Before the Ten Commandments

"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt" (Exodus 20:2). Before the Ten Commandments, there is this great declaration concerning God's salvation. This is something we must never forget. Our obedience is inspired by his salvation. The Lord has saved us. Let us live as people who are …

Longing for the past, longing for the future

Sometimes, we wish we could turn the clock back. Sometimes, we wish we could see what's going to see what will happen to us in the future. These are two things that we cannot do. We cannot go back to the past, and we cannot see what the future holds for us. There are two …

The Holy Spirit – living in our hearts

"On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy …

The Lord lifts us up when we let him down.

"I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14 It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 15 and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; …

Accepted By God

We speak about "accepting Christ as our Saviour." There's something more wonderful than our accepting the Lord. He accepts us. This is "the wonderful grace of Jesus." It's "greater than all our sin." In God's eyes, we're unacceptable. We can never change that. No matter how much we try to make ourselves acceptable to God, …

My way, my truth, my life?

Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6). We hear about my way, "I'll do things my way"; my truth, "This is the way I see it. This is what's true for me"; and my life, "This is my life. You can't live it for me." While there's something true in these …

Make it personal!

Read the words of John 3:16 and Romans 10:9. Put your name into these great verses. Make it personal - Jesus is my Saviour. Jesus is my Lord.

Another ‘3:16’ to set alongside John 3:16!

John 3:16, Rev 3:16–20 lIn John 3:16, we read these wonderful words concerning God’s love: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Here’s another “3:16″ – “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about …

What a difference there is between Jesus giving a sign and the Pharisees demanding a sign!

What a difference there is between Jesus giving a sign and the Pharisees demanding a sign! Miracles are given when the Lord decides - not when we demand: "If these people are given a sign, it will be far different from what they want!" (Mark 8:12). A blind man came to Jesus. His sight Was …

It’s all about the journey?

It's all about the journey - Is it really all about the journey? What about the destination? - Are we to say nothing at all about the destination? What we can say is this - while we're here on earth, all we have is the journey. The destination is beyond our reach. What does this …

Sometimes, Lord, we feel like we’re ‘hitting our head off a brick wall’.

‘Their ears are closed… The Word of the Lord is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it’ (Jeremiah 6:10). Sometimes, Lord, we feel like we’re ‘hitting our head off a brick wall’. So few people show any real interest in hearing and obeying Your Word. It seems like Your Word is ‘going in one ear and out …

The Lord’s Prayer (8): Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever, Amen.

This is not about a human kingdom. It's not about human power. It's not about human glory. It's about the kingdom of God. It's about the power of God. It's about the glory of God. Human kingdoms rise, and they fall. Human power comes to an end. Human glory fades away. The kingdom of God …

The Lord’s Prayer (7): Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Here, Jesus speaks to us about temptation. It is important that we understand what temptation is, and it is, also, important that we understand what temptation is not. Temptation comes to us from the evil one (also known as the devil or Satan). He's trying to draw us away from the Lord and make us …

The Lord’s Prayer (6): Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

"Debts" make us think about bills that have to be paid. "Trespasses" make us think about breaking into private property. "Transgressions" make us think about breaking a law. What do "sins" make us think about? When we think about our sins, what do we think about? We think about God. Where do we stand in …

The Lord’s Prayer (5): Give us this day our daily bread.

Our daily bread: Jesus is speaking to us about food for physical growth, and he's, also, speaking us about food for spiritual growth. When we have plenty of food to eat, we must never forget that "all good gifts around us are sent from heaven above." We must, also, remember that we need Jesus. He's …

The Lord’s Prayer (4): Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Jesus is teaching us to pray. He's teaching us to come to God with praise and thanksgiving. He's giving us encouraging hope for the future. How are we to respond to these things that Jesus is teaching us? We're to pray that our lives will be changed by what we hear from Jesus. We're to …

The Lord’s Prayer (3): Thy kingdom come.

We live in the present. We find it difficult to lift up our eyes to something's that bigger than where we are right now. These words of Jesus lift up our eyes. They give us a glimpse of something wonderful;. God's kingdom is coming. When will it come? We don't know. We are to pray …

The Lord’s Prayer (2): Hallowed be Thy name.

