“For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the One who examines me is the Lord.” (I Corinthians 4:4)
There is an old expression: “Let your conscience be your guide.” But Paul shows us here that the old adage is insufficient. He asserted that in regard to the situation in the church at Corinth, “I am conscious of nothing against myself.” But significantly, he went on to say that his own conscience was NOT an adequate guide. Continue reading
Isaiah 22 shares Isaiah’s oracle concerning the Valley of Vision. In it he relates the coming destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians. When the Judeans heard of the impending invasion, they made every earthly preparation — but neglected to seek God, as verses 8-11 describe.
But their emotional response to the calamity that awaited them was equally detestable in the eyes of God. He says in :12 “Therefore in that day the Lord GOD of hosts called you to weeping, to wailing, to shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth.” They should have mourned and wept and sought God. But notice what they did instead: Continue reading
Several summers ago, a father and his son were out for a walk in a farmer’s field in northern England. The son had brought a metal detector with him, and all of the sudden, it started to squeal. They decided to dig up whatever was buried, and what they brought out of the ground was a metal bowl, that turned out to be over 1000 years old, buried by Vikings, and it was filled with over 600 gold and silver coins! They thought they were just out for a normal afternoon walk – but they ended up finding a great treasure that day.
Our “story” for today is very similar. It is the tale of a woman who went out on a normal day’s activity – to get some water from the well — and yet she found more than she ever expected. More than just some silver and gold coins, this woman found eternal life. In the same way, perhaps you have thought that today would be just a “normal” church day – but God may have something more in mind for you. Maybe this is the day that you, like the woman in this story, will find eternal life through Jesus Christ. Let’s look together at the story of The Woman At The Well from John 4:1+ Continue reading
In Isaiah 22, Jerusalem is being invaded by the Babylonians, and so the inhabitants are getting ready for the siege. Isaiah describes their preparations:
:8 “In that day you depended on the weapons of the house of the forest … and you saw that the breaches in the wall of the city of David were many; and you collected the waters of the lower pool. Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem and tore down houses to fortify the wall. And you made a reservoir between the two walls for the waters of the old pool.” (:8-11a)
Jerusalem made every preparation for a siege that they could make. But they forgot one vital thing, which Isaiah pointed out in the second part of :11: Continue reading
“In that day man will have regard for his Maker and his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel.” (Isaiah 17:7)
The first verses of Isaiah 17 foretold the judgment that was about to come upon Syria & Israel. What was the basis of it? In :7 God revealed the root problem: they were evidently NOT regarding God; their eyes were NOT looking to the Holy One.
Verse :8 shows us what they had substituted for trusting in God: “He will not have regard for the altars, the work of his hands, nor will he look to that which his fingers have made …”. People in those days had substituted other things for God: “religious” things; man-made things, instead of regarding God Himself.
We would be foolish to think that we don’t have the same problem of disregarding God. Continue reading
“Now he who plants and he who waters are one, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.” (I Corinthians 3:8)
This passage gives us a good guide for the way that we are to see some of the differences in our own, and others’, ministries in the church: Continue reading
“So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is ANYTHING, but God who causes the growth.” (I Corinthians 3:7)
Writing to a church which was embroiled in a “personality contest”, the Apostle Paul makes it clear how we are to regard our role in the success of God’s church. He reminds us here that we are not “anything”; rather it is “God who causes the growth.” Continue reading
There are some characters in books or movies who are popular because they are so heroic or selfless or beautiful, and they are so beyond who we are, and what we can do, that we idolize them as “superheroes”. But then there are others who are popular for the opposite reason: they are SO like us that when we see them, or read about them, we think: “They are just like me!” And so we identify with them. Many characters in the Bible are that way. The reason they speak so strongly to us is because we can see ourselves in them. It is that way with our “story” for this morning – the story in John 9 of the man who was born blind. At first, you might think that he is not much like us – most of us have not been born blind. But if you look more carefully, for the spiritual lessons in this text, you will see how we are very much like him: Continue reading
“… he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him.” (Mark 5:4)
Mark 5’s description of the demoniac portrays a situation which was beyond the scope of man to help. “No one was strong enough to subdue him.” He was more powerful than any man. Nothing that any human could do would help. But there some Someone greater who could! Continue reading
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.” (I Corinthians 3:6)
Paul made it very clear here just Who was responsible for making the church at Corinth grow: “GOD was causing the growth.” He alone was responsible for all those who had been saved and discipled there.
But that fact didn’t didn’t mean that Paul just sat back and did nothing. 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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