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“God has not given us a spirit of timidity [fear], but of power and love and discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). The true follower of Christ has no reason to fear potential sufferings and trials. Concerning frustration and fear at the 1992 Winter Olympics, speed skater Dan Jansen said, “What happened was I skated a race that I can only describe as tentative. I looked good. I didn’t slip. Yet something kept me from going flat out.” The favored Jansen, haunted by well-publicized failures to win medals in 1988 or 1992, finally overcame his fear and triumphed in 1994 in the...

“But let the brother of humble circumstances glory in his high position; and let the rich man glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away” (James 1:9-10). God does not exempt any believer, rich or poor, from trials and suffering. There is a basic principle of life that we all know to be true—namely, that trials and sufferings do not exclude privileged people. This is a humbling truth that we don’t always like to acknowledge, yet it operates before us regularly in such things as natural disasters. No one can deny that large-scale floods, hurricanes, or...

“‘But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living’” (Job 28:12-13). God’s wisdom is our source for understanding life and all its trials. The supernatural wisdom believers need in order to understand their trials is simply not available from our society. During Job’s ordeal he soon learned the utter inadequacy both of his reason and his friends’ misguided advice. That led him to the profound conclusion that the Lord’s wisdom is the only source for comprehending life and all its...

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). God entrusts comfort to us, often through trials, so that we may comfort others. The nation of Ireland is nicknamed the “Emerald Isle” for good reason—it contains some of the greenest countryside of any location on earth. In visiting there I have noticed that abundant...

“And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace . . . will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10). Successful endurance of present trials leads to greater focus on glorifying God in the future. Sufferings and trials teach us patience. However, in Heaven we won’t need to have patience, and therefore it is not the major long-term lesson God wants us to learn from trials. He is far more pleased if we grasp the truth that what we suffer now is directly related to our ability to glorify Him in eternity....

“To obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4). We can rejoice after enduring a trial because our hope in Heaven will be renewed. The joy a Christian experiences as a result of trials can be the best kind he will ever know. But so often we allow the everyday stress and strain of financial difficulties, health problems, unrealized goals, and many other trials to rob us of our joy in Christ. True joy stems from spiritual realities that are much greater than temporal circumstances. In today’s...

“‘For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me’” (Genesis 22:12). Trials from the Lord will reveal to believers what they love and appreciate the most. A big part of the reason for the Lord’s testing Abraham at Moriah was to show him what he valued most in life. The question God wanted Abraham to answer was, “Do you love Isaac more than Me, or do you love Me more than Isaac?” And the Lord was prepared for the drastic test of taking Abraham’s son’s life if that’s what...

“Considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt . . .” (Hebrews 11:26). Trials can show that material things are inadequate to meet our deepest needs. We rely every day on material possessions—cars, computers, pagers, telephones, microwaves, radios, and TVs. These familiar conveniences make us feel as though it’s quite a hardship to cope without them. Therefore it’s difficult to avoid the pitfall Jesus warned about in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other....

“To keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me” (2 Corinthians 12:7). God sometimes uses trials to humble believers. Professional athletics, as a whole, makes up one of the least humble sectors in modern American society. Players with multi-million dollar salaries and extravagant benefits have replaced those who played because they loved their sport and had great community loyalty. One such noble model from the past was Lou Gehrig, the Hall of Fame first baseman with the New York Yankees, whose career ended in 1939 after he...

“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac; and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son” (Hebrews 11:17). The main reason God allows trials in the lives of Christians is to test the strength of their faith. The memorable example in Genesis 22 of Abraham’s testing is perhaps the severest trial any human being has ever faced. When God told Abraham to offer his only son Isaac as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of Moriah (Gen. 22:1-2), Abraham no doubt was stunned. In terms of God’s nature, His plan...

In this video, Pastor John MacArthur is speaking about the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 (in a general way) This is his opening statement and then he goes into preaching. The video is about 53 minutes long

“‘All these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me’” (John 15:21). The world, in its general hatred of the truth and ignorance of God, will also hate believers. The religious leaders of Jesus’ time hated Him intensely. If we are committed to following Him wholeheartedly today, we can’t expect to avoid persecution and hardship any more than He did. In John 15:20 our Lord tells us what to expect: “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they...

“‘If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you’” (John 15:18-19). Because they are not part of the world’s system, Christians should expect it to hate and oppose them. If you’ve been a Christian for a while, you doubtless remember how soon you realized that you were no longer in step with the world’s culture. You were no longer comfortable...

Pastor John MacArthur discussing Global (false) Peace One World Government One World Currency Tower of Babel - Genesis chapter 11 The United Nations The End Times Global Government

“‘For man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward’” (Job 5:7). Because they are sinners, still living in a sinful world, Christians should expect to encounter difficulties. “It all depends on how you look at it.” That may be a cliché, but it is very applicable for believers as they deal with trials and sufferings. Any trial can be a joyous experience for a Christian if he looks at it from the proper, biblical perspective. Or, as with Jonah (Jonah 4) and Elijah (1 Kings 19:1-14), trials can be frustrating times of self-pity if believers lose their focus on...

“‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ . . . but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55, 57). The Resurrection seals what we could not: victory over death. Death is the great enemy of mankind. It comes to everyone without exception. It violates our dominion of God’s creation, breaks apart relationships, disrupts families, and causes us to grieve the loss of loved ones. However, Christ’s resurrection has broken the power of death for Christians because “death no longer...

“Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” (1 Corinthians 15:49). All believers can look forward to one day receiving new bodies and new images. Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances present a glimpse of the greatness, power, and wonder that our own resurrection bodies will have. Our Lord appeared and disappeared at will and always reappeared in other places. He was able to go through walls and doors, but He could also eat, drink, sit, talk, and be seen by others. Jesus was remarkably the same as before His death, yet...

“Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.’ Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame” (1 Corinthians 15:33-34). Trusting in the fact of Christ’s resurrection and looking forward to our own rising from the dead ought to stimulate us toward sanctification. Like any essential teaching of Scripture, the doctrine of the Resurrection can be studied and discussed from an academic standpoint only. When that happens, we usually acquire a factual understanding of the topic and perhaps some appreciation of how the doctrine supports our faith—but...

PING-PONG ........ or (hopefully something you can share with family and friends who may be interested in what's happening in our world and regarding the future)

“If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Corinthians 15:32). The truth of the Resurrection is an incentive for believers to persevere in service for Jesus Christ. Certainly Paul’s statement in today’s verse is an extraordinary one, but it reiterates that the truth of Christ’s resurrection and the hope of believers’ resurrection are definite incentives for Christian service. It allows us to look more closely at what motivated Christians like Paul, and how we also should...