When we speak of God as our loving Father, we must not think of him in purely human terms. We must remember that he is perfectly holy. His love is very precious to us. It speaks to us of his nearness. His holiness reminds us that he is greater than anything else we can think …

The Lord’s Prayer (1): Our Father who art in heaven

What a wonderful thing it is to know that God is our Father. We don't come, in prayer, to a faraway God, who has no real interest in us. We come to our Father. We come to him through Jesus, his Son. In Jesus, we see love. It is the love of our heavenly Father. …

Blessing will only come to us when we give the glory to God.

The building of the Temple - It was “the Lord’s Temple” (2 Chronicles 3:1). It was being built “for the Lord’s Name” (2 Chronicles 2:1). The glory of the Lord - This must never be forgotten. There is nothing more important than this. God is to be glorified. This was the reason for the building …

Arminius – Hero or Heretic?

This article was first published in Evangelical Quarterly 64:3 (1992): 213-227. --Some proclaim Arminius as a hero. Others denounce him as a heretic. It may, however, be more accurate to describe him as an enigma. Commenting on the enigmatic character of Arminius, Carl Bangs writes, "Some Calvinists, finding that his writings do not produce the …

When God works in mighty power

Jonah 1:1-4:11; Romans 2:1-16; Psalm 85:1-7 In Nineveh, God works in mighty power. "Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry" (Jonah 3:10-4:1). To this proud attitude, God says, "You ... have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else" (Romans 2:1). He calls for a change of attitude: "Do you show contempt for the …

Help us, Lord, to love You with our whole heart.

‘With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O Lord!’ (Psalm 119:145). Lord, You’re calling us to pray. There is nothing more important than this. If other things have become more important in our lives, we need to think about the way we are living. You want to send Your blessing into our lives: ‘Ask, and it …

Come To Christ And Reign With Him.

Our Saviour is ‘Faithful and True’. He is ‘the Word of God’. He is our ‘Lord’ and ‘King’ (Revelation 19:11,13,16). We are invited to ‘come’ to Him. The invitation - ‘Come, gather together for the great supper of God’ - is a call to come to Christ (Revelation 19:17). We come to Christ so that …

The Holy Spirit Is Our ‘Guarantee Of Heavenly And Eternal Glory.’

2 Corinthians 4:1-5:10 God has called us to salvation - ‘God has shone in our hearts…’ (2 Corinthians 4:6). He has called us to service, ‘having this ministry by the mercy of God’ (2 Corinthians 4:1). We receive salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ: ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be …

The Ministry Of The Holy Spirit

The Ministry of the Holy Spirit (John 14-16) John 14:21 - A vicious circle can become a victorious circle! We are not victims. We are victors through our victorious Saviour. This victory is brought to us by the Spirit - the Comforter, the Encourager, the Helper. He helps us to love Jesus and keep His …

We need to be changed by the Lord.

Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 130; Romans 8:6-11; John 11:1-45 We need to be changed by the Lord. It was ‘a valley of dry bones’ (Ezekiel 37:1-2). Then, the Lord changed everything - ‘I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live’ (Ezekiel 37:5). What a difference the Lord makes! ‘Breathe on me, Breath of …

Turn away from the false gods and turn to the true God.

“When he saw Elijah, Ahab said, “Is that you, you troublemaker of Israel?”Elijah answered, “I haven’t troubled Israel. You and your father’s family have done it by disobeying the Lord’s commands and following the various Baal gods” (1 Kings 18:17-18).Was Elijah a troublemaker? Ahab thought so. Ahab didn’t like what Elijah had to say to him.He would …

Resurrection has no meaning without death.

Before we move on to Jesus' resurrection and His return to heaven, we must turn our thoughts to His death and His burial. The world doesn't want to hear about death, but this is something about which we must speak. There is no Gospel, if we stop short of Jesus' death, if we speak only …

God is faithful (Opening up God’s Word – Genesis 12:1-3; Hebrews 6:13-20)

Our concern is not so much with Abraham. Our chief focus of attention is on "the God of Abraham." The story of Abraham is both the story of Abraham and the story of God's grace and power. We see the grace of God, revealed in the promises of God. We see the power of God, …

The Lord has much to say to this generation – if only the people would listen …

At the heart of the rebuilding of the Temple, there was worship - “With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord: ‘He is good; His love to Israel endures for ever” (Ezra 3:11). Those who worship the Lord are set within the context of a world that refuses to worship Him: “The rest of …

The coming Saviour and the coming Kingdom

Isaiah 10 speaks of a divine judgment, in which the only “survivors” will be those who “depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 10:20). Isaiah 11 contains a Messianic prophecy. These are words, which point forward to our Saviour, Jesus Christ. They are words of the coming Kingdom (Isaiah 11:1-10). Isaiah 12 …

Lord, You did great things for Israel. You do great things for us.

