by Brian Thomas, Ph.D.

“The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.” (Proverbs 10:7)

What more miserable thought can we conjure than that all our words and deeds will fade and be forever forgotten? This should motivate us to seek how we can find and hold significance that persists beyond our brief stay on Earth. This proverb helps answer our deep longing for lasting meaning.

The name of the wicked will not be remembered, but memories of the just will endure. For example, the Lord chose not to name the mightiest man alive during the Exodus—a recalcitrant Egyptian pharaoh. Yet, in that same narrative, the Lord named the just and brave midwives. “And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah” (Exodus 1:15). Those women’s names are blessed, being recorded and preserved in Scripture. Despite building monuments to himself, that pharaoh is now dust, and his name decayed with him.

How can we avoid this fate and be counted among the just? Malachi 3:16 says, “Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.”

We must fear the Lord. We often labor for significance by trying to make ourselves great in this world. If that’s all we have, then our names will die with us. However, those who fear the Lord find forgiveness, justification, and sanctification. God will likewise bless the memory of our words and deeds in a “book of remembrance.” What joy we’ll find in those blessed pages! BDT

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

by Charles (Chas) C. Morse, D.Min.

“But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses.” (2 Corinthians 6:4)

The phrase “in much patience [endurance]” could be used to summarize all of the apostle Paul’s life. The Greek word for endurance (hupomone) is used in the New Testament over 30 times. Endurance is triumphant patience, causing the troubled saint to rise above difficult circumstances. John Chrysostom, an early church father, said endurance “is a fortress that is never taken, a harbor that knows no storm.” It describes a believer boldly facing the difficult circumstances of life.

So, what were a few of Paul’s afflictions (Greek thlipsis)? Paul uses the same Greek word to describe his “trouble which came to us in Asia” (2 Corinthians 1:8) as well as his distress in writing his sorrowful letter to the Corinthians (2:4). He also used this word to summarize the troubles that caused him deep anguish (4:16–17). Even with these great struggles, Paul obediently overcame and endured.

Paul remained steadfast under the most arduous trials, and so can any believer in Christ. “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body” (4:8–10).

The sufferings of this present world are not to be compared with the glory that is ours in eternity. As one saint described, “Ministry will be a wildly oscillating experience.” Through all of life’s oscillation, the Holy Spirit grants the believer the strength to endure with contentment and integrity. May we be empowered to follow Paul’s example (11:1)! CCM

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

by John D. Morris, Ph.D.

“He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.” (Psalm 2:4-5)

What does an individual gain by opposing God and His plan? Can human opposition succeed against the Almighty One who created the universe? Obviously, no rebellion has a chance to succeed. God’s sovereign control will certainly overpower man’s feeble attempts to wrest command from Him. He will simply laugh in derision.

However difficult it is for us to imagine God laughing in this manner, we can surely understand His derision at the futility of created beings confronting their Creator and His right to rule over their lives. The name used for God is Lord, meaning master. As Creator He has the authority to set the rules for His creation and the power to exact the penalty for breaking the rules.

Note that His response exceeds mere derision. It extends to “wrath.” At the appointed time, the sovereign Judge will address all those who have rebelled against and opposed Him.

Man has no right to question God’s authority or goodness in exercising it. Indeed, “the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). He even sacrificed His only begotten Son to pay the just penalty for sin. What more could He do?

With our sin penalty fully paid, our sin is forgiven, and we gratefully acknowledge His kingship over our lives. Once submitted to Him, we face everlasting fellowship with Him. With sin banished, believers need never fear His derision or wrath. JDM

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

by Henry M. Morris III, D.Min.

“And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:4-5)

When God grants the gift of faith that enables us at the point of salvation (Ephesians 2:8), it should not be seen as a static power that merely resides in our minds but rather an empowerment that is expected to grow into a dynamic and demonstrable “divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4-9).

