THE WITNESSING POWER OF WORSHIP This is a call to worship. Not only that, it is a call to witness. We might even say that it is a call to the kind of worship that is in itself a witness to the peoples outside the faith. The psalmist called the people of Israel to
STOP COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHERS When John’s followers worried that more people were going to follow Jesus than to John, he rebuked them. He recognized that God determined spiritual results. And he also understood that his ministry was to prepare the way for Christ’s ministry. As John said referring to Jesus: “He must increase, but
OUR MANMADE RELIGION DOES NOT PLEASE GOD What a convoluted story this is! It begins with Micah’s confession that he had taken 1,100 shekels of silver from his mother, who had consequently put a curse on whomever had stolen it. When his mother heard his confession, she blessed him, and told him that she had
DO YOU SEEK MORE SIGNS OR THE SAVIOR? In John’s gospel, the miracles performed by Jesus are called “signs.” For John understood the miracles of Jesus to be confirming signs that pointed to Him as the Son of God. This is an important distinction. For men often seek God’s miracles but fail to hear His
A PRAYER FOR THE AFFLICTED WHEN OVERWHELMED The inscription above this psalm describes it as a “prayer of the afflicted when he is overwhelmed.” Certainly, there is a need for concrete language to truly capture the condition of the afflicted. The hurting are in need of words of expression that they might lift up to
THE MYSTERY OF THE ONE WHO CAME AFTER AND BEFORE John the Baptist was born six months before Jesus (see Luke 1:36). So, in that sense, Jesus came “after” John. Yet the Spirit had revealed to John that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, therefore He had existed “before” John and had preference
THE NECESSITY OF THE GOSPEL ACCOMPLISHED AND PREACHED The risen Lord Jesus opened His disciples’ understanding of the Scriptures, so that they might see the necessity of Christ’s suffering and resurrection, in order to fulfill the Scriptures. And not only that, but the necessity that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His
BE CAREFUL WHEN SAYING ‘I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL’ John Donne wrote that “no man is an island,” illustrating his conviction that we should recognize the unity and commonality of all humanity. Yet, the Proverb teaches that there is within a man that which cannot be fully shared nor understood by another. For the depth
WHICH SIDE OF THE CROSS ARE YOU ON? In the gospel of Luke, it is recorded that Jesus was crucified between two criminals, one on either side. In the crowd watching the crucifixion were certain Jewish leaders who sneered at Jesus saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ.” The
LET US SAY AMONG THE NATIONS THAT THE LORD REIGNS The psalmist encouraged God’s people to spread the message among the nations of the world that the Lord reigns. The Lord God is King over all. Therefore, the world and its peoples shall not be moved apart from His righteous judgment. Viewed through the