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TEMPTATION, SIN AND REDEMPTION
I'm going to start by giving you
the title of my sermon. So if you want to make a note of it, the
title is: “Temptation, Sin and Redemption”. And we're
going to briefly look at all three of these during the course of
the sermon.
So first - temptation. In
English, we generally use the word to mean “incitement or
inducement to evil”. However temptation is also often used
to refer to inducements we don't necessarily take very seriously.
It can be used of things that in themselves are regarded as not
seriously anything wrong, and even – rather fun. Perhaps
something like the desire to indulge in a secret bar of chocolate
when you are supposedly on diet!
I can remember many years ago going
on a church picnic somewhere, and I hadn't really prepared very
much in the way of provisions to take with me. So someone very
kindly offered me a muesli bar or something similar. And I -
always ready to come out with some merry quip at the least
pretext - said straight off the top of my head without even
thinking about it - “I can resist anything except
temptation”! But unfortunately the minister of the church
was also there and I remember that he looked at me - and frowned.
Ever had the feeling that you rather wish you hadn't said
something? Well that's the feeling I had at that particular
moment! I discovered long afterwards that what I'd said was in
fact a quotation from the 19th
century author and playwright Oscar Wilde. Now any anyone who
knows much about him will realise that he was someone who didn't
take temptation very seriously either – much to his
undoing.
Temptation is one of those things
that everybody experiences, but people tend not to talk about
very much. However, I think that as Christians it's essential
that we have an understanding of the subject. Because, as the
Bible and as practical experience teaches us, it is something we
all have to deal with.
So, what exactly is temptation?
Although we said earlier that it meant an incitement to evil, in
the Bible the word often has a much more general sense, meaning
to “put to the proof," or in other words to “try”
or “test” material things or even human beings to
determine their value. That is why when the Authorised Version
has the word “tempt”, modern translations often
replace it with the words “try” or “test”.
However, it can of course include the sense of temptation.
In the OT we read
Job 7:17-18 (NKJV)
17 "What
is man, that You should exalt him, That You should
set Your heart on him,
18 That
You should visit him every morning, And test him every
moment?
Job is saying that mankind is the
subject of God's special interest and concern. But, the
consequence of that is that he wants to try or test us to
see our value, or what we've learnt. We might find that a bit
disconcerting, but I think we are all used to the concept of
being tested from our time in education – schools and
colleges routinely test students to see what they have learned.
In the NT we see the examples of
1 Peter 1:3-7 (NKJV)
3
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, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and
that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who
are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to
be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly
rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been
grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your
faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes,
though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honour, and
glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
1 Cor 3:11-13
11 For
no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which
is Jesus Christ.
12 Now
if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver,
precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one's work will
become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be
revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what
sort it is.
I think there are two things you
can get out of these scriptures. Firstly scripture is not saying
that we might be tested, it's saying that we will
be tested. Secondly, given the references to being tested by
fire, it won't necessarily be a pleasant experience.
Now who does the testing? Well it
all depends. Because we can see from scripture that both God and
Satan try or test people. But they do so for completely different
purposes.
What God does is to test, try, or
examine people with aim of strengthening and blessing them. Satan
tempts people so he can destroy them. God gives trials that
people can endure; Satan tries to find temptations that people
cannot endure, and the only reason that he does not always
succeed is that God limits his power.
We can see the contrast if we look
at
James 1:2-4
2 My
brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various
trials,
3 knowing that the
testing of your faith produces patience.
4 But
let patience have its perfect work, that you may be
perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
1 Cor 10:13
13 No
temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but
God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted
beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make
the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
Compare that with the temptations
of Job.
Job 1:6-12
6 Now
there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves
before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.
7 And
the LORD said to Satan, "From where do you come?" So
Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on
the earth, and from walking back and forth on it." 8
Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant
Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless
and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?" 9
So Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for
nothing?10 "Have
You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around
all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his
hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11
"But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has,
and he will surely curse You to Your face!" 12 And
the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is
in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person."
So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
However, Satan's temptations don't
work and Job refuses to curse God as Satan said he would. So in
Job 2 we read the next episode of the story.
Job 2:3-6 (NKJV)
3 Then
the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job,
that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and
upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds
fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to
destroy him without cause." 4 So Satan answered the
LORD and said, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he
will give for his life. 5 "But stretch out Your hand
now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse
You to Your face!" 6 And the LORD said to Satan,
"Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life."
