs of depression.  Don’t be anxious about life and what tomorrow may hold.  Grasp hold of the Good News.  Despite what is happening in the world get into God’s Word and devour the Good News.

               “To believe in the good news simply means to take Jesus at his word, to believe that God is the kind of God that Jesus has told us about, to believe that God so loves the world that he will make any sacrifice to bring us back to himself, to believe that what sounds too good to be true is really true.”
                                –William Barclay

                    –Louis L’Amour  (Where the Long Grass Blows)

       “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which are against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.”

                    –1 Peter 2:11-12 (NKJV)
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How to Live in a Pagan, Apostate, and Foolish World

Key Verse:  “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”  –1 John 5:19 (NASB)

       Evil is all around us.  Look at Afghanistan right now–the Taliban is the personification of evil.  Hmm, do they carry the “mark of Cain”?    See, that was the problem with Cain, he was evil, he belonged to the devil and murdered his brother.  Evil is something that we must fight in other countries, in those around our community, in our family, and in ourselves.  

               “For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother.  And for what reasons did he slay him?  Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.”
                              –1 John 3:11 (NASB)

We have a foundation in front of us.  We have seen that we are to live a righteous life; we are to love one another; and we must concentrate on who we are.  I remember, years ago, reading a story about Victoria when she was a little girl.  She was frivolous, silly, and lackadaisical.  One of her maids took her aside (audacity) and told her to quit acting like a foolish little girl and remember she soon would be the Queen of the mighty empire of Great Britain.  From that day forward she knew who she was.  Douglas MacArthur, when stationed in the Philippines as a lieutenant, would put on his formal uniform when tempted to “party with the boys”, stand in front of a mirror and dress himself out.  He wanted to remind himself of who he was.
       Our name, last name, used to mean something.  Reputation was to be kept, honor was a given, and when you walked down the street people knew who you were by your name.  “There goes Joe,” they would say and it could be for better or for worse.  This is not so true any more.  That is good to a point, but at the same time, we should know who we are.  It was said in the early part of the 19th century that you could walk down the streets of a town and point out where the Methodists lived by the music coming from their house.  Hmmm, hard to tell the music apart these days.
       Not only must we know who we are, we must concentrate on who we are.  A member of the Special Forces will constantly be practicing his calling.  He is a warrior, and he knows who he is.  He doesn’t have to prove it to anyone, but he continually trains.  He never loses focus on who he is.  The New Testament constantly reminds us of who we are.  If we do not know who we are we cannot practice what we are.  That is why we have been discussing the importance of knowing that we are children of God.  God Almighty is our Father; yet do we look like it?  Do we talk like our Father?  Do our actions show the character of our Father?
       People lose their identity.  They become self-seekers, become absorbed in their own moods and conditions that they forget the practical, obvious duty of the Christian life.  We must practice righteousness, not sin.  We must seek after His righteousness, not our own gratification.  We cannot go around saying, “I am saved, and therefore what I do does not matter at all.”  It does matter!  We are children of the King.  I would encourage you to read and contemplate on 1 Peter 2.  We have been called out of darkness into His marvelous light.  
   

                    –Romans 2:2 (NASB)
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How To Live in a Pagan, Apostate, and Foolish World

Key Verse:  “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”  –1 John 5:19 (NASB)

My mercy, friend, foolishness seems to abound.  From racist rocks, to allowing multiplied thousands into the country with the COVID virus, to attempting to force through vaccine passports and critical race theory.  Not only is much of it foolishness, some of it is downright evil.
       Grasp hold!  That’s what I said, grasp hold!  Hang onto God’s unchanging word.  We are children of God and have a glorious destiny waiting, therefore, it is necessary for us to live a holy life.  Peter says that we are to “grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18, NASB)  Then we look at John’s epistle, where we are referred to as “children.”  Children have to grow.  

               3.9 — “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
              3,10 — By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious:  anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.” (NASB)

       There is something grammatical that should be noticed in these verses–“practices sin.”  In other words a person who keeps on doing sin.  A person who trains to sin, makes it his specialty.  John is looking at our character.  The man who is righteous will show that by living a righteous life.  The characteristic of the devil is sin; he sins from the beginning; he goes on sinning.  That is why 1 John 1:9 is so important.  “If we sin,” this does not deal with the practice of sin, for we no longer do that.  Paul writes, “But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him” (Romans 8:9, NASB).

               “You will be unlike the man or woman who has not been born again.  The characteristic of men and women in their natural state is that they are like the devil; and the characteristic of the evil nature is that they go on sinning, they dwell in sin.  The whole atmosphere of that life is one of sin continuing.”
                              –D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

       The Christian is no longer like the person next to him on the street.  He no longer practices sin.  He is now in the light, and is removed from the darkness even though he may have to walk through it.
       One more term to notice–“seed”.  After a seed is planted it must germinate and grow.  It must be watered, fertilized, cultivated, and cared for to grow properly.  Therefore, it is vital to get into the Word of God.  To “eat” of the heavenly bread.  It is vital to listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the more of the Word you have in you the more the Holy Spirit is able to guide you.  We need to get into the Word of God so the Word of God can get into us.