“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20, NASB).

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Contents:

1) Giving Reason for Your Hope (Jerry Fite)
2) Bring Joy to My Soul (Psalm 86:4-5) (Mike Johnson)

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Giving Reason For Your Hope

Jerry Fite

Peter exhorts us to set apart or sanctify Jesus as Lord in our hearts. Accompanying the will and emotions with obedience to our Lord, the world should find us “being ready always to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that lies within you…” (I Peter 3:15).

Are you ready? Are you prepared to give your defense (apologia) regarding the hope that should be alive in the heart of every Christian? Hope is the confident desire for heaven that we have when we hear the truth of the Gospel and submit to its conditions for salvation (Colossians 1:5, I Peter 1:22). Peter implies that hope is of interest to others, that upon observing your conduct in the Lord they ask “why” such hope thrives in your heart. Can the question come at any moment, what is your answer?

Peter offers us at least four reasons in the opening chapter of this letter: I Peter 1:3-5. They pertain to God’s mercy, Christ’s resurrection, God’s holiness, and God’s power.

We start at the beginning of our hope when we were begotten through the Gospel. Our thanks goes up to God for His clemency. “…who according to His great mercy, begat us again unto a living hope” (I Peter 1:3a). We do not have hope in the Lord because of our own righteousness, but “according to His mercy He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). God’s abundant mercy, expressed in terms of being “great” and “rich” implies how unrighteous we all were before God in our sins. God’s abundant extended mercy lies at the beginning of our hope.

Without Christ we have no hope (Ephesians 2:12). If Jesus has not been raised from the dead, we are still in our sins (I Corinthians 15:17). Peter declares that our being born again unto a living hope was “by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (I Peter 1:3b).

Because the resurrection of Jesus is factual, confirmed by credible eyewitnesses (I Corinthians 15:5-8), our faith is not vain. So, we can wait in hope, anticipating our own resurrection from the grave (Roman 8:24). Being first justified from our sins by God’s mercy, we look forward to being glorified by our resurrected Lord (cf. Romans 8:30, Philippians 3:20-21). We wait in hope for the glory that will never fade away (I Peter 1:4).
 
The third defense for our hope is that our place in heaven is being watched over or kept by our holy God (I Peter 1:4). God reserves heaven for the righteous, and because of His pure and holy character, no unrighteousness will enter heaven and spoil our “undefiled” hope. “There shall in no wise enter into it anything unclean, or he that maketh an abomination and a lie: but only they that are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 21:27). Our new abode in heaven is reserved as a place where righteousness dwells (cf. 2 Peter 3:13).

The fourth defense of the Christian’s hope is God’s power. He is not only watching over heaven in His holiness, He is guarding us by his omnipotent power. Peter writes, “…who by the power of God are guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (I Peter 1:5). God’s power manifested through the saving message of the Gospel, coupled by His eternal veracity, “God cannot lie” (Titus 1:2), gives Christians the reason to remain faithful. They continue to have their name written in the Lamb’s book of life.

— Via Glad Tidings, Vol. XXXV, No. 27, July 6, 2025

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Hebrews 6:19-20

“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (NASB).

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Bring Joy to My Soul
(Psalm 86:4-5)

Mike Johnson

Psalm 86 consists entirely of a prayer by David during a time when he was greatly distressed. The details of his difficulties are not revealed, but verse 14 points out that a group of proud and violent people, who had no regard for God, were seeking his life.  Yet, amid his trouble, the Psalmist approaches God in prayer with complete confidence that the Lord will be merciful and deliver him.

Verses 1-7 contain a formula. First, the Psalmist makes a request of God and then gives God a reason(s) why He should fulfill it.  For example, in verses 1-3, he asks God to hear him, preserve his life, and be merciful to him and then offers reasons for God to respond. Then continuing in verses 4-5, he gives God four reasons to fulfill his next request after making it.

 The request is for God to “bring joy” (NIV) to his soul. He pleads, “Rejoice the soul of Your servant, for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.”  Consider a closer look at the reasons he gives for granting this request.

