Contemplations
God-Appointed Ministers of the Gospel of Grace
"Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God.”(Romans 1:1) God in His infinite wisdom and sovereignty has designated specific ministers to be responsible for the task of propagating His Word. This sacred trust –...
The True Mirror for Sin and Salvation
“For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto,but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”(Mark 10:45) In a world increasingly swayed by appearances, where mirrors can distort and flatter, our perception of self as well as our sin requires a...
Waking and Walking in God’s Embrace
“Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the...
Embracing the Life of Christ in Me
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) In Galatians 2:20 Paul explains the...
The Wisdom of God
“The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens.” (Proverbs 3:19) God merely spoke… and everything that exists was created and set in motion (Gen. 1). Obviously, such work can only be accomplished by an infinitely powerful God. But...
A Joyous Wedding Feast
“Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready.” (Revelation 19:7) Weddings are truly delightful occasions of celebration, so it’s no wonder that we enjoy them so much. But there’s one...
The Humiliation of Christ
“And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ which means, ‘My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?’” (Mark 15:34) The time between Christ’s incarnate virgin birth to the point when He was crucified and laid in the tomb is a...
Answering the Call
“And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11) Converted sinners – once children of darkness – answered the call of Christ by the power...
The Work of the Word
“…so shall My word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11) The Word of almighty God surges with the same divine power and...
Union with Christ
“While I was with them, I kept them in Your name, which You have given Me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” (John 17:12) Jesus the Savior keeps His people eternally safe and...
All for God
“Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created.” (Revelation 4:11) God is both the first and final cause of all things, for He created all, He is Lord of all,...
It’s God’s Choice
“Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.” (Romans 8:33) Consider for a moment, if you can, just what it means to be numbered among God’s elect! God’s Church – the bride of Christ – bears the honorable title of His elect. And what an...
Can You Do Anything Without God?
“…for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13) As a child of God, we cannot originate or express any aspect of spirituality – grace, faith, love, spiritual power, etc. – on our own. The presence and expression of...
The Way Up is Down
“It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.” (Proverbs 16:19) Scripture is full of scriptural Hebraisms called “chiasms” or “reversals”, like this verse in Matthew 20:16: “The last shall be first, and the first, last.”...
The Glory of Christ on the Saints of God
“…so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.” (1 Thessalonians 3:13) Just as a bride beams with beauty on her wedding day, the bride of Christ – His church of...
Unspeakable Pardon
“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.” (Colossians 2:13) Pardon or forgiveness is the removal of original sin and guilt. Pardon cuts away the knot of...
Our Problem with God’s Holiness
“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) The backdrop for this passage in chapter 24 is Joshua’s farewell speech, or what may...
Reforming Known Sins for the New Year
1 Samuel 3:13, “For I have told him, that I will judge his house for ever, for the iniquity which he knoweth: because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.” It is highly offensive to God, and shows men to be very faulty, when they will not reform...
The Most Profound Proclamation
Luke 2:14, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men.” The entrance of Emmanuel into our world was first announced by an angel to some humble shepherds. “I bring you,” said the heavenly herald, “good tidings of great joy, which shall be...
Christ Acquainted in All Things
“For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all that He Himself is doing. And greater works than these will He show Him, so that you may marvel.” (John 5:20) One of the most beautiful truths of all time is the relationship between God the Father and His Son, Jesus...
A Clean Conscience
“… how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” (Hebrews 9:14) No matter how “good” a person looks to the world, from God’s vantagepoint...
The Dimensions of God
“Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?” (Job 11:7) The two questions posed by Job’s friend Zophar in Job 11:7 are obviously rhetorical. A god who is limited in his “god-ness” and whose “deep things” can be...
True Thankfulness
Psalm 75:1, “We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks! For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near.” Are you truly thankful for every breath and every heartbeat God continues to give you, or do you just bite your upper lip and try to make it through...
Majesty on the Mountain
“And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom.” (Deuteronomy 4:11) The revelation of the majesty of Jehovah to His people at Mt. Sinai demonstrates both His...
The Eternal and Immutable Christ
“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) The practical dimensions of Christ’s eternal nature and immutable being stretch throughout the foundations of Christian doctrine for the good of those who trust in Him by faith. To sweeten the...
The Depths of God
“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!” (Romans 11:33) The entirety of Scripture details the covenant plan of God in relation to His universe. Everything He has done, does now,...
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...