The theme of endurance & healthy faith in Daniel & 3 John

Daniel 12:13 "But as for you, go your way to the end; then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end of the age.”

3 John 11 "Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God."

Some thoughts on the book of Daniel in general and Daniel 11-12 in particular

As we close out our time in the Book of Daniel today, we need to make a general observation about the book and then say something specific about Daniel 11-12. First, the Book of Daniel functions as a padlock, meaning that at the end God through an angel tells Daniel that the vision is sealed and must wait and appointed time. When read in concert with the Book of Revelation, the message and contents of the book open up, being that Revelation functions as a perfect key to unlock Daniel. 

With regards to some specific observations about Daniel 11-12, we are seeing the most detailed prophecy of God's Word. 

1. Daniel 11:1-2 begins by predicting four Persian Kings that would follow Darius that history defines as being from Cambyses (529-522 b.c) all the way to Xerxes I who ruled Persia in the days of Queen Esther in 480 b.c. Remember Daniel was writing this portion of his prophecy in along 515 b.c. 

2. As you do down through Daniel 11:3-45, prediction is made concerning the Greek Empire that would be led by Alexander the Great in 333 A.D and that would divide into four parts given to each of his generals following his death. Those four divided kingdoms in their detail and description of leadership are remarkably detailed and completely accurate as they lead you to an evil king in Daniel 11:29-35. 

This evil King would be known in history as Antiochus Epiphanes who ransacked the temple in Jerusalem in 168 b.c but was overturned by a group of Jews called the Maccabees. The Jewish holiday known as Hanukkah commemorates that event. God through Daniel then uses the predicted events of history as patterns for what will be a prediction of the Anti-Christ in Daniel 11:36-45. 

3. When will the Anti-Christ arise? Daniel 12 gives the timing of his rise, as well as God's faithfulness to preserve the Jewish remnant who will had believed upon Jesus the Messiah in the event of His second coming. 

4. Daniel 12 closes with reference to the resurrection of the righteous at the beginning of His earthly reign and then that of the wicked dead which, in comparison to other scriptures, will occur at the end of Christ's millennial or 1,000 year reign in Revelation 20. 

How the Book of Daniel aims to encourage the believer in the present to endure with prophecies of things to come

Daniel's book closes with an encouragement, much like his intent at the beginning of Daniel 11. The encouragement is for Daniel and those of like precious faith to endure to the end. 

The Book of 3 John is all about cultivating a healthy Christian faith that will endure to the end

When you turn to 3 John, the theme has to do with having a healthy Christian faith. 

1. We see the encouragement to healthy Christian faith (3 John 1-8)

2. We see warnings about unhealthy faith (3 John 9-10) 

3. Then we see a final section on the importance of having a good testimony (3 John 11-15). 

Conclusion

As Daniel and John's writing teach us, through the grace of God and His word, we can endure to the end and have this promise that He Who begins a good work in us will bring it unto completion unto the day of Christ.

The Christian walk of faith in Daniel 9-10 & 2 John

Daniel 9:24-27 24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, tofinish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision andprophecy and to anoint the most holy place. 25 So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26 Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. 27 And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”

How a major Bible prophecy strengthened Daniel in His walk with the Lord

Daniel 9 is perhaps the most incredible chapter in the book of Daniel, being that it contains the most amazing and sweeping prophecy in the Bible: Daniel 9:23-27 is the golden gateway to the remainder of Daniel's prophecies that will speak of history up until Christ's return. For seventy years Daniel had been living in Babylon, as was by now in his mid-eighties by the time he composed Daniel 9. 

The chapter begins with him reading the words of the inspired book of Jeremiah. Having read the promises of the captivity lasting for seventy years in Jeremiah 29:10-14, Daniel's eyes and faith must have widened, for in his way of reckoning, only two to three years would remain until God's discipline of the Jews was finished. The prayer that flows from Daniel's heart in Daniel 9:1-22, as well as the strengthening ministry of angel Gabriel makes this chapter gleam even more. 

Daniel 9:23-27 predicts a 490 year period of time prescribed for the Jews by God that will begin as soon as they return and re-construction of their then damaged temple begins. We know from reading the historical books of Ezra and Nehemiah that such a project was undertaken. Daniel's prophecy also predicts the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem, again an event that was completed in 396 b.c right after the closing of the Old Testament canon. Then the third major event predicted at the end of Daniel deals with the coming and crucifixion of Jesus, which in the timing of Daniel 9:23-27 was to occur 483 years after the decree to build the temple in Jerusalem had been made. From that decree to rebuild on March 14, 445 b.c until Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to present Himself as Israel's King in April 6, 33 A.D is exactly the 483 years that Daniel predicted. 

