Although Martha believes in the resurrection, yet Christ finds it needful to instruct her better in many things about it. Believers need daily instruction from Christ, so that they will know and understand better those things which they already believe in part. Also, it is not enough that we believe in great benefits and mercies,... Continue Reading

The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him. (Prov. 23:24) Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Eph. 6:4) It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating... Continue Reading

Admit your fears to God and others. I don’t know all the reasons why the Lord allows us to suffer. I do know that He uses our pain to conform us to Christ. Confessing our fears gives people the opportunity to pray for us and encourage us to keep our eyes on Jesus, not our suffering.... Continue Reading

Jonah was so displeased at God’s mercy to them, he simply wanted to die rather than live. Not exactly a missionary’s vision. I do not have a concrete answer as to Jonah’s attitude. He’s been reduced from certain death and now seems ungrateful that God has saved a nation. What is beyond my grasp in human... Continue Reading

By teaching the doctrine of the bodily resurrection, local churches will be casting a more accurate vision of future life. Better than going away to heaven is being raised to dwell forever with the Lord in a new creation. The new creation will be material, not just spiritual, so a life of embodied immortality fits... Continue Reading

We ought to walk through suffering so that a watching world recognizes that there is no good reason why we should have the hope we have. The peace we have. The continued joy we have. Not in a fire like that. And though they might not yet be able to identify with clarity the reason why,... Continue Reading

Second Corinthians teaches us that genuine Christian ministry is characterized by “simplicity and godly sincerity” (2 Cor. 1:12), that church officers aren’t self-sufficient (2 Cor. 3:5), and that ministry is more dying to self than it is self-promotion (2 Cor. 4:11–12). Paul elected not to accept compensation from the Corinthians, not wanting to introduce a... Continue Reading

Even when we disagree with how a case was settled, we must trust that God is working through his church. Even when the courts of this world leave us still crying out for justice, Christians find joy and peace in the gospel truth that God will never summon us to face his wrath and judgment.... Continue Reading

There’s a weightiness to pornography that, I think, gets at a creational good from the Lord. God created man and woman as sexual beings (Gen. 1:26–28). As Christians, we know that sexual desires are to be expressed specifically between members of the opposite sex in the context of marriage. This gift from the Lord carries... Continue Reading

At the beginning of Exodus, the Israelites are dwelling in Egypt. By the end of Exodus, the Israelites are out of Egypt and God is dwelling with them. At the beginning of Exodus, the Israelites are building things for Pharaoh. As the book closes, they are building things for God. God had come to tabernacle among... Continue Reading