Faith preserves and protects us. Jesus insisted, “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). These words are precise. Once faith is exercised, an eternal transaction takes place wherein a person is “passed” from spiritual death to eternal life. This is an absolute change and eliminates the possibility of hell (John 10:28-29).

Faith is power for effective prayer. The “mustard seed” promise in Matthew 17:20 does not refer to size or amount but to quality. The Greek comparative hoce, translated “as” in that passage, refers to the same kind of faith as the mustard seed. Just so, the promise of Matthew 7:7 (that if you ask and seek, you will find) depends on our confidence (faith) in the heavenly Father.

Faith is our “shield” against the Enemy. The seven pieces of God’s armor identified in Ephesians 6:10-18 include “the shield of faith” that provides an ability “to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (v. 16). That shield is defensive in the sense that it only provides protection when we use it to block the “darts.” The active use comes when we “resist the devil” (James 4:7) “in the faith” (1 Peter 5:9).

Do you use faith as God intended? HMM III

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

“O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.” (Psalm 139:1)

Perhaps the most frightening attribute of God is that He knows everything about us. Everything! He has “searched” (literally “penetrated”) us and “known” (“understood”) us. And since God is both omnipresent and omniscient, it obviously follows that nothing escapes His conscious knowledge about us. He observes our ordinary activities (v. 2) and our innermost thoughts. “Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways” (v. 3). The Hebrew word translated “compassest” suggests that He actually sees the formation of the words in our tongues before we begin to speak them (v. 4). That means that we are transparent to Him; we cannot deceive Him in any way. He knows what we are going to think; we cannot hide anything from Him. God knows what only we know about ourselves and those things we won’t even admit to ourselves.

Furthermore, He is everywhere around each one of us (vv. 7-10), wherever we are or could be. He fills all space, and there is no escape. We cannot hide from God. He is wherever we go. The apostle Paul once observed: “For in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). This very intimate and complete knowledge about us is what makes God’s salvation such a marvelous matter. “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8). God loves us in spite of what we have become. Yet, since He knows what we could be, He gives us eternal life through His Son so that we will realize, one day, what He knows we shall be. HMM

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D. “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” (2 Corinthians 1:20)

“Amen” is a most remarkable word. It is transliterated directly from the Hebrew into the Greek of the New Testament and then into Latin, English, and many other languages so that it is practically a universal word. It has been called the best-known word in human speech.

The word is directly related—in fact, almost identical—to the Hebrew word for “believe” (aman), or “faithful.” Thus, it came to mean “sure” or “truly,” an expression of absolute trust and confidence. When one believes God, he indicates his faith by an “amen.” When God makes a promise, the believer’s response is “amen”—“so it will be!” In the New Testament it is often translated “verily” or “truly.” When we pray according to His Word and His will, we know God will answer, so we close with an “amen,” and so also do we conclude a great hymn or anthem of praise and faith.

The word is even a title of Christ Himself. The last of His letters to the seven churches begins with a remarkable salutation by the glorified Lord: “These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God” (Revelation 3:14). We can be preeminently certain that His Word is always faithful and true because He is none other than the Creator of all things, and thus He is our eternal “Amen.”

As our text reminds us, every promise of God in Christ is “yea and amen,” as strong an affirmation of truth as can be expressed in the Greek language.

It is, therefore, profoundly meaningful that the entire Bible closes with an “amen.” “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” (Revelation 22:21), assuring everyone who reads these words that the whole book is absolutely true and trustworthy. Amen! HMM

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

“All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.” (Psalm 45:8)

Psalm 45 is one of the Messianic psalms, quoted as such in Hebrews 1:8-9. The section so quoted (vv. 6-7), which immediately precedes our text, begins with one Person of the Godhead addressing the Messiah also as “God,” whose throne is eternal. Then, He says, “Oh God,…thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” The “oil of gladness” was the holy oil used for the anointing of priests and kings and was compounded of a mixture of spices that included myrrh and cassia (Exodus 30:22-25). Since the Messiah had been anointed to be “above his fellows” (first as High Priest, then as King of kings), “all his garments” would bear the sweet aroma of the holy ointment.