The remaining seven years of Daniel's "seventy weeks" has yet to occur in a period of unprecedented judgment on this world called "The Tribulation Period". Daniel 10 teaches the believer about the comfort of Bible prophecy in how we see the Person of Christ (10:1-9); Provisions of grace (10:10-17) and the Promises of scripture (10:18-21). 

What 2 John has to explain about the Christian walk

The Book of 2 John is all about explaining the Christian walk in regards to: The power of the Christian walk (2 John 1-6) and defense of the Christian walk (2 John 7-13). Knowing about the important truths of the Christian walk will aid any Christian in dealing with the great triumphs and often difficult circumstances that attend the Christian life. 

How the Books of Daniel and 2 John can be used together to better understand the Christian walk of faith

Remarkably, when you read Daniel and John's writings together, you are seeing two men who had been walking with God for about the same period of time (Daniel 70 years, John 60 or so years) and who were about the same physical age when they wrote their books (Daniel 85; John at least 85 at the time of 2 John). May you and I walk with the Lord and realize that it is always worth it!

The theme of overcoming and God's prophetic clock in Daniel & 1 John

Daniel 7:13-14 “I kept looking in the night visions,And behold, with the clouds of heaven
One like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. 14 “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed."

Introduction & review:
A couple of days ago we had been studying our way through the Book of Daniel in conjunction with the epistles of John.  As we prepare to enter back into the Book of Daniel today, I remind the reader of our last time in Daniel, which the reader can review at: http://pastormahlon.blogspot.com/2013/11/gods-hand-and-spiritual-discernment-in.html

God's prophetic clock revealed in Daniel 7-8
Today we continue on in our study of Daniel and John's epistles once again.  May the Lord richly bless you as you read this series of blogs and glean from both Daniel's book and the Apostle John's books. 

Daniel 7-8 is a remarkable section in Daniel for a couple of reasons. For one thing Daniel 7-8 was composed some ten years before the events of Daniel 5-6, meaning that even with the Book of Daniel itself there is detailed fulfilled prophecy of near events. Undoubtedly when Daniel composed the Book of Daniel, the Holy Spirit had him arrange the visions in a certain topical arrangement. The crown jewel included in these visions of Daniel 7-8 is found in the above opening verse in today's post - Daniel 7:13-14.  Daniel sees in visions the Pre-incarnate Christ in heaven approaching the throne of the Father, sharing in equal glory and power.  

A second feature of these two chapters is that Daniel is switching to God's prophetic dealings with the Jewish nation. We know that the focus is shifting from the Gentiles to the Jewish people once again due to the fact that Daniel 1 was written in the language of the Jews (Hebrew), Daniel 2-7 was written in a Gentile language (Aramaic) with Daniel 8-12 switching back to the language of the Jews once again. 

So what? Why are the facts above important for you to know dear reader? Here is why: Daniel 7-8 is a unit that gives you God's prophetic clock for history through two sets of lenses: His dealings with the world system of the Gentiles (Daniel 7) and His dealings with the Jewish nation (Daniel 8) will regulate how He deals with the world from Daniel's day up until Christ's return. 

The theme of overcoming in Daniel & 1 John

Daniel 7-8 deals with details, visions and prophecies about two general eras: the time from Daniel's day up until the days of Christ's first coming and then the final seven year period (the Great Tribulation) that will lead up to Christ's Second coming. To go beyond those general descriptions would exceed the purposes of today's blog. However we can say this: that whether through the Gentile lens of Daniel 7 or through the Jewish Lens of Daniel 8, the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ will crush the regimes of men and rebellion of Satan's man - the Anti-Christ. The faith of the Christian is reinforced by and rooted in the Author and Finisher of faith - Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

The truths we see in Daniel are the similar truths we see in the book of 1 John.  The Apostle John writes his final words of the book of 1 John. What will overcome the allure of this world - our faith. John lays out at the close of 1 John 5 the Christian's three confidences for overcoming this world: namely the confidence of scripture (1 John 5:13); the confidence of prayer (1 John 5:14-15) and our confidence in Christ's our salvation (1 John 5:16-21).

