We have seen that we are truly living in a discontented generation. The more we make room for discontent, the more we grumble. This discontent is continually increased by all the advertisements, media, fantasy worlds, and the reels we see on Instagram and YouTube, which are full of plastic, artificial perfection. Seventy percent of what they show or say may not be reality, but it creates so much discontent that people are allured into this illusory, virtual world. Because of this, people become ungrateful for what they have and grumble about what they don’t. This discontented mindset makes people irritable and gives them no patience to bear even small things, which is reducing life expectancy. Young people are dying a lot, and a top reason is heart attack. It used to happen after 50 or 60, but now we hear about it in people who are 30 or 35. We realize that celebrities are dying. Why do they have heart attacks? Even small things can increase their blood pressure. Think of things that bring tension today, like traffic jams, slow drivers in front of you, standing in a queue, waiting, crying children, sometimes repeated phone calls, being late somewhere, and even tight clothes. “But I work out, Pastor.” Yet even one actor died young while working out.
Before such a grumbling world, Paul gives a revolutionary command: “Do all things without grumbling or disputing.” We should remember the context in which he gives this. He taught us the great importance of humility and set the glorious example of the humiliation of Jesus Christ. In that context, he says we should not allow murmuring emotions in our hearts against God’s providence and, with mental gymnastics, not argue or dispute with men’s justifications. It is pride that fosters murmuring emotions toward God in the heart and disputes against man. Humility counteracts them both. So in the context of learning how to practice humility from our Lord’s example, “Do all things without murmurings and disputings.” Whatever difficulties you may have to face, engage in everything with a mind full of submission to God and of love toward man and a life of love.
We could wish Paul had been a bit more realistic. He could have said, “Try to do most things without grumbling or disputing.” That’s realistic, isn’t it? I can give it a try. But “all things”? As if that is not enough, he goes in the opposite direction in verse 17, giving his own example. Paul’s example (2:17) shows that not only are we not to grumble and dispute, but positively, we are to be marked by gratitude and joy, even in the midst of difficult trials. It seems like a high standard. How, Paul?
Paul kind of says, “Yes, I know it is difficult. Unbelievers can never live like this, but for true believers, I am going to give three heart-moving, powerful reasons why we shouldn’t grumble.” This is part of his command: “Don’t just say you are a saved person, but work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Work it out with maximum effort and capacity, like they dig out the mine, sweating, or farmers work with all their strength during sowing time. Do that with fear and trembling. The motivation for that is God is working in you to will and to do. Believing that on one side we have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling and on the other side God works to will and to do—with that combination, and grasping these three powerful reasons, we can become people who don’t grumble but rejoice even in trials.
Okay, what are the three reasons? Why should I not grumble? We can say it positively, for our sanctification, evangelism witness, and glorification. Sometimes things have an impact and register deeply when we state them negatively. So the first reason is grumbling hinders our sanctification. Secondly, grumbling destroys our gospel witness before the world. Thirdly, at the Second Coming, a grumbling person will know he was not truly saved. Wow! Serious. Let us see that.
The First Reason: Grumbling Hinders Our Sanctification
Notice Philippians 2:14: “Do all things without complaining and disputing,” why? “that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God.” In the original, it is “that you may become harmless and blameless children of God.” “Becoming the children of God” is a result. We can say you should not be grumbling “in order that,” or for the purpose that you might become. There is a marvelous work of God going on in your life through the Holy Spirit inside to will and to do, and the providence of God in all circumstances outside. It is a process. The goal of that process is to mold your character into the image of a child of God, what kind of child of God? “Blameless and harmless children of God.” If the process has to work, you are not to murmur. When you do, you hinder that work just like the Israelites did.
Children of God, not just in name, he describes in two words: “blameless” and “harmless.” Both speak of character and moral purity. “Blameless” is a life without blame; it’s a life that has no blemish, no blot on it, no sinful stain. When people see our speech and life, they should not see any stain. Wow, what an amazing work. That is what God is doing.
And then, “harmless.” This means innocent, pure, and unmixed. This word focuses on inward moral integrity, which is the proper root of outwardly blameless behavior. It focuses on what we are in our thought life before God. It’s possible to put on a good front at church but to be leading a double life. You can be an upright man at church but be filled with lustful thoughts. You can be a nice, smiling man at church but be an angry tyrant with your family. The great work of God in our lives is to make us blameless and harmless, to be pure, sincere, and unmixed.
