Behold, a sower went forth to sow. Mt. 13:3 The parable of the sower as explained by our Lord is fairly straightforward. Nevertheless, despite its interpretation by Jesus, it has suffered under the hands of others. In our day, this parable is often interpreted in a way to make all the soils …
In Exodus 6, God makes these amazing promises to Israel: "And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. And I have also established my covenant with …
And [Jesus] said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. Mt. 21:13 How important is the worship of God to us? Ask the Puritans. In 1662, 2000 Puritan pastors were ejected from their pulpits for refusing to use the English Book of …
And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two …
But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first. Mt. 19:30; 20:16, 25-28 God is generous: his mercy reaches to the heavens and he sovereignly grants his mercy to the least deserving. This is the lesson of our text. Which means that we should beware of serving God from mercenary …
Blessed art thou, Simon Barjonah. Mt. 16:17 Our Lord’s response to Peter is just as important as Peter’s answer to his question. The Great Benediction deserves our examination just as much as the Great Confession. And our Lord tells Peter that it is a blessed thing to confess Jesus as the Christ, …
The riches of his grace. Eph. 1:7 The book of Ephesians is full of those blessings which the apostle invites us to remember, and on this day of Thanksgiving, how better to spend our time than to contemplate such riches? God – Father, Son, and Spirit – has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in …
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God. Mt. 16:16 Matthew 28 gives us the Great Commission. In this chapter we have the Great Confession and the Great Benediction. They are all related. Without the Great Confession and Great Benediction, there would be no Great Commission. As we will see, …
Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief. Mt. 17:19-20 In contrast to our sinful independence, God’s word calls us to trust in him: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own …
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. Mt. 17:5 This is something we need to be reminded of and often. This passage teaches us that, above all, Jesus is preeminent and central to our faith and life. Of all the things that grab our interest and attention, Jesus ought to have …