Philippians 1:27

Title:  Whatever happens

In life or in death, the Christian should behave himself in a way suitable for someone who has been granted the honor of suffering for the Lord Jesus in defending the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) in partnership with other believers.

This is not an easy proposition considering the magnitude of the task and the urgency of the times, but those who would be companions with the apostles in their perils and privation in defending and establishing the gospel will be able to rejoice even in the face of great endurance and many forms of danger and opposition outside the church and even from those who call themselves Christians but are of the synagogue of Satan.

Philippians 1:10

Title:  The day of Christ

The history of man will culminate on the day of the Lord, and creation itself will be liberated from its bondage of decay on that day; for this reason the Christian perspective must lead him from Calvary to the Mount of Olives where the Lord Jesus will set his feet at the end of the age and gather onto himself his people from the four corners of the earth.

The earth, in its present state, is no place for Christian purpose, which is to live a pure and blameless life.  We are not here on this insignificant speck of dust in God's universe to simply cherish our freedom in pursuit of happiness.  On the contrary, the believer is expected to carry his cross to the hill of sacrifice, and along the narrow path live a holy life for the pleasure and praise and honor of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 1:4

Title:  In all our troubles

Our Father God, the God who comes alongside us when we are under great distress, as we call upon him in prayer, addresses all our troubles, even individual afflictions that may seem to drown us in total despair, and by his great mercy encourages us through his Son, the Lord Jesus, whose suffering was so intense that creation itself convulsed in confusion over the tortured and shameful death of the Savior who gave up his life for those who hated him.

None of our sufferings is more agonizing than what the Lord Jesus had to endure before and on the cross, and yet the Father is concerned with our troubles, for nothing is too big for the Lord.

Isaiah 17:1

THE DESTRUCTION OF DAMASCUS, SYRIA, BEFORE OR IN MARCH 2014

Isa. 16:14; Isa. 20:3; Isa. 37:30; Isa. 21:16

Never in its history has Damascus, the capital city of Syria and the oldest continually-inhabited city in the world, ever been totally destroyed as to be rendered uninhabitable. But with the turn of events, commencing with the Arab Spring revolts in March of 2011, the prophetic utterances of Isaiah have taken a clearer perspective and urgency.

Isaiah alludes to the term of a slave’s servitude of three (3) years when writing about the exile of Egypt and Cush, and the subjugation of Moab. Sandwiched between these accounts is the prophecy against Aram (Syria), so the possibility is not inconclusive that Damascus would become a heap of ruins by March of 2014. Consequently, it may also trigger World War III.

Jeremiah 9:24

Title:  Understands and knows me

To say that “God is Love” is to be short of the truth. 

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of the Bible, is the God of Love, Judgment, and Righteousness.  That is the reason why when the Holy Spirit came, he convicted the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment (John 16:8). 

How convenient it is to imagine a god who will forgive and understand all our sins because he is infinitely loving, ignoring the fact that steadfast love is at the same time just and righteous, in which there is no darkness at all.  We cannot begin to understand and know God unless we grasp that the Lord, in his immeasurable goodness, demands sinless perfection, therefore he has to judge sin with death, and for this purpose the Lord Jesus suffered death that he might take away the sins of those who would believe the gospel (1Cor. 15:1-4).

2 Corinthians 1:5

Title:  Our comfort overflows

For the Christian who suffers for the sake of the gospel, and for some to the point of total despair that they would welcome death, there will come a superabounding flow of consolation from the Lord Jesus whom they serve with unquestionable devotion.

Suffering, as a Christian, cannot be avoided, and so is the comfort that would wash away every trace of trouble, for as long as the church is joined together in prayer and in sharing their material substance with those who are afflicted beyond measure.

The church needs to understand that suffering is a vital element in Christian service; and those who would suffer hardships and persecution for preaching the gospel would bring with them the promise of comfort from the Lord and which is sorely needed by the people of God.

Romans 8:29

Title:  Conformed to the image of his Son

The greatest good for man is to be like his Creator.

To achieve this, one has to be born from above by faith in the Lord Jesus.  By becoming a child of God through faith, a Christian becomes a participant in the glory and suffering of the Son of God.  A believer cannot do otherwise because a saint who loves God with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his mind and with all his strength has been powerfully appointed to triumph in every situation in life.

Every event in the life of a believer cooperates with the Lord God in his plan to jointly form us with the image of his Son.  Every situation, be it good or evil at first glance, is a tool in God’s hands to shape us into readiness for an eternity of worship and service in a kingdom that will never end.

Therefore we must seize every opportunity to be molded into spiritual maturity by the very God who created all things through the Lord Jesus and the Spirit who hovered upon the face of the waters of the primeval creation.

2 Corinthians 1:9

Title:  Not rely on ourselves

The Lord God is telling us that we cannot pacify or convince ourselves that we have the intrinsic capacity to alleviate the grief that overflows into our lives from sorrowful experiences that are common to all, because apart from the Lord through other believers we are open to despair and deep distress.

God is the source of all comfort, as we, together with the brethren, implore the Lord from our hearts to come alongside us so that we can endure with hopeful constancy every trouble and hardship that may come our way.

2 Corinthians 1:8

Title:  We do not want you to be uninformed

The church must not ignore the pressures, the hardships, that our brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus are experiencing, because the body must mutually share in whatever afflicts any segment of it, and in so doing also partake in the solace of the encouraging nearness of the God of all comfort.

We must inform the brethren of our sufferings, and never be ashamed; we must not deny the church of the opportunity to be underworkers to those who are hemmed in from all sides by all kinds of troubles, because it is God's plan for the redeemed  to serve in helping together those who are utterly at a loss through the agency of prayer and physical presence as well as financial aid.

Indeed, comfort from God is channeled through believers joining together in prayer and in all kinds of helps.