Notice on both occasions God allows
Satan to tempt Job, but sets a “way of escape” by
limiting Satan’s power, in the first case by not allowing
him to touch Job's person, in the second to spare Job's life. I
don't think there is much doubt that Satan’s purpose was to
destroy Job, spiritually if he could but failing that,
physically, and God has to limit his power each time. I think
Satan would have killed Job in the end out of anger and
frustration that his temptations weren't working if God had not
explicitly forbidden him to do so.
Satan’s prime target was of
course Christ as we can see from the NT. In Matt 4 there is the
well-known passage about Christ's temptation by Satan in the
wilderness. I think we are all familiar with the story of how
Satan tried to induce Christ to turn stones into bread, cast
himself down from the temple, and bow down and worship Satan.
In Luke 22:39-43 we read
39 Coming
out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and
His disciples also followed Him. 40 When He came to the
place, He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into
temptation." 41 And He was withdrawn from them about a
stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed,
42 saying,
"Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me;
nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done." 43 Then
an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.
You certainly get the impression
that Christ was being tempted at that point. But Jesus triumphed
over Satan on the cross and showed who he was and that He was fit
to be our Saviour and High Priest in heaven.
Heb 4:14-15 (KJV)
14 Seeing
then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the
heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
15 For we
have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are,
yet without sin.
So far we've seen that everyone is
tempted, that is tried or tested by Satan. And that Jesus was
tempted himself, but yet he did not sin, and triumphed
over Satan.
But, what about us? Can we also
triumph over Satan and, if so, how?
Well this is the cue for us to move
on to the second section of the sermon - Sin
Because as the Bible tells us and
practical experience confirms, when temptation comes calling, sin
is all too often not far behind. To illustrate this, you really
could not do better than to go back to the book of Genesis and
the garden of Eden.
Genesis 2:15-17 (NKJV)
15
Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden
to tend and keep it.
16 And the Lord God commanded the man,
saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not
eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
Genesis 3:1-13 (NKJV)
1
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field
which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has
God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the
garden'?" 2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may
eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of
the tree which is
in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it,
nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' " 4 Then the serpent
said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5 For God knows
that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you
will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 So when the
woman saw that the tree was
good for food, that it was
pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one
wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband
with her, and he ate.
7 Then the eyes of both of them were
opened, and they knew that they were
naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves
coverings.
Verse 6 gives three reasons
which influenced Eve in her decision to eat of the forbidden
fruit. These were that she saw that the tree was good
for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree
desirable [or “to be desired” as it says in the AV]
to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.
Although it doesn't really come across as clearly as it might do
in the translation, these are pretty all strong desires. They are
about things you've just got to have “because you're worth
it” as the L'Oreal adverts say on television.
Now given that we talking here
about the first sin ever committed by human beings, we shouldn’t
be too surprised that it tends to reflect the pattern of all the
sins that human beings have committed subsequently. In other
words, the motivation and development of every temptation and sin
is really much the same. And, let's be even more specific, since
we know that everyone sins it, alas, also reflects the pattern of
our own sins as individuals. My sins – and your sins!
The apostle Paul wrote to the
Corinthian church
2 Cor 2:10-11 (NKJV)
10 Now whom you forgive
anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven
anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence
of Christ,
11 lest Satan
should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his
devices.
Temptation is one of Satan's
devices to lead us into sin, so if we are ignorance of how it can
happen it will unfortunately give him an advantage. So I think
it's worth looking at the process of how and why temptations lead
to sin to give us a few pointers as to how we ourselves can deal
with temptation.
1 John 2:15-17 (NKJV)
15 Do
not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves
the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For
all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is
of the world. 17 And the world is
passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God
abides forever.
I think the resemblance of that to the account in Genesis is
fairly obvious. Eve saw that the tree was good for food
– the lust of the flesh - that it was pleasant to
the eyes – the lust of the eyes - and a tree desirable to
make one wise – the pride of life.
Well, that's a description of the
motivation for temptation. But let’s also look at the
process.
James 1:12-15 (NKJV)
12 Blessed is
the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he
will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to
those who love Him.