Do you know this is the purpose and work of God in your life? So many things are important for you, but the greatest importance for God is this. This is the purpose of election, Ephesians 1:4: “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” The purpose of redemption is also this, Ephesians 5:25-27: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” This purpose of election and redemption is being carried out in your life now in providence as sanctification.
God’s purpose is that we reflect him as his children not only by divine decree and adoption but also by character, life, and testimony. Ephesians 5:1 says, “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.” If God is your Father, live the way a child of God should live, manifesting the character of God. Yes, God is working in you to make you like this, but you have a responsibility to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. What should I do for this great work of God in my life? “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless children of God.” So, to say it negatively, if you are always complaining and disputing, you are hindering this great work of God’s sanctification in your life. Some versions say “prove yourselves as children of God” by not grumbling; to say it negatively, if you complain and dispute, you are proving you are not the child of God, just like the Israelites. Do you see what a big reason this is? Will this reason make you take complaining and disputing seriously in your life?
The Second Reason: Grumbling Destroys Our Gospel Witness
To state it negatively, grumbling destroys our witness before the world. Notice Philippians 2:15: “you may become children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life.”
Grumbling not only hinders God’s work in your life but also terribly destroys your Christian testimony before the world. This is the main issue. Remember, all this comes under the broad command of living a life worthy of the gospel.
This whole verse and the words in it, Paul has copied from the Old Testament. See Deuteronomy 32:5, in the song of Moses, in referring to the grumbling and unbelief of the children of Israel in the wilderness, Moses says, “They have corrupted themselves; they are not His children, because of their blemish: A perverse and crooked generation.” Although God redeemed them from Egyptian bondage, Moses said the Israelites proved they were not God’s children because of their blemish of grumbling; they were a crooked and perverse generation. Paul turns that around and says that we are God’s children, living in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. You have to prove you are children of God by being careful not to grumble and dispute, as Israel did in the wilderness.
We, as God’s children, live in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. The word comes from an illness called scoliosis of the spine. It’s a curvature of the spine. The word means “curved” and “bent out of shape.” It describes something that is out of proper alignment, deviated from the standard. Man has a spiritual disease, scoliosis of the heart. All he thinks and desires is crooked, against God, and deviated from the straight plumb line of righteousness. Then an even stronger word is “perverse.” This word means to be severely twisted or severely distorted, the full opposite of what is good.
Today, we don’t have to prove that; it is right in front of our eyes in the news. Lying, cheating, and deception are famous today; everything is crooked in our society. Minds are so brainwashed that people don’t know how to think properly. This society is filled with grumbling and complaining against God. They don’t believe in the living God. Not only do they not listen to the true gospel, but they are also against it. As it says in Romans 1, instead of worshiping the creator, they worship the creature; their foolish hearts are darkened. We live in a dark, crooked, and perverse generation. Even small children realize everything is wrong in the world. Romans 1 says God’s wrath is revealed on this generation, and he has given them up to all sins.
If God has opened our eyes and made us his children, it is our great duty to be a witness to God in this society. How can we be a witness? In this dark, grumbling generation, when we do everything without complaining and disputing, we should live without offense. Verse 15 says, “without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.”
How? It starts with living without complaining and disputing. People may not see us as drunkards, adulterers, or liars, but if we are to live as faultless witnesses, we should stop grumbling. If we don’t, we are destroying our gospel witness. They may say, “Ah, they say they believe in the true living God, a sovereign God, but look at them. They can’t bear even small things; they are always grumbling.” It shows their God is not really sovereign, and they don’t really believe the trials of their life are sent by the Lord, and they don’t really believe that he is adequate to meet every situation. They are not really expecting him to work, otherwise they wouldn’t be murmuring, grumbling, and disputing with one another. “Look at that fault in their life, look at what they are doing here, look how they fight, husbands and wives, children.”
