John Piper, in a sermon from 2 Timothy 4, “I Have Kept the Faith” The two pictures of a fight and a race illustrate what is involved in keeping the faith. But before we go into what is involved in keeping the faith I better say something brief about the nature of faith itself. The … More Keep the Faith!
John Piper, in a sermon on Luke 18 “Let the Children Come to Me” In verse 15 there were parents bringing their infants to Jesus. The disciples rebuke them. Jesus rejects this rebuke and encourages the parents to bring their children to him. Then, as if to warn the disciples, he says, “Whoever does not … More Humility and Your Ability to Minister to Children
From the ESV Study Bible: Prov. 13:1–6 Headed by the call to be a wise son (10:1), these proverbs also utilize a play on words (cf. 10:6–32) relating to both speech (hears/listen, 13:1; mouth, vv. 2–3; lips, v. 3; falsehood,v. 5) and eating/desire (eats, v. 2; desire, v. 2; craves and richly supplied, v. 4) in order to assure those who seek to guard their mouth (v. 3) through righteousness … More Proverbs: Life-saving mouth guards
Pastor P. G. Matthew, of Grace Valley Community Church, in a sermon “Covenant Renewal”: Nehemiah 10:28 speaks of “the rest of the people—priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, temple servants, and all who separated themselves from the neighboring peoples for the sake of the Law of God, together with their wives and all their sons and daughters … More Change of mind brings about change of will.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. —2 Timothy 3:16 John Piper, in a sermon, “All Scripture Is Breathed Out by God and Profitable” That is a remarkable phrase: … More How does the Bible equip us?
Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. Proverbs 12:25 Do you have anxiety in your heart? Are there others around you that are being weighed down with an anxious heart? According to the Bible, a good word can change their outlook. Will you reach out with a … More A Good Word for Eyores
John Piper with a warning: Beware of being like the people in 2 Timothy 3:7 who are “always learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.” Delight in solutions; don’t forever resist them as though it is noble to ever be the struggling skeptic.
John Piper, in the introduction to the sermon, “Is the Kingdom Present or Future?” Luke 17:20-21 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Lo, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, … More Partly present, partly future
Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid. Proverbs 12:1 No one really LOVES getting disciplined, at the time, but when we look back, we can see the benefits. We learn much through the loving correction of others, whether our parents or faithful friends. Proverbs says we are STUPID if we … More We all have blind spots
Phillip Graham Ryken writes in Thermelios: Ezra also had a mind for biblical truth. Perhaps the best example comes from Nehemiah 8, where Ezra gathers the Israelites to renew the covenant in Jerusalem. The heart of that renewal was the reading and preaching of God’s Word. Ezra gathered people in the square in front of the … More Faithful Gospel Preaching
