Contemplations
Fleeing Our Spiritual Egypt
“When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.” [1](Hosea 11:1) The theme of bondage and deliverance runs deep throughout the course of Scripture. As early as the first chapter of Exodus we begin reading of the physical oppression of God’s...
The Intertwined Mystery of Divine Grace and Our Will
“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13) In his letter to the Philippian believers Paul shares a high biblical truth, i.e., that Almighty God whose Spirit takes up residence inside each individual believer at...
No Surer Foundation
“And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.” (Acts 13:48) This simple declaration in Acts 13 echoes the central theme of the Gospel, that God’s unmerited and...
The Only Grace That Ignites True Faith
“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.”...
Dangerous Business
1 Samuel 3:13, “For I have told him, that I will judge his house for ever, for the iniquity which he knows: because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.” Good parents not only love their children, they discipline them. In fact, good parents...
Wisdom Fears God
“I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before Him.” (Ecclesiastes 3:14) Our finite minds cannot come close to comprehending or even imagining the workings of an...
Jesus the Lord Most High
“… that they may know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth.” (Psalm 83:18) The Bible affirms without question that Jesus is God, and Philippians 2:6-11 elaborates on that truth beautifully. Speaking of Christ, Paul explains: ...
Living Blessedly Forever
“And this is eternal life, that they know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3) The body of Scripture teaches God’s people all that they must know something very specific in order to live well before the face of God and to obtain the...
The Sweet Word of God
“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103) In much the same way as a newborn baby hungers for mother’s milk, a true child of God hungers for God’s Word (Matt. 5:6, Isa. 55:1, Ps. 42:2, John 7:37). Mother’s milk supplies...
Precious Faith for a Precious Savior
“For it stands in Scripture: ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.’ So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, ‘The stone that the builders rejected...
Kingdom Come
“Soon afterward He went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him.” (Luke 8:1) What is this “good news of the kingdom of God?” And what is Scripture referring to when it speaks of the...
God’s Covenant Blessing
“And I will establish my covenant between Me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.” (Genesis 17:7) Following God’s leading and obeying His directives often...
The Foundation of Assurance
“He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32) This verse is one among many in Scripture that gives believers a well-grounded assurance of their position of blessedness in...
Absent Here, Present There
“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13) For the Christian, death is a matter of falling asleep in this life and waking in the next. It is the...
Jealous Against Sin
“But Joshua said to the people, ‘You are not able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.’” (Joshua 24:19) God is perfectly loving, good, and forgiving. He is also perfectly righteous,...
Worship God Alone
And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.’”(Matthew 4:9-10) The words of this text affirm that...
Divine Providence in Affliction
“My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline or be weary of His reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom He loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.” (Proverbs 3:12) No one welcomes affliction. No one embraces difficulties. In fact, the largest percentage of...
Wisdom for Salvation
“… and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15) In this passage Paul commends Timothy for the fact that even from the time he was a child he...
Doing Good
“Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” (Hebrews 13:16) There is no such reality as an isolated, selfish Christianity. God’s children are redeemed for purposes beyond just saving them hell. Once we are...
The Mission of the Church
“… so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 3:10) The most significant institution in the world is the church (also known as the universal body of Christ) which God...
Worship God on His Holy Hill
“It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it.” (Micah 4:1) The first five verses of Micah 4 look...
Assurance of Your Faith
“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.” (Romans 5:10) One of the most important questions I can ever ask myself is: “Am I truly saved?” And the Christian...
God and His Great Might
“Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of His might, and because He is strong in power not one is missing.” (Isaiah 40:26) This excellent Scripture in Isaiah 40 rebukes...
Delight in God
“…the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the LORD: ‘Give thanks to the LORD of hosts, for the LORD is good, for his steadfast...
Christ’s Obedience for Me
“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it - the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction.”(Romans 3:21-22) At the point of...
God is Always Good
“For the LORD is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 100:5) Unlike the whimsical Egyptian gods and Greek mythological deities of ancient times, the one true God – the King of kings and Lord of lords – is a good...
Prayers of the Saints are God’s Delight
“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11) Earlier in this sermon to His disciples, Jesus gave them a model prayer (Matt. 6:9-13)....