Give thanks like Jesus did

1 Corinthians 11:24
and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

In today's post I wanted to consider the instances in which Jesus gave thanks throughout his ministry.  How He gave thanks sets the pattern for the Christian in their need to give thanks. Since giving thanks was common for Jesus throughout His earthly ministry, then it stands to reasons that giving thanks leads to Christ-like-ness. Below I will list all the references we find in the Gospel accounts concerning the times in which Jesus gave thanks.  My prayer is that they edify and encourage you and I in our faith walk. 

Matthew 15:36
and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

Matthew 26:27
And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you;


Mark 8:6
And He *directed the people to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve to them, and they served them to the people.


Mark 14:23
And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.


Luke 22:17
And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves;


Luke 22:19
And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”


John 6:11
Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted.


John 6:23
There came other small boats from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks.

Why Jesus was always thankful and never bored

Psalm 136:1 "O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: for His mercy endureth forever".

1 Thessalonians 5:18 "In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

Introduction: Why Jesus never got bored and how He was always thankful

As we think about today being "Thanksgiving", I marvel at how our culture as been infected with ingratitude. The more we get, the more we want to get.  In this special thanksgiving post I want you and I to think on how we can be the most thankful people possible not only today, but everyday.  The one thing you never see in Jesus' life while here on earth are instances of boredom.  Without question Jesus' sinless humanity chiefly explains why He never got bored and was always thankful. Yet we must also remember that Jesus came to give us as Christians both the example and empowerment to be like Him. (Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 Peter 2:21; 2 Peter 1:3-4). Jesus' ability to not be bored and to be always thankful stemmed from the fact that He cultivated a constant attitude of thankfulness.  Even though we as Christians will not reach a state of sinless perfection until we are in the presence of the Lord following death or rapture, we can right now begin cultivating and practicing thanksgiving that does not have to be reserved to one day a year.  

At least eight verses in the Gospels record Jesus giving thanks to God. (Matthew 15:36, 26:27; Mark 8:6 ,14:23; Luke 22:17,19; John 6:11,23) If you and I as Christian people are to be more like our Master, we need to cultivate an attitude of thanksgiving and declare war on boredom in our lives.  Below are some thoughts that I hope will guide our thinking today and in the days, weeks and months to come.

1. God's goodness - the source of Christian thanksgiving
There is a disease that is circulating in every home that is detrimental to the Christian walk -boredom. In the above passages, as well as in Jesus' example, we see the motivation for thanksgiving is an invitation and a command to come and behold the goodness of God. Every event, every circumstance, is a window through which I can discover the goodness of God in all things.

2. The link between thanksgiving and God's goodness
It is only by God's grace that we can see His goodness in all things. The above two passages at the opening of today's post are commands. Clearly whenever God commands us to do anything, the command itself will lie outside our ability unaided by grace. For every command there is always a provision of grace. Lamentations 3:22-23 and Philippians 4:13 reminds us of God's daily provisions, and those provisions being accessed through "do all things through Christ who gives us strength".

3. Why true worship and boredom cannot co-exist in the same heart
Even when people are prone to become apathetic and disconnected, there is still ample reason to see God's goodness, however difficult it may be. (please compare Romans 8:28)  There is one human expression that is never justified in any circumstance for the Christian, no matter how seemingly uninteresting certain things may be - boredom. When we get "bored", we are assuming that there is no good or benefit to be gleaned from the event or situation. Boredom is the first step, however passive, in refusing to see the goodness of God. It not only is the enemy of thanksgiving, it is the enemy of worship. Boredom's origin is nothing short of idolatry.

4. How to declare war on boredom
Whenever I get bored, that indicates that there is an area in my heart where I have set up an idol. Boredom comes as a result of unmet expectations. That toy, that television, the thanksgiving meal, lose their perceived goodness because I forget and ultimately refuse to acknowledge that all things come from the Lord. Boredom is what occurs when I expect a created object to bring the same fulfillment as only God can bring. This is why boredom is the seed of idolatry and why it does not belong in the heart, on the lips or through the day-to-day life of any Christian. We should pray like the Psalmist prayed in Psalm 73:25-26 "Whom have I in heaven but You?
And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

5. Let us be thankful to God and refuse to be bored
As we enter into this season of Thanksgiving, lets declare war on boredom. Lets not lose sight of the goodness of God. Lets not forget that in all things, give thanks to Him, for this is His will in Christ Jesus concerning you. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)  Jesus Christ gave us the supreme example on how not to be bored and His indwelling Holy Spirit gives every Christian the empowerment to wage war against boredom. (Romans 5:1-5; 1 Corinthians 2:10-13, 3:16; Galatians 5:16; 2 Timothy 1:14)

God's hand and spiritual discernment in Daniel & 1 John

Daniel 6:22 "My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths and they have not harmed me, inasmuch as I was found innocent before Him; and also toward you, O king, I have committed no crime.”

