Today's encouragement comes from Acts 18:8b, where we read these words:
" . . . And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized."What a beautiful phrase this is (above). People in Corinth were notoriously immoral and corrupt, (much like our own culture today). And yet God saved "many" of them. Note the lovely progression: they "heard" the gospel of grace in the Lord Jesus Christ; they "believed” the message of good news; and then they were "baptized" into Christ and His church.
Is there hope for the nations of the world today—including ours? Of course there is. But this exact pattern (as above) must be followed: preaching, hear-ing, faith, baptism, church membership, and a grace-filled and faithful life in Jesus.
[Puritan quote of the day: "Joy, courage, and zeal, being smiled upon by faith, are made invincible and unconquerable.” —Thomas Brooks, in, "Heaven on Earth"]