At the birth of Christ, His garments were “swaddling clothes,” and the gifts of the wise men included a supply of myrrh and frankincense (Luke 2:7; Matthew 2:11). At His death, they gave Him to drink “wine mingled with myrrh [and]…parted his garments” (Mark 15:23-24). Then once again His body was wrapped in linen clothes and anointed with myrrh and aloes (John 19:39-40) for His burial.

The psalmist sees Christ (i.e., “Messiah,” both Greek and Hebrew titles meaning “the Anointed One”) emerging triumphantly from the “ivory palaces.” These mansions with their ivory walls and pearly gates are of shimmering white beauty in the distant heavenly city that will someday descend to Earth (Revelation 21:2, 10-21).

The Lord descended once from these ivory palaces to take on human flesh in Mary’s womb, thence to a burial in Joseph’s tomb. But someday He will again come forth, anointed as eternal King, and then “shall the people praise thee for ever and ever” (Psalm 45:17). HMM

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

“How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, a woman shall compass a man.” (Jeremiah 31:22)

Long ago, the wise man concluded: “There is no new thing under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). That nothing is now being created is even recognized as a scientific law.

But God reminds us as He reminded His backsliding people of Israel that He has, indeed, created one new thing in the earth. Since only God can “create,” a really new thing would have to be produced directly by the Lord Himself. Of course, God had completed His original work of creating all things long ago (Genesis 2:1-3), including a marvelous mechanism for human reproduction. Nevertheless, because of man’s sin, He very soon had to begin a work of reconciliation, and this included a primeval promise that “the seed of the woman” (Genesis 3:15) would come someday to accomplish this great work. Since all normal reproduction requires male seed, such a miracle would mean God would have to create a new thing when the appropriate time came. At that time, as Isaiah prophesied many years later, “a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,” and that Son would be “the mighty God,” who would establish His kingdom “with justice from henceforth even for ever” (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7).

Then, still later, Jeremiah reminded his forgetful people of this same great promise: God would create, by His mighty power, a new thing, a perfect human without inherited sin and with no contribution from man, in the womb of a specially called virgin. She would compass that “holy thing” (Luke 1:35) with warmth and love for nine long months as it grew in her womb. Then, in the fullness of time, “God sent forth his Son, made of a woman” (Galatians 4:4), to “save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). HMM

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

by Henry M. Morris III, D.Min.

“Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction.” (2 Corinthians 13:10)

The Greek word oikodomos (translated as “edification”) pictures the building of a house. We still use the word “edifice” to describe a structure of some importance. Paul specifically said he had the “power” to edify and later called himself a “wise masterbuilder,” an architekton, who laid the foundation on which we would later build (1 Corinthians 3:10).

When Jesus used oikodomos to depict those who might build their house on a rock (His Word) or the sand (the ideas of men), He was painting a picture of how we should edify each other (Luke 6:48-49). The various gifts of leadership are to be used to “perfect” the saints in the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12), using the living “stones” that will build the “spiritual house” of God (1 Peter 2:5).

And like any good builder, the Christian carpenter has tools of the trade to assist the process. There are “things which make for peace” that must be employed (Romans 14:19). Most certainly “charity” is a major tool (1 Corinthians 8:1), along with good communication that does not “corrupt” the building work (Ephesians 4:29).

Since “all things” are to be done so that the church is edified (1 Corinthians 14:26), it surely follows that “fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions,” are not helpful (1 Timothy 1:4). Effective communication demands that those with whom we are speaking understand what is said, hence a mysterious “tongue” does not publicly edify like prophecy does (1 Corinthians 14:2-4).

An “edified” church walks “in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 9:31). HMM III

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

“Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.” (Hebrews 10:7)

These marvelous words (in Hebrews 10:5-7) are an interpretive quotation from Psalm 40:6-8, which in turn was being cited prophetically as the testimony of the eternal Son of God as He prepared to leave heaven and “the bosom of the Father” (note John 1:18) to descend to Earth to become also “the Son of man,” with no “where to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20).