Lord, You led Your people out of Egypt, through the desert and into Your “holy land” (Psalm 78:52, 42-43,51,54-55). You did great things for Israel. You do great things for us – “You restore our soul. You lead us in the paths of righteousness for Your Name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3). We thank You, Lord, for …

Teamwork

The work of God is to be carried out by many people, working together as a team - God’s team. The importance of teamwork must be recognized if God’s work is to be moved forward in God’s way. Reading over the many names and numbers in 1 Chronicles 23 - 27, we are reminded of …

God loves us … In love, He is waiting for our response of love.

Jesus was making His way to Jerusalem (Luke 13:22). This was the place where He was to be crucified. In the cross of Christ, we see both the hatred of men and the love of God (Luke 13:34-35). (1) In Jerusalem, there had been human hatred directed against the prophets – “you who kill the …

Christ Has Given Us The Victory.

Revelation 16:1-17:8 We live in an unbelieving and rebellious world - ‘they refused to repent and glorify Him’. In an increasingly hostile environment, we must seek to maintain our faithful’ testimony’. There are many who take delight in sin. They rebel against God. They take pleasure in persecuting the people of God: ‘They will make …

“He leads me in paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3b).

We enter the Kingdom of God through the new birth. Jesus Christ is "the Door" to God's Kingdom (John 10:9). To those who have come, in faith, to Him, the Lord Jesus says, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27). * Where does the Good Shepherd lead …

Wholehearted Devotion

“And give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion to keep Your commands, statutes and decrees and to do everything to build the palatial structure for which I have provided” (1 Chronicles 29:19).  We don’t begin with what’s on the outside – building the temple. We begin with what’s on the inside – “wholehearted devotion.” The …

The Story Of God’s Love

Jesus tells us a story of God’s love. Jesus is the Story of God’s love. In the preaching of God’s Word – the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), we have a story told By Jesus. It’s a story of God’s love. In the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, we have the Story of …

God’s Eternal Love – Our hope of eternal glory comes from love, eternal love, the love of God.

‘Thou wilt show me the path of life; in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore’ (Psalm 16:11). In this earthly life, there are many difficulties. For all of God’s people, there is something better still to come. We must look not only at the things which …

Notes on 1 Kings

1 KINGS 1:1-53  -  David’s reign was coming to an end. He would be replaced by Solomon (30). No one goes on forever. Every day takes us one day closer to the day of stepping down and handing over to someone else. We must pray that the future will be ‘greater’ than the past (37,47). …

Help us, Lord, to offer our whole life to You – not just the ‘religious’ part of it.

1 Chronicles 26:1-27:34 Lord, You're calling us to serve You. We're to serve You in the world. Before we can serve You in the world, there must be this: "ministering in the House of the Lord" (1 Chronicles 26:12). Part of our worship involves the dedication of "gifts for the maintenance of the House of …

The Conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch: The Spirit, the Scriptures, the Saviour

* The conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch begins with the call of the Spirit - "The Spirit told Philip, 'Go to that chariot, and stay near it" (Acts 8:29). * It continues with the reading of the Scriptures - The Ethiopian was reading Isaiah the prophet (Acts 8:30) - and  the explaining of the Scriptures - …

Karl Barth the Preacher – Jesus loves me.

What are we to say about Barth the preacher? Surely, J. S. Stewart has described him well in these words of commendation: “this Colossus of a theologian is basically concerned with simple things… no one reading Barth can have any doubt… (about his) single-hearted devotion to Christ” (Prayer and Preaching, 7, from ‘Preface’ by J. …

Praise the Lord. Thanks be to God.