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I
am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor
does He Himself tempt anyone.
14 But each one is tempted when
he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
15 Then,
when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when
it is full-grown, brings forth death.
Now there is an old statement which
people who come from a religious culture have sometimes made when
they've been caught committing a crime and maybe are up before a
judge, which is “the Devil made me do it!” It's more
or less a music hall joke, used by comedians for describing
someone who won't admit personal responsibility for their own
wrongdoing. It actually goes right back to the Garden of Eden
itself. You'll probably recall when God confronts Eve in
particular about what she has done, she says “the serpent
beguiled [or deceived] me, and I did eat. [Gen 3:13]. Or, in
other words, “the Devil made me do it”.
However, far more than it is
comfortable for us to realise, I think that we participate
actively in our own temptation. Yes, Satan may put the suggestion
of sin in front of us, in the same way as he suggested it to Adam
and Eve but we decide whether or not that suggestion is
going to be a temptation for us, and whether or not that
temptation is going to turn into sin. In fact, we largely
tempt ourselves. You can see this in James 1:14 where it says
that when we are tempted we are “drawn away by our own
desires and enticed. It's us who are doing the drawing.
In fact if you look at verses 14
and 15 closely, you can see that there is a distinct and logical
process at work in which we are heavily involved ourselves.
It starts with the temptation
itself (verse14). This is not itself sin. Christ himself was
tempted or tried, yet sin was not involved.
However, we can see what begins to
start the process whereby temptation turns into sin is the next
phrase, “drawn away”. What this is refers to is a
strong, prolonged or repeated imagination in the mind of the
thing or action about which we are being tempted. This is the
first wrong step down the slippery slope that leads from
temptation to sin, but at this stage it is a completely voluntary
process. We can if we wish nip it in the bud a that point. In
that case, the temptation will die, simply through lack of
nourishment.
On to the next stage…
We read in Gen 3: 6
6 So when the
woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was
pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one
wise...
So Eve examines the temptation
without any attempt to evaluate it in the light of the revelation
she has received of God’s will. But, at this stage, she is
not so much defying God’s will as simply ignoring it. And,
as a result, she is being “drawn away”. Again, a
completely voluntary process. She could still, even then, have
recalled to mind God’s command not to eat of the forbidden
fruit if she had wanted to, and rejected the temptation at that
point.
The next stage referred to in James
1:14 is “enticed”. This can be defined as the
progressive consent of a person’s will to the temptation,
and the weakening, diminishing or rationalisation of any
remaining contrary will. The tempted person has slipped still
further down the slippery slope, but even at this stage it’s
still voluntary. Stronger measures are going to be needed to
reject the temptation, maybe to physically remove yourself from
the source of the temptation, but it’s still possible.
Until we get to the next point
(Verse 15) – the desire is “conceived”.
Conceived is not a good translation. The Greek word really means
to “seize” or capture something by force, rather like
a predatory animal seizing its prey. It’s not voluntary any
more. The will is simply overpowered by the desire.
Sin: evil act is committed. Which
leads to death: the final result of actual sin (v. 15)
It’s a curious thing that
each act of sin seems to lay the groundwork for further sin.
Temptation seems to gain power from each sinful act, whereas the
will is further weakened and is less able to resist in the
future. There is distinct tendency for sin to become habitual. In
the final extreme, it is possible for a person’s capacity
to make their own decisions to be so reduced by repeated defeats
at the hands of temptation that their will loses its independence
and becomes the permanent slave of sin. This reminded me of:
Romans 6:16 (NKJV)
16 Do you not
know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are
that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death,
or of obedience leading to righteousness?
Sin leads to death, exactly the
thing we have just been reading about in James 1.
Now, I realise that all this may
seem a bit heavy, and not too pleasant for us to think about. And
that’s true. It would have been a lot nicer to have talked
about a different subject. But, unfortunately, temptation and sin
has infected the whole human race down through history, starting
with Adam and Eve and continuing down to us. So we simply can’t
ignore it.
I thought I would try to Illustrate
the subject further via another passage from the Bible. However,
given the subject, I think it might be appropriate to try to find
an illustration from elsewhere. As temptation and sin involves
the history of the whole human race, there ought to be plenty of
them! Perhaps, something that could serve as a kind of modern-day
story or parable, of the kind Christ himself used to use in the
New Testament.
