Truth for Life - November 11, 2017

November 11

Everlasting Arms

Underneath are the everlasting arms. - Deuteronomy 33:27

God--the eternal God--is Himself our support at all times, and especially when we are sinking in deep trouble. There are seasons when the Christian sinks very low in humiliation. Under a deep sense of his great sinfulness, he is humbled before God until he hardly knows how to pray, because he appears, in his own sight, so worthless.

Well, child of God, remember that when you are at your worst and lowest, even then "underneath" you "are the everlasting arms." Sin may drag you ever so low, but Christ's great atonement is still under all. You may have descended into the depths, but you cannot have fallen so low as the uttermost; and He saves "to the uttermost."1

Again, the Christian sometimes sinks very deeply in sore trial from without. Every earthly prop is cut away. What then? Still underneath him are "the everlasting arms."

He cannot fall so deep in distress and affliction but what the covenant grace of an ever-faithful God will still encircle him. The Christian may be sinking under trouble from within through fierce conflict; but even then he cannot be brought so low as to be beyond the reach of the "everlasting arms"--they are underneath him; and, while he is sustained, all Satan's efforts to harm him achieve nothing.

This assurance of support is a comfort to any weary but sincere worker in the service of God. It implies a promise of strength for each day, grace for each need, and power for each duty.

And, finally, when death comes, the promise will still hold good. When we stand in the middle of the Jordan, we will be able to say with David, "I will fear no evil, for you are with me."2

We will descend into the grave, but we shall go no lower, for the eternal arms prevent our further fall. All through life, and at its close, we shall be upheld by the "everlasting arms"--arms that neither flag nor lose their strength, for "the everlasting God . . . does not faint or grow weary."3

1) Hebrews 7:25
2) Psalm 23:4
3) Isaiah 40:28

Family Bible reading plan

verse 1 2 Kings 24

verse 2 Hebrews 6

Devoted to God: Blueprints for Sanctification

By Sinclair Ferguson

As Christians, we become transformed by the renewing of our minds. Ultimately, how we think, as shaped by our hearing the Word of God, will determine how we will live for God’s glory. 

Author and pastor Sinclair Ferguson describes this transformative process in what he describes as a ‘blueprint for sanctification’. Devoted to God builds a strong and reliable framework for practical Christian living, stressing several fundamental issues, such as: union with Christ, spiritual growth, the reality of spiritual conflict, and the role of God’s law.

Here is a fresh approach to an always relevant subject, and a working manual to which we can turn again and again for biblical instruction and spiritual direction.

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From Morning & Evening revised and edited by Alistair Begg copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org.