"Praise the Lord, o my soul, and forget not all his benefits" (Psalm 103:2). When we read these words, we find our thoughts moving beyond the Psalmist to our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. We remember the words of Paul - "The Son of God loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20), and …

More than ‘telling the truth’ – we are to be witnesses for Christ.

"You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free ... If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:32,36). "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). When we speak about 'the truth' we should, also, speak about Jesus. It is a good thing …

Lord, help us to move beyond the shallow waters – to move, with You, into the deeper waters of Your love and Your blessing.

Lord, help us to move beyond the shallow waters – to move, with You, into the deeper waters of Your love and Your blessing. We think of deep water – and we think of danger. Yes! There is danger – but there is also something else. You are with us – and You assure us …

Let Your Commitment To Christ Be Very Definite.

Every church in every nation and every generation has so much to learn from ‘what the Spirit says to the churches’ (Revelation 2:7,11,17,29). Christ is to be our ‘first love’. We are not to ‘abandon’ Him. We are to ‘keep right on to the end of the road’ - ‘faithful until death’ (Revelation 2:4,10). We …

Exalted

In Philippians 2:8, we read of Jesus going into “the far country” (Luke 15:13) – “He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!” – so that we might have an even greatest Homecoming of all – Christ has been “exalted … to the highest place.” He has been given …

God’s Eternal Love – In the end, there will be love, eternal love, the love of God.

Psalm 136:1-26 ‘His love endures for ever’. This is the great message contained in every single verse of this Psalm. It’s a message worth repeating, over and over again! God’s love is an everlasting love: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love’ (Jeremiah 31:3). God’s love is an unfailing love: ‘My unfailing love for …

God’s great love for us

God’s great love for us: it reaches us in our sin, and it changes us.

Approaching the Lord’s Table: Forgiveness, Victory, Faith, God’s Word, God’s Love

As we approach the Lord's Table, let's think about two verses of Scripture. "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). "Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler" (Psalm 91:3). The first of these …

Jesus – Our Saviour And Our Shepherd

“These are the people who are coming out of the terrible suffering.    They have washed their robes        and made them white in the blood of the Lamb ...  The Lamb in the center near the throne will be their shepherd.    He will lead them to springs filled with the water of life, and God will wipe every tear …

Amos 7-9 and Obadiah

AMOS 7:1-9:15  -  ‘That’s enough, prophet! Go back to Judah and do your preaching there... Don’t prophesy here at Bethel any more’ (7:12-13). Amos was a faithful preacher of God’s Word - but his hearers wanted to get rid of him! This was the beginning of a time of great darkness: ‘The days are coming …

God has spoken – and He’s still speaking.

"The Lord, the only true God, has spoken" (Psalm 50:1). In today's world, there are many voices that demand to be heard. There is one voice that we really need to hear - and keep on hearing. It's the voice of the Lord, our God. He has so much to say to us. What He …

Service, Prayer, Love and Witness

“it is the total ministry of service, prayer, love and witness, throughout the year, which is used to bring new life to the parish” (Local Church Evangelism, edited by David Wright and Alastair Gray, p. 85). To be reminded of our calling to be faithful in service, prayer, love and witness is to be reminded …

The forgiveness of sins

"The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.  For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy …

Overview Of The Old Testament: Numbers

Numbers 1-8 ‘Every man able to go forth to war’ (1:3): God is looking for ‘soldiers’: Soldiers of Christ! ‘The Lord said to Moses’ (2:1): Let your life be centred on the Word of the Lord - Listen, Read, Study, Memorize, Meditate! ‘Every male from a month old and upward’ (3:15): ,24,28,34,39-40,43): Long before we …

Lord, we thank You that You are preparing a wonderful future for us.

Lord, we thank You that You are preparing a wonderful future for us. It’s glory with You. It’s eternal life: “I shall dwell in the House of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6). Fill our hearts, O Lord, with resurrection hope – the true and living hope, the sure and steadfast hope that comes from knowing …

Notes on Numbers

NUMBERS 1:1-54  -  ‘Every man able to go forth to war’: This is the key phrase in verses 1-46. God is looking for ‘soldiers’: Soldiers of  Christ! To live for Christ is to be engaged in warfare. It is spiritual warfare. We need ‘the whole armour of God’ (Ephesians 6:10-20). We must remember that ‘the …