And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number … More Ryle: Do a thing boldly, unflinchingly, and decidedly, when Jesus says, “do it.”
And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was … More Ryle: We ought to imitate our Master
And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” — Luke 4:33-34 ESV J.C. Ryle … More Religious knowledge vs true faith
Pastor Coty Pinckney in a sermon, “The King and His Kingdom” comments: So what did Jesus mean when He told the people of Nazareth, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing”? In order to understand the New Testament, we must understand the “already/not yet” character of the Kingdom. As Jesus proclaims here, the … More Kingdom promises: already/not yet
Coty Pinckney makes this very interesting observation regarding Luke 3 and 4: Most written accounts of a person’s life would put the genealogy right at the beginning – like the Gospel of Matthew. Again like Matthew, most often the genealogy will start with the ancestor and work forward to the subject of the account. But … More Adam and second Adam: what a contrast!
When lost, it might be embarrassing to stop to ask for directions. However, when reading the Bible, John Piper suggests that we SHOULD stop and ask questions about the text. Here is a quote from the introduction of a sermon, “The Baptism and the Genealogy of Jesus”: You can learn more from a book if you stop … More Stop and ask questions
John Piper, in a sermon, “John the Baptist and the Brood of Vipers”- This is the meaning of repentance: a turning of the direction of our life and the affections of our heart, so that we become oriented on God and love the things he loves. John promises the people “forgiveness of sins” in response … More Repentance is a heart issue
In light of recent predictions of the end of the world and the rapture, many people just roll their eyes when they hear talk of “the coming of Christ” In Luke 2, we read of someone who had been eagerly waiting a lifetime to see Jesus. John Piper, in a sermon from Luke 2, “Preparing … More Are you eagerly waiting for Jesus’ coming?
John Piper: A Big God for a Little People—Luke 2:1–5 Have you ever thought what an amazing thing it is that God ordained beforehand that the Messiah be born in Bethlehem (as the prophecy in Micah 5 shows); and that he so ordained things that when the time came, the Messiah’s mother and legal father … More It is not our prosperity but our holiness that he seeks with all his heart.
J.C.Ryle on Zechariah’s Song in Luke 1:67-80 We should notice, secondly, in this hymn of praise, how much emphasis Zachariah lays on God’s fulfillment of His promises.He declares that God has “visited and redeemed his people,” speaking of it in the manner of the prophets as a thing already accomplished, because sure to take place. He … More What God has promised, God will perform
Knowing God through His Word ... Day by Day 