39.4 Desire For God

(Psalm 42:1-7a, 8-11)

A s a deer longs for a stream of cool water,
so I long for you, O God.
I thirst for you, the living God.
When can I go and worship in your presence?
Day and night I cry,
and tears are my only food;
all the time my enemies ask me,
“Where is your God?”

My heart breaks when I remember the past,
when I went with the crowds to the house of God
and led them as they walked along;
a happy crowd, singing and shouting praise to God.
Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled?
I will put my hope in God,
and once again I will praise him,
my savior and my God.

Here in exile my heart is breaking,
and so I turn my thoughts to him.
He has sent waves of sorrow over my soul.
May the Lord show his constant love during the day,
so that I may have song at night,
a prayer to the God of my life.

To God, my defender, I say,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go on suffering
from the cruelty of my enemies?”
I am crushed by their insults,
as they keep on asking me, “Where is your God?”

Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled?
I will put my hope in God,
and once again I will praise him,
my savior and my God.

39.3 What is Needed Is Faith In Jesus Christ

(1 John 5:10-13)

So whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his own heart; but whoever does not believe God, has made a liar of him, because he has not believed what God has said about his Son. The testimony is this: God has given us eternal life, and this life has its source in his Son. Whoever has the Son has this life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

I am writing this to you so that you may know that you have eternal life—you that believe in the Son of God.

39.2 The Lord’s Coming

(1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

Our brothers, we want you to know the truth about those who have died, so that you will not be sad, as are those who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will take back with Jesus those who have died believing in him.

What we are teaching you now is the Lord’s teaching: we who are alive on the day the Lord comes will not go ahead of those who have died. There will be the shout of command, the archangel’s voice, the sound of God’s trumpet, and the Lord himself will come down from heaven. Those who have died believing in Christ will rise to life first; then we who are living at that time will be gathered up along with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. So then, encourage one another with these words.

39.1 Everybody Can Have Everlasting Life

(Acts 13:44-49)

The next Sabbath nearly everyone in the town came to hear the word of the Lord. Then the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy; they disputed what Paul was saying and insulted him. But Paul and Barnabas spoke out even more boldly: “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we will leave you and go to the Gentiles. For this is the commandment that the Lord has given us:

“I have made you a light for the Gentiles, so that all the world may be saved.’”

When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the Lord’s message; and those who had been chosen for eternal life became believers.

The word of the Lord spread everywhere in that region.