So I've decided to use this book I
have here, by the 19th century author Robert Louis
Stevenson. Now Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a number of novels.
Probably his most famous work was “Treasure Island”.
It’s ages since I’ve read it, but I remember Long
John Silver, and the parrot on his shoulder who repeats “Pieces
of Eight, Pieces of Eight”. It’s a good children's
story that has been filmed a number of times by Hollywood. Well,
this book here is also famous and has also been filmed a number
of times by Hollywood, but it's a very different kind of book.
The title is “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”.
Now I think we are all familiar
with the phrase “Jekyll and Hyde” as it’s gone
into the English language as an expression that means someone
with two sides to his character – both good and bad. But,
personally, I had never read the book itself until quite
recently. Maybe some of you haven't either, so let me briefly
summarise the plot.
Dr Jekyll is a Scottish doctor
living and practising in London sometime during the 19th
century. One day, while experimenting with different combinations
of drugs, he discovers a cocktail of drugs which has a very
strange and unusual effect on him. It, temporarily, radically
changes both his behaviour and also his appearance. In fact it
effectively changes him into quite another person – evil,
ugly and shrunken in size, and now called Mr Hyde - until he
drinks something else which counteracts the effect of the first
drug which changes him back into Dr Jekyll. I recall occasionally
seeing on television, and maybe you do too, clips from an old
Hollywood film dating from the 1920s in which the actor playing
the part of Dr Jekyll stands in front of a bubbling or steaming
glass of the drug. He takes it and drinks it, and in front of the
camera - using his best acting skills - supposedly turns into Mr
Hyde.
Now I had always thought that, in
the story, what was happening was that the drug was making Dr
Jekyll evil – and thus turning him into Mr Hyde. But the
story is much more subtle than that. What the drug actually does
is to destroy the good in Dr Jekyll, so that only the
evil is left. It's really a story about the fact that even in
the best of people, evil is present.
Of course, the first time Dr Jekyll
does it, its very shocking experience to him. But, somehow, he
just can't resist the temptation to try it once more, and then
again, and again. The experience of – temporarily –
being and doing evil is just so thrilling to him. He also
believes that he can give up the experience of becoming Hyde any
time he wants to. However, he begins to notice over time, as he
repeats the experience, that it is progressively becoming easier
and easier for him to turn into Mr Hyde, and harder and harder to
turn back into Dr Jekyll.
Although the book doesn't really
tell you anything about the evil activities Dr Jekyll gets up to
when he is Mr Hyde, you gather that his evil behaviour is
becoming worse and worse and it culminates in him committing a
murder. On occasions, he now finds that he turns into Mr Hyde
spontaneously and unexpectedly - without actually drinking the
drug - and finds it a virtually impossible struggle to revert
back to Dr Jekyll. In the end, he makes the final and irrevocable
decision to become once more Mr Hyde, knowing that he can never
ever return to being Dr Jekyll, and then subsequently is found by
an acquaintance to have committed suicide.
OK - this is real piece of
Victorian melodrama and probably something that is hard to take
very seriously. But when I read the story I was reminded of
Romans
7:18-23
18 For
I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for
to will is present with me, but how to perform what is
good I do not find.
19 For
the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I
will not to do, that I practice.
20 Now
if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do
it, but sin that dwells in me.
21 I
find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills
to do good.
22 For I delight
in the law of God according to the inward man.
23 But
I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my
mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is
in my members.
Notice the word “captivity”.
When you are a captive you have no means of escape. And what are
the results?
Romans 6:23 (first part)
23
For the wages of sin is
death....
I think a problem we can have when reading Romans 7 is that,
deep down, I'm not convinced that we actually believe it. I
suspect that we tend to think that Paul is exaggerating when he
says that he and by extension, we, of ourselves, are “captives”
to the law of sin. OK - we know that we sin sometimes, but we
don't really believe that we are captives, and prefer instead to
believe that, by our own free will, we have the possibility of
avoiding sin. Well, Paul does not seem to think so. Of course, to
make it absolutely clear, we are not captives to a habitually
sinful way of life. God has set us free from that. But I think
Paul is saying is that as long as we are in the flesh sin is not
merely possible, but simply inevitable.
