{"id":15692,"date":"2025-05-09T18:21:25","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T23:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/?p=15692"},"modified":"2025-05-09T18:23:03","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T23:23:03","slug":"blog-hoping-in-gods-mercy-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/15692\/blog-hoping-in-gods-mercy-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"BLOG, Hoping in God’s Mercy, part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pastor John,<\/span><\/p>\n

The blog this morning is so good! Interestingly, last night I was going through 2Timothy 3 and these verses stood out to me written by Paul:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Alexander the metalworker did me much harm;\u00a0may the Lord reward him according to his deeds,<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. whom also you, yourself, watch, for he vehemently opposed our words.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. At my first defense, no one stood with me, but everyone forsook me; may it not be held against them.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Nevertheless, the Lord stood with me, and he strengthened me so that through me, the preaching might fully be accomplished and all the Gentiles may hear, and I was delivered from the lion\u2019s mouth.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me for his heavenly kingdom; to whom be glory forever and ever.\u00a0Amen.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    It struck me that Paul asked the Lord to reward Alexander according to his deeds, and then the comfort that Paul got in return, even though there was harm done by Alexander, the\u00a0 Lord stood with Paul and strengthened him to get the truth to the Gentiles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Verses like these help clear the air from the Christian notion that you\u00a0 must forgive everyone that does harm.\u00a0 \u00a0Of course, we do not wish that anyone should perish, but there is also the side that you will be judged according to your deeds.\u00a0 And it seems here, that the righteous can ask for such a thing. \u00a0\u00a0Jesus did with Judas, even though he thought of him as a friend; Zechariah, as you mentioned, and Paul did a couple of times, and probably more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    It really comes down to who\u2019s on the Lord\u2019s side?\u00a0 \u00a0If you do deeds according to the will of God, you will be judged accordingly ,\u00a0and if you do deeds not of the will of God, the same.\u00a0 \u00a0And if they are against the furtherance of the Gospel, there is a penalty, not just forgiveness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Amy B.<\/span><\/p>\n

    ==========<\/span><\/p>\n

    That is true, Amy.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

    In all things, we\u00a0should keep\u00a0a balanced view of\u00a0life.\u00a0 Here is what Paul said about that: \u201cBehold, therefore,\u00a0the goodness and the severity<\/strong>\u00a0of God; toward those who have fallen, severity, but toward you, goodness \u2013 if you continue in His goodness.\u00a0\u00a0Otherwise, you, too, shall be cut off\u201d (Rom. 11:22).<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

    I recall that the author of Hebrews, after speaking of what will happen to the disobedient, added this note to the saints\u00a0to whom he was writing:<\/em><\/span>
    \nHebrews 6<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. But we are persuaded of better things concerning\u00a0you, beloved, and things which attend salvation, even though we talk this way.<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n
    2. For God is not unjust to forget\u00a0your work and the labor of love which\u00a0you have demonstrated toward His name, in that you have served and continue to serve the saints.<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n
    3. But we earnestly desire that each of\u00a0you show the same diligence, in the full assurance of hope, until the end,<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n
    4. that\u00a0you not become lazy, but followers of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      That is how I feel toward the precious saints whom Jesus has put in my care.\u00a0\u00a0I am persuaded of better things of you all, and I want you all to continue on the good path and be crowned with eternal life in the end.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

      Pastor John<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

      Tell us what you think:<\/span><\/p>\n

      https:\/\/x.com\/WitnessofSpirit\/status\/1920982698492866562<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Pastor John, The blog this morning is so good! Interestingly, last night I was going through 2Timothy 3 and these verses stood out to me written by Paul: Alexander the metalworker did me much harm;\u00a0may the Lord reward him according to his deeds, whom also you, yourself, watch, for he vehemently opposed our words. At […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-netmail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15692"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15692"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15694,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15692\/revisions\/15694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}