He first took up residence on Earth in the womb of Mary, then in a manger, then a house in Bethlehem, then somewhere in Egypt until the death of King Herod, who had tried to kill Him, then in the home of his foster father in a despised village, then eventually on a cross on which His enemies would impale Him, and finally for three days in a borrowed tomb.

And all this, amazingly, was to do the will of His Father in heaven, which He fully understood would include the terrible death on the cross. “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again” (John 10:17).

We can never comprehend such love—only believe it and receive it. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Now we can testify with Paul that “the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God [His faith, not ours!], who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

But anyone who ignores that love should note this sobering truth: “He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18). HMM

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

“And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” (Isaiah 60:3)

This beautiful Messianic prophecy in the Old Testament book of Isaiah compares the coming of Christ to the rising of the sun.

The rest of this chapter in Isaiah seems to stress His coming in glory at the future end of the age (e.g., “the LORD shall be thine everlasting light,” Isaiah 60:20), but our text verse had at least a precursive fulfillment when the Gentile wise men from the east came to Bethlehem to honor Jesus soon after His birth.

Other Messianic prophecies used a similar metaphor. For example, there is Malachi 4:2: “Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings.”

Christ Himself made the same comparison. “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). He would not serve as the light for only the Jews; He is also the light of the whole world!

The theme of global light through Christ is often found in the Old Testament. “I the LORD…will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles….It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth” (Isaiah 42:6; 49:6).

It will all be perfectly and eternally fulfilled in the New Jerusalem, “for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it:…for there shall be no night there” (Revelation 21:23-25). HMM

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (2 Corinthians 5:1)

The blessings we have in Christ are far too many to number, but it is a blessing even to note just a few of those indicated by the words we have or ye have. First of all, in Christ “we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7). As a result, “being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).

Thus, through such promises His Word assures us of salvation. “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). Further assurance is given by the witness of the Spirit who indwells our bodies when we believe on Christ. “Ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15).

There are many other blessings that are ours in Christ. In Him, for example, “we have obtained an inheritance” (Ephesians 1:11), for we are joint-heirs with Him. God has even confirmed His promises, the writer of Hebrews says, by taking an oath in His own name that “we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast” (Hebrews 6:18-19). Indeed, “we have a great high priest” (Hebrews 4:14) ever living to intercede for us at the throne of God.

Finally, in the words of our text, when God calls us home, “we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens,” and then we are “to be present with the Lord” throughout the ages to come (2 Corinthians 5:8). These are a few of the blessings we have in Christ. HMM

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” (Daniel 12:4)

The book of Daniel contains the most detailed description of the end times of any book in the Bible except the book of Revelation. In Daniel’s last chapter, after all the prophecies had been recorded, the condition in our text was given as a sign of their imminent fulfillment at “the time of the end.”

A more striking summary of our own times could hardly be imagined. The Hebrew word for “run to and fro” is used first in 2 Chronicles 16:9. “The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth,” and its sense is “race back and forth.” What a description of our present society, with speeding automobiles all over the land and airplanes filling our skies! In little more than one lifetime, the world “progressed” from horse and buggy to spacecraft, and almost everyone is racing to and fro.

Furthermore, “knowledge” has been “increased” far beyond the wildest imaginations of people in the days of our founding fathers. The Hebrew word could well be understood as what we mean today by “science.”

It is significant that the foundations of our modern scientific age were laid mostly by great scientists who were creationists (Newton, Boyle, Pascal, Pasteur, Faraday, Maxwell, etc.). In our present generation, however, science has been largely taken over by non-Christian evolutionists, and science has also generated deadly instruments of destruction and pollution that are threatening life’s existence. This rise in “science falsely so called” is also given as a sign of the last days (1 Timothy 6:20; 2 Peter 3:3-4; etc.).

