Two Brothers Building up the Body

  We’ll be picking up in Philippians chapter 4 this week so if you would turn with me and we’ll read the first seven verses: “Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see , my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”      Again we have a “therefore” so we must ask “what is it there for?” In this last chapter of...

  2 Chronicles 33 When studying the kings of Judah, one name stands out as a surprising testimony of grace — Manasseh . His story is not a pleasant one, yet it offers one of the clearest pictures of God’s redemptive mercy found in all of Scripture. In Manasseh we see the depth of sin, the certainty of judgment, the power of repentance, and the enduring reality of God’s forgiveness. Before we walk through his life, remember this foundational truth from 2 Peter 3:9 : “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” That verse is the lens through which we must view Manasseh’s story. God’s justice demands punishment for sin, yet His heart longs for restoration. His discipline is never for destruction—it is always for redemption. 1. The Rebellion We Choose (vv. 1–10) Manasseh grew up surrounded by truth and godliness. His father, Hezekiah, had faith...

  In the first eleven verses, Paul discussed his past accomplishments and heritage, but how none of it mattered when it came to his salvation. His goal, as ours ought to be, was to be “found in Him.” The next five verses reflected on Paul’s present: he was not yet perfect but was pressing “on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” In these final five verses of chapter 3, Paul turns his focus to the future, the eternal outcome of two kinds of people: those who follow Christ sincerely and those who only claim to. Let’s read the passage together: “ Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also...

 2 Chronicles 14:1-8 So Abijah rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet for ten years. Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God, for he removed the altars of the foreign gods and the high places, and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images. He commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment. He also removed the high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom was quiet under him. And he built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest; he had no war in those years, because the Lord had given him rest. Therefore he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and make walls around them, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us, because we have sought the Lord our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they...