Nothing shall by any means hurt us. Things may interfere with our fleshly interests or comfort or course of affairs; but when we remember that we are not in the flesh but in the spirit, that it is to the new heart, mind and will that the Lord has promised the Kingdom in His due time, we can realize that no outside influence can interfere with our real interests, our spiritual interests, nor hinder our attaining to the glories of the Kingdom which the Lord has promised to His faithful ones. Only our loss of confidence in the Lord and our unfaithfulness to Him could separate us from His love and His promises.
The general Biblical teaching on consecration, as well as the experience of Jesus, Paul, Timothy, Epaphroditus and every other faithful child of God, proves that this verse does not refer to earthly evils. Manifestly, therefore, it refers to spiritual evils, against which God protects His Own. All things work together for good to the spiritual lives of the faithful. God's promises and our experiences abundantly prove this. And what saint has not repeatedly rejoiced in this fact? The security of the faithful is a Scriptural, comforting and experiential doctrine. It may well make us brave and joyful in every experience, be it toward or untoward.
Job 17:9; Psa. 37:24; 138:8; Matt. 24:13; Mark 4:3-8; Luke 10:42; 22:31, 32; John 6:39; 10:28, 29; 15:4, 7, 9; Rom. 8:33-39; 1 Cor. 1:8, 9; Eph. 6:13; Col. 1:22, 23; 2 Tim. 4:18; Heb. 12:11-13.