1 John 4:1-2  "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses thatJesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God."

Discerning God's hand at work in the life of Daniel 

One way in which we can outline the Book of Daniel is to consider chapters 1-6 as the historical account of Daniel's life from his arrival in Daniel 1 as a 15 year old lad until the 85th year of his life in chapters 5,6. According to Bible scholar Dr. John Walvoord, we can then insert chapters 7-8 in between chapters 4-5 as being the particular prophetic visions Daniel received in among those chapters. With the remainder of Daniel 9-12 we can see a clear chronological, predictive prophecy of the remainder of history from Daniel's day until the time of Christ's second coming.  The whole book of course would had been written by Daniel, under Divine inspiration, over the course of the 70 or so years he spent in Babylon. 

As we come into Daniel 5-6, we witness the end of the Babylonian Empire and the overtaking of them by the Persians. Just as God had predicted back in Daniel 2 in the famous vision of Nebuchadnezzar's colossus' , the empire of the Medes and Persia did indeed take over. 

Comparing Daniel's life to Joseph's life in the book of Genesis

Whenever you read about Daniel in these chapters, one thing that is instructive is to compare his life to Joseph's life back in Genesis 37-50. Joseph had been forgotten and basically abandoned, first by his brothers and then later on as an innocent man in a dungeon in Egypt. Daniel was "forgotten" for nearly 70 years, for that is how much time passed between his dealings with Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 1-4 until the events of Daniel 5-6. 

Joseph suddenly was brought before Pharaoh to interpret a dream, likewise Daniel was brought before Belshazzar to interpret the hand writing on the wall. Daniel was thrown into a lion's den in Daniel 6 and Joseph had spent time in a pit (thanks to his brothers) and then again later on in a dungeon in Egypt. Joseph was a man of integrity and uprightness, with scripture recording no failure of faith on his part, so the same with Daniel. Then finally, God elevated Joseph to second in command in Egypt and gave him success and Daniel too was elevated to a high position (third position) and also had success. God proved himself faithful. 

How John instructs the believer on the nature of discernment in 1 John

Whenever you turn to 1 John, you are first given instructions on how to discern between the "spirit of error" and "the spirit of truth". Thankfully, through the scriptures we can be like Daniels and Josephs, knowing how to discern good from evil. 1 John 4:7-21 highlights for us God's love. God's love can be defined as: living through the cross (1 John 4:9,10,19); overcoming anything (4:12); validated by the Holy Spirit (4:13) with its expression being in sound doctrine (4:14-21). Only the love of God will sustain us and only His love can enable us to be a passionate and faithful people living as strangers in a strange world, just like such love sustain men like Joseph and Daniel.

Persevering faith in Daniel & 1 John

Daniel 3:18 "But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

1 John 3:1 "See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him."

Persevering faith in Daniel 3-4
In today's post we turn again to the Book of Daniel to discover more important truths about persevering faith. Daniel was just a young man of 15 years of age when he and his friends were taken into exile in Babylon. As he by God's favor began to gain respect and favor in the eyes of Nebuchadnezzar's court, God began giving dreams to the King and giving Daniel the ability to interpret. The famous account of the fiery furnace focuses on Daniel's three friends, and their refusal to give into compromise. They persevered under pressure. The question is: what marks persevering faith? 

1. We note first of all that persevering faith rejects unbelief. (Daniel 3) Rejecting unbelief entails knowing who I am, Whose I am and the Great I am. 

2. A second trait of persevering faith is the fact that such faith rests in God's Sovereignty. (Daniel 4) Nebuchadnezzar was humbled by God for His persistent refusal to acknowledge God in His Sovereignty. Daniel rested in such truth, as well as Daniel's three friends. However despite Nebuchadnezzar's decree that contained words about God's power, the king's idolatrous heart was still was present.  It is one thing to endorse God in the front of men and yet only true, persevering faith will in the heart gladly rest in the Sovereignty of God affirmed by the lips.  Only when we rest in God's Sovereignty will we then have a faith that perseveres. 

1 John 3 and the marks of true, genuine, persevering faith

1 John 3 also deals with the subject of one's faith. The whole book of 1 John is concerned with establishing the assurances of salvation that are afforded to the Christian. So the question is: how can we know that we are truly born-again, converted people in Jesus? 

