If We Suffer With Christ, We Will Also Be Glorified With Him In Eternity

One of my favorite Bible teachers is Pastor Brad Strand. I was delighted last year to learn that Brother Strand authored a helpful study Bible. The project was his heart's passion for 33 years, in which time he invested over 30,000 hours of labor to write this masterpiece. I was glad to learn that he faithfully contends for the Christian faith, exposing the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation. Romans 10:9, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Pastor Strand writes concerning 2nd Corinthians 4:8-10:

In the third century, Cyprian wrote to his friend Donatus: 

It is a bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and good people who have learned the great secret of life. They have found a joy and wisdom which is a thousand times better than any of the pleasures of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are Christians... and I am one of them.

The great secret that this third-century man was referring to was what Paul was referring to, and that is this — if we share in His suffering we will also share in His glory (that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body — Rom 8:17, II Tim 2:11-12 and I Pet 4:13-14). In essence, Christians need to learn to embrace the eternal perspective (II Cor 4:17, 18 and Phil 1:21). The adage is true: Life changes. Just don't let it change you.

SOURCE: Pastor Brad Strand, 'The Strand Study Bible,' pp. 1931-1932; ©2009, Rood Scholar Press

Amen and amen. I love Pastor Strand's extensive knowledge of secular history that he uses to teach the Bible in a very practical way, which is invaluable in my humble opinion. Brother Strand is one of my favorite Bible teachers, one of the few people I have met who can actually teach. Most teachers have a bunch of knowledge stored in their head, but they cannot break that information down in a simplified way for others to easily understand. Of the hundreds of teachers I've had during my lifetime, only a few really knew how to teach. Pastor Strand is one of them and I love and appreciate the guy!

Pastor Strand writes concerning 2nd Corinthians 3:18:

The Bible is a mirror that reflects Christ's glory (beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord). The more a believer gazes into it intently the more he becomes like Christ. Just as Moses' face reflected God's glory on Mt. Sinai, so we are to reflect the glory of Christ through the indwelling Spirit of God. A mirror should be used to show us our filthiness, not another's filthiness (Amos 7:7). 

SOURCE: Pastor Brad Strand, 'The Strand Study Bible,' p. 1931; ©2009, Rood Scholar Press

That is great truth!

The following quotes are beautiful, honoring God's inspired Word. And may I say, today's modern Bible revisions are often NOT based any any legitimate ancient language; but rather, they are the mere rantings of scholarly madmen hellbent on making a buck from marketing their own copyrighted version:

“The Bible is no mere book, but a Living Creature, with a power that conquers all who oppose it.” —Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)

“It is impossible to enslave mentally or socially a Bible-reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom.” —Horace Greeley (1811-1872)

“The existence of the Bible, as a book for the people, is the greatest benefit which the human race has ever experienced. Every attempt to belittle it is a crime against humanity.” —Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

“That book [King James Bible], sir, is the rock on which on republic rests.” —U.S. President Andrew Jackson (1767-1845)

“The Bible has been the Magna Carta of the poor and oppressed. The human race is not in a position to dispense with it.” —Thomas Huxley (1825-1895)

“So great is my veneration for the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society. I have for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible every year.” —U.S. President John Quincy Adams (1767-1848)

“It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible. ” —U.S. President George Washington (1732-1799)

“The Bible, composes by many authors, over a period of many centuries, yet ONE BOOK, is, in itself, the outstanding Miracle of the Ages, bearing aloft its own evidence of its Superhuman Origin.” —Henry H. Halley (1874-1965)

“The Old Testament is an account of a Nation. The New Testament is an account of a MAN, The Nation was founded and nurtured of God to bring the Man into the world.” —Dr. Henry H. Halley (1874-1965)

“Bible reading is an education in itself.” —Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)

“The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed.” —Patrick Henry (1736-1799)

“The whole hope of human progress is suspended on the ever growing influence of the Bible.” —U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward (1801-1872)

“God Himself became a Man, to give mankind a concrete, definite, tangible idea of what kind of Person to think of when we think of God. God is like Jesus. Jesus was God incarnate in human form. His appearance on earth is the Central Event of all history. The Old Testament sets the stage for it. The New Testament describes it. As a man, He lived the most strangely Beautiful Life ever known. He was the Kindest, Tenderest, Gentlest, most Patient, most Sympathetic man that ever lived. He Loved people. He hated to see people in trouble. He loved to Forgive. He loved to Help. He wrought marvelous miracles to feed hungry people. For relieving the suffering He forgot to take food for Himself. Multitudes, weary, pain-ridden, and heart-sick, came to Him, and found healing and relief. It is said of Him, and of no other, that if all the deeds of Kindness that He did were written, the world would not contain the books. That is the kind of man Jesus was. That is the kind of Person God is. Then: He Died, on the Cross, to take away the Sin of the world, to become the Redeemer and Saviour of man. Then: He Rose from the Dead: is Alive Now: not merely an historical character, but a Living Person: the Most Important Fact of History, and Most Vital Force in the world today.” —Dr. Henry H. Halley (1874-1965)

“The reason you don't like the Bible, you old sinner, is because it knows all about you.” —Billy Sunday

“The Bible will always be full of things you cannot understand, as long as you will not live according to those you can understand.” —Billy Sunday

I am a big fan of preacher quotes! Quotes are nuggets of truth to help us discern truth and live right. You cannot live right if you don't first think right. A man who walks with wise men shall be wise. Proverbs 13:20, “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” We've got a bunch of fools in church pulpits today, who've been influenced by false prophets like Sam Horn, Ray Comfort, John Piper and Steve Pettit. Worst of all is their leader John MacArthur, who denies that children can be saved, denies that Jesus' blood is on the Mercy Seat in Heaven, and who requires discipleship for salvation (which is NOT the Gospel of free grace).