Do we realize as God’s children, we are dishonoring him by grumbling before the world? Children in many ways reflect their parents, don’t they? If a child is sullen, unhappy, and always complaining about life, it doesn’t speak well of the parents. It may be that the parents are truly loving, caring people who provide well for their kids. But the child’s bad attitude makes people think poorly of the parents. Generally, children’s behavior impacts how people think of their parents.
If we are God’s children, what does the world think of our Father when they see our lives? God said to the Israelites, “You are my people; I have a great plan for you. I am leading you through the difficult wilderness for a purpose, to make you grow in faith.” But the Israelites, in their unbelief, didn’t realize that and kept grumbling and disputing against the Lord (16:8). It was a bad testimony to the nations around them that the God who had provided a mighty deliverance and redemption for Israel would not also provide for their basic needs. If you look at their language and grumbling, it reflected badly on his love, his care, and his power to provide. They attacked all his attributes by grumbling. The pagan nations around them, who were looking for a pretext to justify their rebellion against the living God, would scoff at God when they heard the grumbling and complaining of his people.
In the same way today, we are called to reflect God as our Father. In this crooked world, people may not read the Bible. The only way they can know anything about God is by looking at us. How are we reflecting our Father? We will reflect our heavenly Father as a good, loving, powerful, sovereign, and caring God when we do all things without complaining and disputing. If you live like that, he uses imagery in verse 15: “among whom you shine as lights in the world.”
“Lights” means luminaries, like the moon and stars. In the Sermon on the Mount, our Lord said, “you’re the only light the world has.” When do stars shine the brightest? When the night is the darkest. The stars shine during the day, but we can’t see them because the light of the sun blocks them out. But on a dark night, they shine the brightest. In the same way, the world is as dark as it can be—crooked, perverse, and everyone is filled with discontent. They grumble from morning to night; they cannot live one hour without grumbling. What a way for us to shine for the gospel in this area! When we do all things without complaining and disputing, or gratefully accept and sometimes, like Paul, even rejoice in sufferings for the gospel, he says we will shine as lights.
When can you bear the most powerful witness for Jesus Christ? When you’re in the darkest place! It may be a place of personal trial. Maybe you are among very difficult people and difficult circumstances, where any ordinary person will grumble. You don’t, and there you radiate with God’s joy in spite of your difficult situation. Maybe you’re in a dark situation at home or at work, surrounded by crooked and perverse people who have no sense. If you do all things without grumbling or disputing, you’re going to shine as blameless, innocent, and faultless children of God. People’s consciences cannot but notice there is something divine working in you, and they will desire that.
Paul is not giving a theoretical teaching. He has lived and experienced this. Remember, as he wrote, he was in a dark place, in prison, facing possible execution from the pagan Nero. Christian preachers in Rome were slandering him out of envy and strife. Even there, he was able to spread the gospel so marvelously that the whole Roman palace and city heard the gospel, with many coming and hearing, even from Caesar’s household. He is shining because he is doing all without complaining and disputing, and rejoicing in trials and shining as a child of God with a divine light.
“But,” you say, “how can I not grumble and have joy when things aren’t going well? I try, Pastor, but my life is filled with problems, filled with crooked and perverse people. I’ve prayed, but the problems seem to get worse, not better. How can I shine with God’s joy in such trials?”
Look at the verse; the only way you can shine in a difficult situation, he says, is by “holding fast the word of life.” Now, there is a translation problem here. Fifty percent of translations say “holding fast,” and 50% say “holding forth.” We can see it in two ways: we can shine when we hold fast to the word of God, and when we shine, we hold forth, or hold up, the word of God. We give witness that the reason I can be happy like this is because of God’s word.
It highlights that no one can live such a life without holding fast to the word of life. How at the grassroots level can I live such a life—blameless and harmless without blemish—right in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation? Culture, facilities, and technology all make us grumble. This generation, even if I don’t go anywhere, makes me hold fast not to the word of life, but to my mobile. Through this mobile addiction, it always bombards my ears and eyes with all kinds of advertisements, artificial reels, and posts that fill my heart with discontent through false comparisons, feelings of inadequacy, loneliness, evil reasonings, and grumbling.
