Introduction: Laughter and mockery are inescapable. It is never a question of whether, but which. In a world where God has established the antithesis between righteousness and unrighteousness, it is never whether something is going to be ridiculous, but rather which thing is going to be ridiculous. The Text: And it came to pass in …
Ezra Nehemiah 12
Introduction: As God restores His people to the land, He does not put them on a fast track. The process has many blessed moments, and a number of setbacks. This book of Nehemiah begins in the middle of one such setback. The Text: The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to …
Abraham and Melchizedek
We must prepare our minds to think as mature Christians. The author of Hebrews wanted very much for us to be able to follow his argument here. Without spiritual maturity, grounded in practical obedience, we will not be able to get what he is driving at. When Jesus gave the Great Commission, the thing He …
Strong Consolation
If believers come away in despair from a study of the sixth chapter of Hebrews, this is an indication of a serious misreading of the text. This portion of Scripture provides some of the strongest comfort that can be found in the entire Bible. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor …
Suzy At The Last Trump
The Bible is very clear that we cannot misplace, or lose, our salvation — as though our salvation were a possession of ours, like a set of car keys or something. My salvation is not something I can lose, as though I owned it. Rather, Christ owns us. We have been purchased by Christ, and …
Ezra Nehemiah 11
Introduction: Repentance may be felt (and usually is felt) at a deep emotional level. But this does not remove the need to be careful and deliberate in how things are set right. The Text: Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there …
Maturity and Discernment
In this next chapter of Hebrews we begin a short introduction to the nature of Christ’s priesthood and intercession for us. The writer of Hebrews is then diverted into a discussion of immaturity and apostasy before he returns to this theme in the middle chapters of his book. “For every high priest taken from among …
Crushed Boldness
As we live out our Christian lives, we must always remember that this is not something we do detached from God, for God. Rather, we are to live our lives in Christ, and on the basis of what He has done for us. Our central interest is therefore the gospel, and the great truths of …
A New Testament Deuteronomy
God loves a cheerful giver. Those who work frantically in His presence displease Him. Those who believe, those who enter rest, are equipped for evangelical work — refreshed work. Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the …
Ezra Nehemiah 10
Introduction: Times of reformation are not times when sin goes away, when no recurring temptations present themselves. Rather, history reveals periods of reformation as those times when the sin was dealt with as it should have been, often at great cost. Reformation is not like a figure skater gliding smoothly across the ice; it is …