Sense the Goodness of God
“Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!” (Psalm 34:8) We have five senses through which we experience our world – sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. Through these five senses we observe, learn, and experience the...
Christ in You
“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10) Have you become so familiar with the Lord of glory who dwells in you as a believer that you take Him for granted? Have you forgotten...
God’s Mystery
“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6) In Colossians 2:2, Paul describes Christ in a most intriguing manner… as God’s...
The Father of Spirits
“… and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7) God created man from the dust of the ground, but that man of dust was not alive until God breathed life into him. At that point, man became a “living...
God’s Enduring Favor
“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace …” (2 Thess. 2:16) One of the greatest assurances a believer can have is that of the perseverance of God’s work in a human soul. Hannibal...
The Divine Work of Salvation
“But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12) The conversion of a sinner into a child of the Most High God is a divine work. We are “born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the...
God’s Great Design
“When Jesus had spoken these words, He lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You.’” (John 17:1) God’s great design in creating the world and orchestrating all events in history is two-fold:...
The Great God of Glory
“And I said, "O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments.” (Nehemiah 1:5) Our Great God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, possesses a majesty and glory...
Only One Way
“But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” (Acts 15:11) Before his conversion on the road to Damascus, there was never one more zealous for Judaism and the Mosaic Law than the devout Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus. What a...
Christ the Power in Prayer
“To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of His calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by His power.” (2 Thessalonians 1:11) God’s purpose for His people is infinitely wise and gracious, which is why...
Peace with God
“… and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.” (Ephesians 2:16) Everything in creation is at odds with each other as a result of the Fall (Rom. 8:20-23). John Owen rightly said, “… a hostility and animosity was...
Living Hope
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1:3) A true child of God treasures the cross, for it...
Brought Near to God
“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:13) Adam and Eve’s original sin resulted in forced exile from their beautiful Garden home where they met daily with God. Sin also severed the mystical...
Keep Yourselves in the Love of God
“…keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.” (Jude 1:21) Apostasy – a defection or departure from the faith once embraced – is a very real and serious threat to the spiritual health and...
Christ Shepherds His People
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” John 10:11 The relationship between a shepherd and his flock of sheep was well understood by those in biblical times, as well as the qualities and characteristics necessary to be a...
Preserved by God
“The LORD preserves all them that love Him…” (Psalm 145:20) One of the greatest assurances we have in Christ is that no one or no thing in heaven or on earth is strong enough to pry open God’s hand and take us from Him (John 10:28-29, 18:9). In Romans 8 the apostle...
The God of All Grace
“The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression…” (Numbers 14:18) The grounds for drawing near to God are found in the promises of the Gospel and His Covenant of Grace. And from those many promises for pardon,...
The Parallel Between Adam and Christ
“But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.” (Romans 5:15) Paul draws a distinct parallel in Romans...
Ready to Pardon
“But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love...” (Nehemiah 9:17) The term pardon is a legal term meaning “to use executive power… to forgive a person convicted of a crime, thus removing any remaining...
The Lofty One
“Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?” (Psalm 113:5) Scripture describes God as the lofty One seated on high, and because of the exalted position He inhabits over His universe, comparatively He must...
The Fruit of Patience
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.” (Galatians 5:22) One of the most wonderful gifts a child of God receives at the moment of salvation is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The third person of the...
But God
“…but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) This verse in Romans demonstrates the greatness of the love, mercy and grace that is in God, as it is the fountain of salvation to all His elect, and this is seen...
The Worm That Never Dies
“…where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.” (Mark 9:48) Jesus represents the dreadful and endless torment of hell as a worm. Why a worm? In the torments of God’s hell there is a removal of all good that might make those there happy, and also...
Handling False Doctrine in the Church
“Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” (Revelation 2:6) Just as disease infects and systematically destroys a healthy physical body, the disease of false doctrine infects and systematically undermines the spiritual health...
Caring For Those Under Your Charge
“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children.” (Deuteronomy 4:9) The preeminent...
The Son of Man in Glory
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.” (Matthew 25:31) The final judgment is reserved for the great and glorious manifestation of the infinite holiness and righteousness, grace and mercy, wrath...
Love Your Enemies
“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord,’” (Romans 12:19) This world is not the Christian’s home. It is enemy territory and we are only “strangers and pilgrims”...