We, as a mobile-addicted generation, are facing mental issues like depression and anxiety. Blue light from the phone affects our eyes, disrupting the sleep cycle and making it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. Lack of proper sleep is leading to fatigue and irritability. It’s spoiling family relationships, and we have no social relationships; it hinders our ability to connect with people in a meaningful way. “But I am addicted. What do I do, Pastor?” How, in the name of the God of heaven, can you live like that in a world like that?
The simple solution is to throw your mobile away and hold fast to the word of life. We have started Psalm 119. For over a year, we will see the glory of God’s word. This is the only word that gives life to a dead sinner. This word of life regularly revives and fills us with a new, joyful, and energetic divine life.
We cannot live like this with our own strength. God has deposited the fullness of grace and treasures of wisdom, knowledge, and deity in Jesus Christ—not in vain. So we can draw from him all grace and wisdom and become like that. It is only in union with him. How do we experience his grace and truth? By means of the word of life. The very life of God flows to us through this word of life. We become like the blessed man in Psalm 1: “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law that he meditate day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water; whatever he does will prosper.” There are no shortcuts, my friend. If you want your life to be blessed and to shine, there must be this constant attendant activity of holding fast to the word of life. That is the only means to draw from the fullness of Christ. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
When people look at us and ask, “How can you be so fresh, positive, energetic, and joyful always, in spite of so many trials?” We hold forth: “the word of life.” We tell them about the word of life. We hold it forth and hold it high. We become the greatest advertisement for God’s word.
If we always hold fast to our mobile, we will be discontent. Inevitably, we will grumble for every little thing in life and be short-tempered. How can we be a witness to the word of life? You will completely destroy the witness for the gospel. We have distorted the picture of the children of God before the world, just like the Israelites did. You have sinned; that’s such a tragedy.
Do you again see how powerful this reason not to grumble is? One of the signs of a truly born-again believer who is enjoying the gospel blessings will have a jealous concern for bearing a testimony before the world. Our testimony of Christ should be uppermost in our thinking so as to affect all our attitudes and behavior. If we destroy our testimony by complaining and disputing, we fail at the very purpose of our existence as humans.
What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy him forever. What does it mean to glorify God? To glorify God means that when people look at our lives as Christians, they should see how great he is, how good he is, and how sovereign he is. We reveal God’s attributes through our lives, words, and attitudes. That is the chief end for which we were created. If we don’t live for that, we are dead while we live.
Then think of ourselves, calling ourselves Christians, as children of God. Our testimony—what our lives communicate about our Savior—should be uppermost in our thinking so that our attitudes, our behavior, and our words bring glory to God. The testimony of Christ is at stake. When we realize our testimony of Christ is tarnished by grumbling and disputing, every true believer’s heart will be moved to take complaining and disputing seriously and kill it in their life.
The Third Reason: At the Second Coming, a Grumbling Person Will Know He Was Not Truly Saved
The first great reason is that grumbling hinders our sanctification. The second great reason is that grumbling destroys our witness before the world. And the third reason is that at the Second Coming, a grumbling person will know he was not truly saved. Wow!
This is implied in Philippians 2:16: “so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.” Why does he say this? Because when the Philippians, by grumbling, hinder their sanctification and destroy their witness before the world, they finally prove they are not truly saved. Then Paul will be disappointed that he has “run and labored in vain.” I am stating all this in a negative way. So the third reason we shouldn’t grumble is that at the Second Coming, every grumbling person will know he was not truly saved.
The very words “run” and “labor” point to the intense, tremendous efforts of Paul as a pastor. It shows the difficulty that comes to every pastor who wants to serve Christ. “I didn’t run in vain” is a word that’s used to speak of runners in a stadium, a marathon race, making a maximum effort to win a great event, and “I didn’t toil in vain,” that is kopia, working to the point of sweat and exhaustion. Paul worked so hard to build the Philippian church. They know it.
This is again a personal, emotional touch, as I said there was a bond between Paul and the Philippians. They would do anything to make their pastor happy. He says, “If you have any regard for all the efforts, the running and labor day and night, I did this for no selfish reason. I live in this life to serve God. And I look forward to heaven for one great reason: I want to glorify God. And the more effective my service has been in this world, the greater my capacity to glorify Him will be in the world to come.” 1 Corinthians 3:13 says, “Every man’s ministry and work will be tested by fire.” “Do you want me in that day to have the joy?” It is the way of being commended as a good and faithful servant who did not run for nothing, who didn’t labor for nothing.
