A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Matthew 5:14 When you read the words “city on a hill,” knowing that Christ calls you to this, what comes to mind for you? For many of us, what comes to mind is something like feeding homeless orphans in India, or preaching the gospel to Muslims in …
Ye are the salt of the earth . . . . Ye are the light of the world. Matthew 5:13-14 There are some principles that emerge from these verses. The first is that the Christian is radically different from this world. Salt is different from that which it flavors or preserves. Light is the opposite of …
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your …
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Matthew 5:13 John Stott is correct, I think, when he points out that whereas the Beatitudes teach us about …
For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Isaiah 57:15 Who is God? He is "the high …
In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, and saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew 3:1-2 The fundamental message of John the Baptist, our Lord, and his apostles was a message of repentance. The reason for this message is because we as …
I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly. Psalm 119:8 In this verse, we see a promise and a prayer. The promise is, "I will keep thy statutes." There is a determination in those words, a purposefulness, an intentionality that is often lacking in our pursuit of holiness. My friend, you …
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6 Here is the gospel in one sentence, and in an Old Testament prophet no less! First, we are told of our sin: "all we like sheep have gone astray; we have …
Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations. 1 Peter 1:6 In what did these elect exiles rejoice? Indeed, it seems strange that they were able to rejoice at all when they were "in heaviness through manifold temptations"? Note: it …
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are …