“They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; and You give them to drink of the river of Your delights. (Psalm 36:8)
Speaking of those who have been touched by the grace of God (:7), the present verse describes the pleasures which those who take refuge in God experience. And it does it in very expressive terms: Continue reading
“Behold, My Servant, Whom I uphold; My Chosen One in Whom My soul delights.” (Isaiah 42:1)
It is significant that God calls His Servant here “My chosen one IN WHOM MY SOUL DELIGHTS.” The “Servant” which is mentioned several times in the latter chapters of Isaiah refers to the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. Perhaps one of the most famous passages in this line is “The Suffering Servant” passage of Isaiah 53, which predicts in detail the substitutionary suffering of the Messiah for our sins on the cross.
But significantly, in the present verse, Isaiah 42:1, the prophet proclaims that the Father “delights” in the Son — an instructive description of their relationship. Continue reading
For the last 50 years of the 20th century, Anthony Flew, professor of philosophy at Reading University in England, had been one of the world’s most influential atheists. But in December of 2004, Flew made news by announcing that “it is simply out of the question” to believe that life came from dead matter, and that complex organisms just “evolved” from it. He said he now believed that on the basis of scientific evidence — especially the intricate and complex DNA codes in our cells — that a “super intelligence” was the best explanation for life and the universe; in other words, the existence of a God. Flew’s conversion from atheism to theism sent shock waves around the world.
Two thousand years ago, a similar “shocking” story took place, when Saul of Tarsus, the most vehement opponent of Christianity in all of Judaism, who had been persecuting and arresting Christians, suddenly began preaching the Jesus that just a few days earlier he had given his life to opposing. This Saul of Tarsus of course became the man we know as “The Apostle Paul”, and today we are going to look at his “story.” Paul shares his “story” in Acts 22, but then in Philippians 3:3-9 Paul interprets his “story” for us, sharing four things in his life that could not save him, and ONE that did. These same things are true for us as well:
In I Corinthians 12:4-6 Paul definitely spoke in purposeful Trinitarian terms in order to make his point about God’s desire for unity amidst a diversity of gifts in His church:
— :4 “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit”
— :5 “And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord”
— :6 “There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all.”
In the three consecutive verses Paul employs three different words for deity: “Spirit”, “Lord”, “God.” These refer, of course, to the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus, and God the Father. It is obvious that Paul is referencing the Triune God to make his point.
And he employs the Trinity in more than name only. Continue reading
“I, the LORD, am the first, and with the last. I am He.” (Isaiah 41:4)
God tells us two important things about Himself in this verse:
— God was first. He was already in existence when nothing else was. He is the Creator; the “Prime Mover.” As Psalm 90 declares: “Before the mountains were born, or You gave birth to the world, from everlasting … You are God.”
— But although God says in Isaiah 41:4 that He is the first, He does not merely add that He is also the last. Continue reading
Psalm 36:5-6 describes four qualities of God in the following manner:
— :5a “Your lovingkindness, O Lord, reaches to the heavens”
— :5b “Your faithfulness to the skies”
— :6a “Your righteousness is like the mountains of God”
— :6b “Your judgments are like a great deep”
Four specific qualities are listed: lovingkindness, faithfulness, righteousness, judgment. And what this Psalm tells us about each of these is remarkable: Continue reading
“And when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you …’.” (I Corinthians 11:24)
These words the Lord Jesus spoke have become so familiar to many of us that it can be hard to really “hear” them. But pause for a moment and meditate on what Jesus was saying: “MY body … for YOU.” Jesus’ attitude was that His body was not “His own”, but was for the purpose of glorifying God, and the good that it could do others. Contrary to slogans which have become popular in some segments of our culture today, there was no “my body, my choice” attitude from Jesus. Continue reading
A few years back, in a state prison in Hominy, Oklahoma, they had an area in the kitchen they called the “pig slop” pit, into which they would throw all kinds of animal renderings and other food wastes, which they would put into big barrels there. Every so often, at regular intervals, a vendor would come by and pick up those barrels and haul them off, and use the waste to feed his hogs. One of the inmates of the prison, being creative, saw an opportunity there, and one day he slipped into the area unnoticed, and climbed into one of those barrels. The truck came and took him off, and he was for a very short time successful, but when he climbed out of the barrel at a service station, someone reported him, and he was arrested and sent back to prison.
This morning we are looking at the story of another man who found himself in trouble in pig slop – the story of the Prodigal Son. It is probably one of the best-known “stories” of all time. One of the reasons this story is so famous is that it is very much “the story of us all”. We have all experienced the things the son in this story went through, in one form or another — and the truth is, we must experience some of them if we ever want to have a relationship with God and see heaven. See if you can recognize yourself in this young man’s story, and if you can say: “This Is My Story …” Continue reading
“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you …” (I Corinthians 11:23)
In this passage Paul was writing to the Corinthian church about what he had passed on to them about the practice of the Lord’s Supper. He said that what the Lord gave him, he passed on to them — and he then proceeded to delineate the details of the ordinance. Something we should not overlook in this passage, however, is the faithfulness of Paul’s stewardship of what the Lord gave him. Continue reading
King Hezekiah was dying in Isaiah chapter 38 — until God intervened. The Lord told him through the prophet Isaiah that he would not die, but live — another 15 years. And God did absolutely heal Hezekiah — no question about it. But :21 of that chapter also indicates that He used some MEANS to accomplish His ends: Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.” They did, and he did. But it wasn’t the figs; it was God. Continue reading
I'm a retired Southern Baptist pastor of almost 40 years. My wife Cheryl & I moved to Norman, OK in March of 2025. I share a weekly overview for Sunday School teachers of the weekly Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson, as well as texts of my sermons and other articles.
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