In any case, the explosive increase in science (both true and false) and rapid travel in our day is one of the many God-given signs that the return of Christ is near! HMM

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

“And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?” (Deuteronomy 4:8)

God has never dealt with any nation as closely and fully as He has with Israel, but He nevertheless is directly concerned with every nation as a national entity. He has actually established each nation Himself (Deuteronomy 32:8), even determining the geographical boundaries of each and the time when each rises and falls (Acts 17:26).

Every nation has a purpose in history, but Israel had the highest calling of all. God personally gave them (through Moses) the finest governmental and legal system any nation ever had (Deuteronomy 4:5-8), and modern governments would therefore do well to emulate these as much as possible. In fact, it is amazing that this Mosaic legal code has since served effectively as the basic legal code for all the greatest nations in modern history. This in itself is clear testimony to its divine origin and is therefore justification for retaining and implementing it wherever possible, even today.

Sadly, however, modern political and judicial practices are departing further and further from this divine standard. The philosophies of evolution and relativism dominate our schools of law today, and the concept of absolute principles of righteousness and justice, rooted in the nature of God as Creator and in His revelation, are largely being replaced by legislation based on evolving social policies and preferences. Even the Ten Commandments are banned from our schools, despite the fact that they are engraved in the Supreme Court building itself.

It is sobering to consider that God did not even spare His beloved nation Israel when His people departed from His law. Nor will He spare America if our growing rebellion against His Word goes on much longer. HMM

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

“He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he hath set the world upon them.” (1 Samuel 2:8)

The above text contains the first reference in the Bible to God’s world. The “pillars” upon which it is set are, literally, “firm summits” (not “columns”), speaking of its permanence, “established that it shall not be moved” through the eternal ages when “the LORD reigneth” (Psalm 96:10).

That is the real world, where all who have been “raised up” by the Lord through faith in His Word will “inherit the throne of glory” and reign with Him forever. But that real world has, for a time, become “this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4), often mistakenly represented by its worldly inhabitants as their “real” world. In reality, this present world is very ephemeral, for “the world passeth away” (1 John 2:17).

This present unreal world has become the domain of Satan, “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4), for “the whole world lieth in wickedness [or ‘the wicked one’]” (1 John 5:19). Consequently, it is essential for believers now living in the world to heed the Lord’s warning: “I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John 15:19).

The “world” includes its inhabitants and the world system they have developed. This present world, because of sin, has become so unreal that it no longer even knows its Creator. “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not” (John 1:10). Nevertheless, “God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:17). We can defeat this present evil world and prepare for our eternal service in the real world to come. “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4). HMM

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10)

Here is one of the great paradoxes of the Christian life. How could the apostle Paul actually find pleasure in being persecuted or reproached, in being placed in distressing situations, and having to endure bodily pain or weakness? There could be no pleasure at all in such things were it not “for Christ’s sake.”

Paul was a great man of faith and prayer, and he prayed earnestly that God would remove what he called a “thorn in the flesh” (v. 7), evidently some painful infirmity that he felt was hindering his ministry. God answered his prayer, however, by saying, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (v. 9).

Somehow, one of the most powerful testimonies to the truth of Christianity is given when Christians exhibit patience and joy and fruitfulness in the midst of suffering—whether that suffering be due to illness, persecution, loss, or any of a hundred situations that could be unbearable apart from Christ. In Paul’s case, he said that his “thorn” could not be removed “lest I should be exalted above measure” (v. 7) because of the great experiences God had given him as a Christian.

“Grace groweth best in the winter,” and we can testify with the psalmist, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes” (Psalm 119:71). One thinks, for example, of Fanny Crosby, blind since early childhood yet enabled to write 8,000 beautiful hymns in her 95 years.