One thing that really struck me on
reading the novel was that in spite of its universal theme of
man's struggle with evil, God is never once mentioned. Now Robert
Louis Stevenson came from a Scottish Calvinist background, and
clearly had some familiarity with the New Testament, but in the
book Dr Jekyll has no one to save him from his own dark side, or
if you prefer, “law of sin” - no-one at all, other
than himself. And he fails. Because under the surface, what the
novel is really all about is the powerlessness of mankind –
its complete helplessness, left to itself - when confronted by
its own sinful nature. That sinful nature which, when it has run
its course, inevitably leads to death. It's really that that
gives the book its universal theme, and the reason why it has
endured. Because, who really is Dr Jekyll? The answer is that
it's all human beings without God. And before God called us,
brethren, you and me. Of course, the details differ from
person to person, but the result is always the same.
But, the really crucial difference
between us and the fictional Dr Jekyll is that we have a great
Redeemer who is able to deliver us from the fate that would
otherwise await us. In the book of Job [19:25] Job makes the
famous statement “For I know that
my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last [or “at the
latter day”] on the earth;
In Romans 7:24-25 Paul asks the
question
24
O wretched man that I
am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
And gives the
answer
25 I
thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind
I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
There's no chapter break in the
original text, so continuing:
Romans 8:1-4 (NKJV)
1 There
is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in
Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but
according to the Spirit. 2 For
the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free
from the law of sin and death. 3 For
what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh,
God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful
flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that
the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who
do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Because of what Christ has done,
believers are not counted guilty in the sight of God, and will
not be punished on the day of judgement. Yes, we sin, but because
of what Christ has done, God does not condemn us. Christ has
taken our punishment on himself. Because he paid the penalty in
full, we do not need to pay it again. Christ has already received
all the condemnation that we deserve, so there is no further
condemnation waiting for us in eternity.
5 For those who live according
to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but
those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
Verse 5 describes two ways of life
which go in diametrically opposite directions. And they begin
with what is in our mind. This includes our conscious goals,
interests, desires, attitudes – everything that goes on in
the mind.
“Living according to the
flesh” describes a life that is dominated by the desires
and activities of sinful human nature. It tends to get further
and further away from God on its journey towards its only
possible destination: death. That's what Dr Jekyll did when he
became Mr Hyde. By living that life, a person is showing that he
is unwilling to live in the presence of God. He is hostile to
him, resentful of his authority.
In contrast, Christians do not, and
should not, live according to the sinful nature but according to
the Spirit. The person whose life orientation is led by the Holy
Spirit is preoccupied with the things of the Spirit. His desires,
goals, and interests are determined by the truth revealed in
Scripture by the Spirit of God.
So we should not set our minds on
what the sinful nature wants, but the things the Spirit wants. As
we are led by the Spirit, we think and do the things of God. And,
as Christians, the vast majority of the time that is what we do.
However, alas, sometimes we don't. Instead we live according to
the flesh, and the result is sin - exactly what Paul said in
Romans chapter 7.
I say this because I think it's
very important to realise that we are not freed from condemnation
because of what we do, but because of what Christ
has done. It was Christ who was nailed to the cross, not us. It
was Christ's blood that was shed, not ours. And as the spring
festival season approaches, it will be Christ's death and
resurrection we will be celebrating, not anything we have done.
But what we can do is to
show that we accept and deeply appreciate what God has done for
us through Christ. And the way we show that is through the kinds
of lives we live. The more we are led by the spirit (and
conversely, the less we are led by the flesh) the more we will
show our acceptance on a daily basis of what God has done for us
through Jesus Christ.
But don’t we still have a
responsibility to resist temptation and sin? Of course we do.
In James
4:7 (NKJV)
7 Therefore
submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
However, think it’s important
to realise that It’s not really us the devil will flee from
us, as though it’s our power that will make him flee. What
he will actually flee from is Christ living in us.
We read in 1
John 4:4 …..”greater is he
that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
That’s why in James 4: 7 our
submission to God precedes, or is the essential foundation for,
our resistance to Satan.
In conclusion, one day temptation
and sin will be thing of the past. Because of what God has done
in sending Jesus Christ we will live in the presence of God, and
these things just won't be around any more. Let’s finish
with:
1 Thess 5:23-24 (NKJV)
23 Now
may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may
your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 He
who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.
Peter Howick
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