Mediated Worship and Unmediated Worship
…the worship service is not an exercise in worship but a practicing of worship. It is not, of course, that the practicing of worship consists exclusively in going to church. Rather, it must be the one, grand, royal action of our whole life, in all our thoughts,...Atonement Inaugurates Jubilee
I was reading a Charles Spurgeon sermon this morning, and I learned something that I hadn’t previously realized: the Day of Jubilee took place on the same day as the Day of Atonement: [29] “And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on...The Goodness of God and the Bones of Jesus
Psalm 34 extols the goodness of God. David gives testimony to a time in which YHWH delivered him out of his afflictions–in particular, he is referring to the time when he changed his behavior before the Philistines so that he appeared to be mad, and they did not...Psalm 114:7-8: The Repentance Demanded by Jesus Christ
Psalm 114 closes with a roaring finale: [7] Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, [8] who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water. (Psalm 114:7-8) What you might not have noticed up to this...Psalm 114:3-6: Creation’s Response to the Salvation of Jesus Christ
When God brought Israel out of Egypt, making Judah his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion (and when he ultimately made Jesus his sanctuary and his dominion), we read that creation was incapable of remaining silent: [3] The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back....Psalm 114:1-2: Jesus Christ, the Sanctuary and Dominion of God
Psalm 114 bursts with anticipation for the glorious salvation that would be accomplished by Jesus Christ. Psalm 114, however, is not what we would typically consider a “Messianic Psalm”–that is, a psalm that refers explicitly to some aspect of the...3 John 1:9-12: Do Not Imitate Evil, but Imitate Good
Although John opens his Third Letter with praise for Gaius, the Apostle also has serious business to deal with. He writes: [9] I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. [10] So if I...3 John 1:5-8: Missions For the Sake of the Name
In 3 John 1:5-8, John gets more specific about the way in which Gaius and his children have been walking in the truth: [5] Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, [6] who testified to your love before the...3 John 1:1-4: No Greater Joy
In 3 John, “The Elder” John writes another letter of roughly the same size as 2 John, both of which could have been written on a single sheet of papyrus. Although many read 2 John as a related, but independent letter, I really like Lenski’s take on...Download My Free eBook
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