Hitting the Nail on the Head

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provision of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness, but these are things you should have done without neglecting the others.”  Matthew 23:23 Woe – So you think you know what is happening when Jesus…

Jesus and Holiness

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”  John 14:15 Keep – How many of us would be included in the Kingdom if Jesus came back right now and said, “Now I’ll take only those who have obeyed my commandments.”  Would you be able to step forward and say, “Lord, I have obeyed.  I’m…

Fundamentals

“You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.”  Leviticus 19:2 Holy – The bottom line of God’s requirements for men is this single word: qadosh – holy Jesus thought it was so important that he quoted this verse (Matthew 5:48) when He summarized His discussion of the law.  If your translation…

Relent, O Lord

As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to Your truth.   Daniel 9:13 We Have Not Sought – If you knew Hebrew, you would shudder at the…

The Standard Bearer

You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood, in your striving against sin  Hebrews 12:4 Not Yet – We are “not yet” people.  The problem is that our eyes are turned in the wrong direction.  We look at our circumstances and think, “Well, God has not yet blessed me in all that…

Relevance

Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.  1 Corinthians 10:31 Whatever You Do – If you are not relevant to the Kingdom, you are not relevant at all.  That covers the whole of life.  Everything must be in the cross hairs of the Kingdom.  Paul…

Material Distinctions

Now I Paul myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ   2 Corinthians 10:1 Gentleness – Did you think that Paul was simply being redundant?  Did you think that “meekness” and “gentleness” were really pretty much the same?  Not so!  There is a material difference between these two Greek words – a difference…

When?

Thy kingdom come   Matthew 6:10 Come – Yesterday we discovered that sometimes the verb tense makes a huge difference.  Do you remember “revile” and “persecute?”  Both were in the aorist tense.  That means they are about a particular, limited point in the past.  The actions do not go on and on.  Aorist actions are like…

A Matter of Tense

Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me  Matthew 5:11 Revile and Persecute – It’s a matter of tense.  Not tense like under stress.  Here the important thing is the verb tense, the temporal implication found in the form of…

Sour Wine

They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.  Psalm 19:10 Honey – Do you agree with David?  Are God’s judgments sweeter to you than honey, more precious than gold?  Be careful!  There is a lot more at stake here than endorsement of…