The world often accuses believers of being arrogant or narrow-minded because of the believer's certainty concerning the things he believes. Though there are certainly times when believers do behave themselves in an arrogant manner, the godly believer is certain of his beliefs, because he is certain of his authority. According to Titus 2:15, the believer can "speak, and exhort, and rebuke" the truths found within the Bible with all authority. Why? Because the Bible is the word of the God that has all authority. It is not therefore arrogance which causes a believer to be unwilling to waver on what he believes, but faith in the written words of his God.

God is angry every day. He is angry at the same time He is love (1 John 4:8), and righteous (Ezra 9:15), and compassionate (Psalm 86:15), and just (Deuteronomy 32:4), and merciful (Deuteronomy 4:31). The source of God's anger and the means by which He acts upon His anger sets the standard for righteous anger. If anything that was righteous was able to provoke God to anger, it would strongly suggest a sinful nature. God, however, is provoked to anger by sin (1 Kings 16:2), vanity (1 Kings 16:26), and idolatry (1 Kings 22:53). Each of these plainly declares God to be righteous in nature. The source of His anger sets forth the only sources by which men ought to become angry.

Each believer will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ to give an account for his stewardship while on this earth. Perhaps none understood this better than the apostle Paul. He was the apostle of the Gentiles (Romans 11:13) and had a special calling as a steward "of the mysteries of God" (1 Corinthians 4:1). He spoke often about the fact that the gospel had been put in his trust (1 Thessalonians 2:4; 1 Timothy 1:11; Titus 1:3). The apostle Paul feared what would happen if he failed to fulfill his stewardship (1 Corinthians 9:16-17) because he knew a time of accounting was to follow. Though Paul's calling was special, the fact that he would give an account was not.

Stewardship is a difficult task, but it is not without reward. Just as the Lord Jesus presented in His parables of stewardship, the faithful steward receives reward at the time of accounting for his stewardship. The apostle Paul confessed this truth in 1 Corinthians 9:17 when he said, "if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward." Paul knew God had a special calling on his life, and he knew he would stand before God to give an account for his service. In like manner, each believer will one day stand before the Master (Jesus Christ) to give an account of his stewardship. Those who have served as good stewards will receive reward, while those who have not will suffer loss (1 Corinthians 3:11-15).

Man made himself the enemy of God when he chose sin (Romans 5:10), but God had no desire to remain man's enemy. Instead of returning man's hatred, "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). The Lord knew man could not find salvation through the merits of his own works (Titus 3:5). God knew man could not be reconciled on his own. Rather than stand by and watch as countless multitudes went to hell without hope, the Lord determined to give Himself as man's sacrifice. No longer would man be dependent upon his own righteousness, but on the righteousness of the spotless Lamb of God (1 Peter 1:18-20).

Sin cannot go unnoticed. If the Lord is just, and He is, He must mete out consequences for rebellion. The biblical descriptions of the Lord's reaction to rebellion varies from "he will be wroth" (Joshua 22:18) to "then shall the hand of the LORD be against you" (1 Samuel 12:15) to "ye shall be devoured with the sword" (Isaiah 1:20) to "I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee" (Exodus 33:5) to "I will purge out from among you the rebels" (Ezekiel 20:38) to "I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings" (Malachi 2:2). Though there are variations in response, the constant truth remains that the Lord hates rebellion and responds with judgment.

It is imperative that a man learn what is in his heart. The Bible identifies his heart as a liar and a deceiver (Jeremiah 17:9). A man cannot afford to leave off communication with his heart because he needs to find the truth of what lies inside. Many fail to commune with their own heart because they fear what wicked things might be discovered. The psalmist was so concerned about this communication that he sought God's help in searching his heart to find out what was there (Psalm 139:23-24). To some, the idea of communing with one's own heart might seem absurd, but it is scriptural (see Psalm 77:6; Psalm 4:4). In fact, this communication aids in every other communication.

A watchman has tremendous responsibilities. He has to watch for the enemy at all hours of the day or night. In the end, his worries and efforts are vain if the Lord does not intervene. To a great degree, the watchman's job is to worry. The fear of trouble keeps him up at night and causes him to rise up early. Many believers notice physical effects of worry. Worry offers a great deal of problems but offers no solution to those problems. Many saints of God have lost sleep worrying about the events of the day, but to no avail. No help was received because of the worry, and the problem did not go away. Except the Lord intervene in the problems at hand, there will be no help. Worry is vain!

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