Day 056 – 04/24/2022 – Romans 15 – 16 – A compelling “how then shall we live?” from two Christian warriors that have gone before us.
15: 13 “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
With respect to this verse, my Bible has this quote from Charles Spurgeon:
“Understand that you must not look upon the possession of joy and peace as being the absolutely necesary consequence of your being saved. A man may be in the lifeboat, but that lifeboat may be so tossed about that he may still feel himself exceedingly ill, and think himself to be still in peril. It is not his sense of safety that makes him safe; he is safe because he is in the lifeboat, whether he is sensible of this or not. Understand then that joy and peace are not infallible or indispesibly evidences of safety, and that they certainly are not unchanging evidences. The brightest Christians lose their joy, and some of those that stand well in the things of God, and concerning whom you would entertain no doubt , entertain a great many suspicians, however about themselves. Joy and peace are the element of a Christian, but he is sometimes out of his element: joy and peace are his usual states, but there are times when, with fightings within and wars without, his joy departs, and his peace is broken. The leaves on the tree prove that the tree is alive, but the absence of leaves will not prove that the tree is dead.” Charles Spurgeon
And then: 15:16: “Consider as sin any minute of life spent on something other than saving souls for eternity from this world doomed to destruction.” Richard Wurmbrand
Ya know, we might say: “What a fanatic!” But in terms of the world today and the urgency, I am not so sure. Let me give you an example: I love basketball. I recently spent time with brothers, both current brothers and future brothers in Christ, on March madness discussion. But truth be told, I was using it as a vehicle to transition to faith witness. It doesn’t seem like I can go much time without thinking about the mission of the Great Commission , which includes encouraging brothers on their sanctification journey, which is wrapped into their role as messengers for lost souls. It doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy basketball anymore. And praise God, that is in fact a blessing from God! For we have a closing window of opportunity, just a breath in this world left, to witness to the lost even in the midst of earthly suffering. And we will never have that opportunity again in all of eternity.
Soli Deo Gloria!