Key Verse: "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil."
- John 17:15 KJV
Christ does not wish that we shall be kept from suffering—but that in our suffering, we shall not sin. He does not wish that we may never have sickness—but that in our sickness, we may not fail of patience, sweetness, and trust. He does not wish that we may have no trials or struggles—but that in our trials and struggles, we may not be overcome and our lives hurt or marred.
There is only one evil in the world—SIN, and it lurks everywhere! It comes even in our purest joys; we may forget God in them. The happiest home may become a place of peril to us, leading us to self-indulgence, love of ease, forgetfulness of the world's need and sorrow, neglect of duties, even to forgetfulness of God.
There is no sin in our being hated by the world, in our being wronged or injured by others; but if we endure the hatred and the wrong resentfully, if we grow angry and seek to avenge ourselves—we have sinned. There is no sin in our being assailed by temptations, we cannot live a day without being tempted—but the moment we yield to the temptation, we have sinned. There is no sin in our suffering adversity, disappointment, loss, need; but the moment that in any such experience we repine, doubt God, or rebel against his will—we have done evil and sinned.
Are you Saved?
