CHEERFUL RELIGION

Early Christianity A Cheerful Religion.

"Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?" Romans 2:4

"Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him." Isaiah 30:18

"So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." Acts 2:46-47

In the Bible, God's Justice is God's Power to save.

"Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin." Psalm 51:1

"When the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion, We were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, 'The LORD has done great things for them.'" Psalm 126:1-2

Says Matthew Arnold: "Christ professed to bring in happiness. All the words that belong to His mission: Gospel, kingdom of God, Savior, grace, peace, living water, bread of life, are brimful of promise and joy. And His cheerful, joyful religion at once won its way by its messages of peace and tranquillity, and for a while its converts were everywhere characterized by their joyfulness and cheerfulness." Acts 2:47

"When men were thus overborne with the gloom and horror of error and sin, into their night of darkness came the religion of Christ. Its announcements were all of hope and cheer. Its language was, 'Come unto me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.' 'Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.' 'We rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.' Men were invited to accept the tidings of great joy." Matt. 11:28; Phil. 4:4; 1 Peter 1:8

In the Book of Revelation the theme of the Heavenly Throne Room appears again and again. John is telling us that events are not out of God's hands. Yes, Christians are suffering. Yet Christ is on His heavenly throne. In the vision the 24 elders worship Christ saying: "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." Rev. 4:11; Col. 1:16. The Jews of that day surely understood these words. The language is from the Old Testament description of God. The Kingdom of God lay within the vocabulary of every Jew. It was something they understood and longed for desperately. Christ is the King, the High Priest, the Lamb who takes away sin - our Man in Heaven.

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, good will toward men!" Luke 2:13-14

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 5:1

"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world". John 16:33

"The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To preach deliverance to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed, To preach the acceptable year of the LORD." Luke 4:18-19

"to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.' Acts 26:18

"Praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." Acts 2:47

Wisdom from Patrick Mead.

Don’t worry about what God’s Big Plan is for you today. We already know far more about what He wants from us than we are living up to so why add to that burden? Instead, start each day with a determination to:
1. Honor God
2. Be available to Him wherever you are
3. And look for Him in each situation you face

Oh, and talk to Him along the road. Not just formal prayers with "Thee’s and Thou’s" but conversational prayers. That is God’s will for your life.

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

"And knowing that it is in pursuance of an eternal "purpose" of love that they have been "called into the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 1:9), they naturally say within themselves, "It cannot be that He 'of whom, and through whom, and to whom are all things,' should suffer that purpose to be thwarted by anything really adverse to us, or that He should not make all things, dark as well as light, crooked as well as straight, to cooperate to the furtherance and final completion of His high design." —Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

"Christians sin-less - but only ONE was SINLESS!