On the day of Christ, if by grumbling you hinder your sanctification and destroy your witness, you will be shown to be false believers. All my running and labor will be in vain. So, I plead with you as a pastor, if you have any respect, the greatest thing you can do is to positively make me rejoice by obeying this command so that my labor is not in vain.
Do you see that complaining and disputing is not an ordinary thing? Paul links this to the eternal destiny of every believer. Today, many may be deceiving themselves into thinking they are believers. On the day of Christ, every person’s heart secret will be revealed. It is a public judgment, so objective works will be seen as evidence of the state of the heart and will form the ground for the judgment that shall be pronounced upon them. That is why the Bible everywhere says we will be judged by our works. The main examination is whether you are a true believer—truly born again, who has truly believed the gospel and repented. How will this be proven? By an objective examination on the Day of Judgment. The question will be whether the gospel produced an effect in your heart that removed your discontent, grumbling, and disputing. If that effect is not produced, all those who preached to you and labored for you have done so in vain, because you are not truly saved. Wow! Our Lord himself said you will be judged by your words and the secrets of your heart.
So, stop grumbling. There are three reasons: for your sanctification, for your gospel witness, and for your glorification. Positively, when you stop, you will become a blameless, innocent, and faultless child of God, a witness for the gospel, and on the day of Jesus, you will be proven to be a true child of God and rewarded. But negatively, grumbling hinders sanctification, destroys your witness, and on the day of Jesus, you will be shown to be a hypocrite who was never truly saved.
Applications
Aren’t these reasons enough for us? But I wonder, if there had been a secret video camera recording your life this past week, how much grumbling would have been captured on film? Maybe you even came to church grumbling. Today you have heard God’s word: “Do all things without grumbling or disputing,” and three powerful reasons for that. There truly is a secret camera recording your life. If you continue to grumble and don’t take this sin seriously, the guilt of your sin will increase from now on, and the judgment will be more severe. May God open our eyes and make us take this sin seriously.
If you are sitting and listening to these reasons—that grumbling hinders sanctification, destroys your testimony, and will bring judgment on the day of Christ—and they don’t move or change you, you have to seriously examine your heart and see if you are a true believer. If there are three signs of a true believer, would these not be the top reasons? These three are deep heart longings of every child of God.
First, think of this: which Christian does not want to become more holy and sanctified? This is a constant groaning and yearning—to be forgiven and become more holy, to overcome temptation and live more holy. A true Christian prays to God to work in their heart daily. Grumbling hinders that work. What could be more shocking?
Secondly, which Christian does not have a great concern that his life should be a witness for others? We all bear the name of Christ, and what we think, speak, and do reflects on Christ.
Imagine a bride coming to her marriage. Everything is white, but there is a half-inch black grease spot near her knee. Even though it is only a tiny percentage of the clothing, everyone at the wedding will see that grease spot and frown. In the same way, we may have so many things right—living proper lives, no lying, no adultery, no drunkenness—but when we live with discontent and grumbling, we are constantly letting sinful reasonings come forth from our minds to try to lend credibility to our sinful grumblings. You are always grumbling with reasons. That is the grease spot that family members, children, relatives, and coworkers will see. That destroys the gospel testimony.
Think of the sad condition in which the world is described. See the terrible, vigorous language: “a crooked and perverse generation,” a dark world heading to eternal hell. It is like the vast darkness of space with no luminaries. We say we have a burden for the souls of the world. If we truly have a burden, our great concern should be to be a witness in this area. How refreshing it is to see, in the midst of that darkness, the bursting forth of the light of a star, the twinkle of a heavenly luminary.
Paul says that is the image of the Christian who does all that he does without murmurings, who submits from the heart to the ways of God’s providence. Such a person, in a crooked and perverse generation, stands out like a sparkling, dazzling star against the black darkness. Isn’t that enough to stir you up? The privilege of being a light in the midst of darkness in the home, in the school, college, workplace, or street. Even when you go through trials, people look upon you and wonder how you can bear things. No matter how bitter it may be to all of your native inclinations, you face all that providence brings without murmurings and disputing. Then you become in that situation a brilliant star in the midst of the darkness of this world. This is the will of God for all his children. Not for a few of them, but for some of them—not the majority of them, but for every single one of us. Are you his child?