  • I lift up my soul (4b). This statement implies his earnestness, faith, and trust — he lifts his very being to God.  He calls himself God’s “servant,” and only to Him could he call out.  Further, recall earlier in the prayer (2b), he refers to himself as “Your servant who trusts in You!”   Elsewhere, “lifting up” the soul is associated with prayer. In Psalm 143:8, he said, “ . . . for in You do I trust; cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to You.”  Also, note the correlation of the concepts in Psalm 25:1-2a “To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You . . .”  With complete sincerity, he lifts his heart and soul to God, whom he trusts!
  • You are good (5a). God is good!  Elsewhere, Psalm 145:9 states, “The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.” Some may not understand why a good God allows so much evil in the world.  However, people are free moral agents and not robots.  God never promised that everything would be easy in our lives.  If we think this, we are confusing life on earth with heaven.  Of course, the ultimate way we see God’s goodness is when he sent His Son to die for our sins (Rom. 5:8).
  • You are ready to forgive (5b). Associated with God’s goodness is His willingness to forgive. The Bible teaches that God wants everyone to be saved (2 Pet. 3:9). Also, in the Parable of the Lost Sheep (Lk. 15), Jesus taught this principle. He said that a man has 100 sheep and loses one; the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to find the lost sheep, and his friends and neighbors rejoice with him when he finds it. Then Jesus says, “I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance” (7). Consider another reason cited.
  • You are abundant in mercy for all who call upon you (5c). God’s mercy doesn’t simply exist, but it is abundant. (The ESV translates as “abounding in steadfast love.”)  However, a condition is attached: “for all who call upon you.”  Thus, His abundant mercy is for those who call upon Him. (Note also Rom. 10:9-13.)

The Bible connects God’s goodness, mercy, and readiness to forgive in other places besides verse 5. Consider, for example, Exodus 34:6-7. “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin . . .”

Thus, David is asking God to help him — to bring joy to his soul.  Why should he do so? David says it is because I lift up my soul to You; You are good, ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy. So, today, God can bring joy to our souls if we let Him!

— Via Seeking Things Above, Vol. 4, No. 1, April 2023

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The Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation

1) Hear the gospel — for that is how faith comes (Rom. 10:17; John 20:30-31).
 
2) Believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (John 8:24; John 3:18).

3) Repent of sins.  For every accountable person has sinned (Romans 3:23; Romans 3:10), which causes one to be spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1) and separated from God (Isaiah 59:1-2; Romans 6:23). Therefore, repentance of sin is necessary (Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).  For whether the sin seems great or small, there will still be the same penalty for either (Matt. 12:36-37; 2 Cor. 5:10) — and even for a lie (Rev. 21:8).

4) Confess faith in Christ (Rom. 10:9-10; Acts 8:36-38).

5) Be baptized in water for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Pet. 3:21).  This is the final step that puts one into Christ (Gal. 3:26-27).  For from that baptism, one is then raised as a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17), having all sins forgiven and beginning a new life as a Christian (Rom. 6:3-4). For the one being baptized does so “through faith in the working of God” (Col. 2:12). In other words, believing that God will keep His word and forgive after one submits to these necessary steps. And now as a Christian, we then need to…

6) Continue in the faith by living for the Lord; for, if not, salvation can be lost (Matt. 24:13; Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet. 2:20-22).

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Tebeau Street
CHURCH OF CHRIST
1402 Tebeau Street, Waycross, GA  31501

Sunday: 9 a.m. Bible Classes and 10 a.m. Worship Service
Wednesday (all but the first): 7 p.m. Bible Classes 
 First Wednesday of the month: 7 p.m. Congregational Song Service (about 45 minutes of singing, followed by a short talk)

evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (912) 281-9917
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com

https://thomastedwards.com/go/all.htm (This is a link to the older version of the Gospel Observer website, but with bulletins going back to March 4, 1990.)