The struggling church at Philadelphia was assured of an open door because it had “little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name” (Revelation 3:8). It is precisely when we recognize our own weakness in the flesh that we can become strong in Christ. HMM

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

“Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.” (2 Peter 3:17)

Peter’s final epistle, especially chapters 2 and 3, is the classic New Testament passage on the false teachers that would plague the church in the “last days” (v. 3). In addition to the characteristics listed in the introductory verse, 2:1 (e.g., slipping in surreptitiously heretical teachings and denying the redemptive work and lordship of Christ), a number of their attributes are predicted for our guidance.

They will “wrest the scriptures” (3:16), distorting their meaning to conform to their own philosophical preferences. This involves using “feigned words” (2:3)—that is, plastic words, with devious meanings to make them say what their users wish to convey. They may well be very eloquent and seductive in their speech “when they speak great swelling words of vanity” (2:18).

They will deny the doctrine of special creation and the judgment of the worldwide Flood (3:5-6), teaching instead that “all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (v. 4), and will scoff at the second coming. They “despise government” and are “presumptuous” and “selfwilled…not afraid to speak evil of dignities” (2:10).

They both practice and defend immoral acts, “having eyes full of adultery” (v. 14). Yet they maintain their religious ties because they have hearts “exercised with covetous practices” (v. 14), seeing nothing evil in taking money for personal gain from those whose faith they seek to undermine.

This is, indeed, a fitting description of many modern liberal theologians, religious bureaucrats in the big denominations, “New Age” preachers, college teachers of religion, etc. Although this is not a pleasant subject, Christians urgently need to awaken to what is happening and “beware”! HMM

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

by John D. Morris, Ph.D.

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:1-2)

The hymn “Praise the Savior, Ye Who Know Him” was written in the more formal early 1800s, yet it has an almost whimsical approach to its clever rhymes and cadence. A delight to sing, one might at first think it somewhat trivial, but a more careful look finds many rich insights into doctrinal truth. The final verse reflects the promise that one day “we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

Then we shall be where we would be,
Then we shall be what we should be;
Things which are not now, nor could be,
Soon shall be our own.

We can scarcely imagine the joys in store for us in glory. The apostle Paul had similar difficulty, yet he prayed that we might “be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:18-19).

As we anticipate what is to come, we can rest in the certain knowledge that all is secure, for He has promised this. Ephesians concludes with this benediction: “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21). JDM

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

by John D. Morris, Ph.D.

“But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Joshua 22:5)

The fourth verse of the hymn “Praise the Savior, Ye Who Know Him” reminds us of our responsibility to be faithful to our calling. At our new birth we were fully granted eternal life, a standing we have now. Yet we must strive to prove our love by obedience and holiness and maintain the sweet relationship with God.

Keep us, Lord, O, keep us cleaving
To Thyself and still believing,
Till the hour of our receiving
Promised joys with Thee.

While He doesn’t need our help in accomplishing His will, we are granted the privilege of serving Him. And we must never come to the place of unbelief. Doubts sometimes come, placed there by the Tempter, but they should drive us to further study, deeper growth, and the eventual resolution of doubt. Doubt must never be allowed to fester into disbelief.

There will come the day when our belief is complete, as faith passes into sight. Unknowable joy will be ours, He promises: “God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:3-5). JDM

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

by John D. Morris, Ph.D.

“That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.” (Hebrews 6:18-19)

As children of God, we possess everything we need, from an invincible refuge from the enemy to a certain hope for eternity with our heavenly Father. The third verse of the hymn “Praise the Savior, Ye Who Know Him” reminds us that our trust in Him is well placed.

Trust in Him, ye saints, forever;
He is faithful, changing never;
Neither force nor guile can sever
Those He loves from Him.

Trust in something or someone would be worth much less if the object of our trust might change his mind. Thankfully, our Savior never changes. His love for us is constant. “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war” (Revelation 19:11). As long as we are with Him, we are safe and secure.

Consider that we are safe in Christ’s hand, as He is secure in the Father’s hand. All believers are further sealed by the Holy Spirit. “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:28-29). Who or what could break such a bond?

We have no need to fear. We are safe and secure in Him. JDM

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6