Which Christian will not have a deep concern that on the day of Christ, he should be glorified as a true child of God? His life works should reflect his faith.
Which Christian will not have some gratitude and regard for all his pastor is doing, for all his labors? Some way to return or show gratitude for his labors. The best thing you can do for your pastor here is, when he preaches the word of God with all labor and efforts, live out everything they taught from God’s word so on the day of Christ, they may be rewarded and rejoice that their efforts were not in vain. 3 John 4: “I have no greater joy than to hear of my children walking in truth.” The greatest joy of any servant of God is the obedience of his flock—that’s the greatest joy.
See the solemn responsibility. Until a pastor sees his church as people who do all things without complaining and disputing, he must of necessity stand in doubt of them and their eternal state. But when it is produced in them, he may well rejoice over them, seeing that they shall surely be his joy and crown of rejoicing in the last day. Yes, blessed indeed will be the meeting which he will have with them in that day. He will recognize them as his spiritual children and present them to God, saying, “Here am I, and the children you have given me.”
“Pastor, how? People are so horrible and crooked. I feel like screaming, not grumbling. How can I do all things without complaining and disputing?” People are so crooked—children, spouses—they act so crookedly. Will our grumbling change them? Why don’t we try to do it without grumbling? Another great motivation to kill this sin in a difficult situation is for us to look at the day of Christ.
On that day of Christ’s coming, he will render his rewards to every person. That is the greatest day. When we serve Christ today and live as a gospel witness in the midst of a dark and crooked world, in spite of perverseness, selfishness, and worldly love, and we endure hardship for his sake, for the gospel’s sake, whatever you endured, you will receive infinite rewards.
Imagine what joy, like Paul’s joy, it would be if people are there in heaven on that day, rescued from hell, gathered before the throne of Christ to sing his praises for all eternity because of your witness, because you endured and never complained or disputed. Don’t you think that you will say, “Any suffering I went through for the sake of the gospel was worth it”?
When you are persecuted for the gospel’s sake, you don’t grumble. Remember he said, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
At present, he is allowing evil to go on. Living in this evil world, we will often suffer for the sake of righteousness. But we believe that he is sovereign, that his plan for the ages will be fulfilled, that Christ will return in power and glory to reign on his throne. So we can submit joyfully, without grumbling or disputing, to whatever he brings into our lives, knowing that he is in charge and that his plan will not be thwarted.
Let us all strive to practice this. Yes, this seems small and comes under the category of negative holiness. The absence of a murmuring disposition is a great achievement of Christian maturity. This results in positive contentment and positive love for all people.
Nor should this be thought a low attainment. Considering what an ensnaring world we move in, and what depraved and perverse creatures we have to deal with, it is no easy matter to walk so that no one may have any fault to find with us. Such conduct requires incessant vigilance and circumspection on our part. In this way, we should shine as lights in a dark world, “holding forth” in the whole of our conduct and conversation “the word of life.”
To live like that requires no small measure of grace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
The good news is that God has deposited the fullness of grace and deity in Jesus Christ, not in vain, so we can draw from him and become like that. Yes, this is a high order, but it can be attained only by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, for it is only by faith that we can be united to him, and only by union with him that we can bring forth fruit to his glory, through the means of the word of life.
He himself tells us that “without him, that is, separate from him, we can do nothing.” If we attempt anything in our own strength, we shall fail. But “through Christ strengthening us, we can do all things.” To him, therefore, we must look, and of him we must say, “In the Lord have I righteousness and strength.” Relying on him, we shall never be confounded. Our trials may be great, but we shall be enabled to bear them. Our difficulties may be great, but we shall be enabled to surmount them. Nothing shall be impossible to us if only we live by faith in him. In the midst of temptations, we shall “be preserved blameless,” and our “light shall shine brighter and brighter unto the perfect day.”
For those of you who have still not come to Christ in faith and repentance, you cannot live like this, not even in your dreams. This is possible only for the children of God. Don’t try to become children of God by following this. You become children of God by believing in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross and repenting of your sins. Then he gives you a heart to live like this.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 