Paul faced every sort of trial imaginable yet served with endurance, joy, and effectiveness. What was his secret? He understood that Jesus’ resurrection provides not only past justification from sins and future deliverance in glory, but power for daily living for all who look to Him for grace.

Palm Sunday is not just a past event. It is a symbol of the ultimate victory of Christ yet to come. Through all the trials and hardships of this life the risen Lord Jesus assures his people that, as Jonathan Edwards summarized, our bad things will turn out for good, our good things can never be taken away, and the best things are yet to come.

The biblical command to bear with one another is one of the most important commands in the New Testament, but also one of the most difficult to accomplish while living in community. Bearing with the sinfulness and shortcomings of others is part of living out who we are in Christ, and if we could learn to consistently live out this simple exhortation, it could dramatically transform our relationships with each other. In this Scripture text we’ll see that the apostle Paul lays out practical ways we can begin to live out this essential Christian grace.

Naaman was a powerful general dying of a hideous disease. What he did not realize was that his soul was even more diseased than his body. He suffered from pride, one of the worst manifestations of sin. All his power, wealth, and fame could not cure him. Only the grace of God received through faith in His Word could make him whole. By coming with nothing Naaman would receive everything, ultimately through a far greater General who would not be cleansed but die so that His people would not die but be cleansed.

The culmination of the Exodus was the Glorious God dwelling in the midst of His redeemed people. Through a display of both His transcendence and His immanence He paved the way for the ultimate dwelling of God with man-Jesus Christ. Jesus is the perfect Mediator who guides us through the wilderness of this life through both His transcendent glory and His ever-present love.

Believers are commanded to bear one another’s burdens, whether they are our moral failures or the despair and discouragement that are a part of life in this fallen world. Not only does the Bible give us practical ways to bear each other’s burdens, but it also teaches us that our weighty burdens are the concern of each person of the Trinity.

The tabernacle had to pass a rigorous building inspection before it was worthy to be occupied by God’s holy presence. Our lives, too, must pass inspection if the holy God is to dwell among us and bestow His blessing. The only problem is, left to ourselves we fail every time! Only Christ’s perfect righteousness credited to our account by grace meets God’s holy standard and allows us to live a life that is free from both perfectionism and apathy.

As with the building of the tabernacle, God’s work in our lives often seems slow, repetitive, and painstaking. We wonder why the process is so difficult at times, and whether it will ever end. But God shows us from His Word that He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion through Christ Jesus our Lord. The One who finished God’s work perfectly on the cross is both willing and able to refashion us in His likeness as we look to Him for grace.

In many places the New Testament writers exhort us to encourage one another. This is such an important spiritual discipline to develop because we are all in need of inspiring exhortations, whether it is to get us through today or help us to persevere over the long haul.