True Christians will first of all hope in Christ's coming (1 John 3:1-3); hate sin (3:4-10); love the saints (3:11-17) and heed the scriptures (3:18-24). Does that mean that all Christians will do this equally or in the same fervor? No. At bare minimum these traits should be marked by increasing frequency and intensity over the course of the Christian's life. 

1 John 3 reminds us of the truth we find in 2 Corinthians 13:5 "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-unless indeed you fail the test?" May you and I today persevere and lean upon Jesus Christ and His finished work - in faith and by His word.

The themes of assurance & security in Daniel and 1 John

Daniel 1:8-9 But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. 9 Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials

The theme of assurance and security in the book of Daniel
As you begin to read the Book of Daniel, you read a book that is partly historical, partly prophetic and also devotional. Like a three braided rope are these three themes weaving their way through Daniel book. In Daniel 1:1-2:18 we see Daniel as a 15 year-old lad, along with his friends, taken away into Exile in Babylon, some 800 miles from their Jewish homeland. 

We could say that is these verses, we see the devotional theme of Daniel persevering in the faith in how he and his friends: reject the world (1:1-21) and rely upon the word of God (2:1-20). Intermingled in this devotional theme is the prophetic dream of Nebuchadnezzar. God gives Daniel wisdom as he and his friends seek God in prayer over the dream's interpretation. We see in Daniel 2:19-23 the following comforts of God's Sovereignty: God reigns (2:19-21); God reveals (2:22) and God relates (2:23). 

As Daniel then stands before the King to give the interpretation of the grand colossus or statue of Nebuchadnezzar's dream.

 We discover the prophetic history and destiny of history from Daniel's day to the end: the enormous Kingdom of Babylon is the head of gold(2:36-38); empire kingdoms of Persia, Greece and Rome, represented by the colossus' chest, belly and legs (2:39-40); an evil kingdom, the kingdom of the future anti-Christ, represented by the feet and toes (2:41-43) with a stone smashing the statue as representing the Kingdom of Jesus Christ conquering at His return in Daniel 2:44-45. 

Nebuchadnezzar's statue or colossus represents the system of unbelief and Satanically inspired, man-made rebellion called "the world".  Daniel's faith perseveres because he finds assurance in God's Sovereignty and retains the understanding of who he is in the Lord despite being in a foreign land. 

The theme of assurance and security in 1 John
Such assurance is not only found in Daniel, but is also focused upon in the book of 1 John. The book of 1 John is written to give assurance of salvation to those who have believed on Jesus Christ unto eternal life. (1 John 5:13) In 1 John 1, we see that God is the fountain of assurance (1:1-4); closeness to God clarifies assurance (1:5-7) and confession of sin restored assurance (1:8-10). What must be kept in view is that in the doctrine of perseverance, eternal security is based upon what Christ has done, whereas assurance is the believer's experience and internal awareness of their eternal security in Jesus. 

A Christian can never finally fall away from salvation, however their assurance can vary, depending on the trials, or level of fellowship they have with God. The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 notes: "All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation." 1

To illustrate, my wife and I for instance are married till death do us part and our relationship is a lifetime commitment. However if she and I have a disagreement, I may feel or she may feel a lack of peace and experience a lack of close fellowship for a short time. However that does not mean the marriage relationship is over, only that the marriage fellowship is being affected, and that we want to get the fellowship back. Thus it is with John's point in 1 John. 

When we come to 1 John 2, we are reminded of the confidence believers have before God through their Advocate, their King - the Lord Jesus Christ. In the latter part of that chapter, Christians are told not to love the world which is composed of the lust of the eyes, the flesh and pride of life. Just like Daniel interpreted, this world system will be "smashed" and is passing away due to the soon coming of Jesus Christ, the "Rock" of salvation Whose Kingdom has no end. It is incumbent upon us as Christians to tell others of Him and that they by grace through faith can escape the wrath of God that is coming on this world. 

Conclusion

Make fellowship with God and His Son the priority, while leaning on the salvation of relationship He has secured eternally for you in His choice of you and in the giving of His Son. (John 15:16; 1 John 4:19) Like "Daniels" in a foreign land, Christians living in this 21st century world need to find their security of identity in God's Sovereignty operating in their lives and in His word.

Endnotes:

1. http://www.sbc.org/bfm/bfm2000.asp#iv  Please note the above quote under Article # V: God's Purpose of Grace, second paragraph.