PAUL’S PURPOSE FOR INSTRUCTING BELIEVERS: LOVE Paul’s teaching did not have a goal of increased knowledge, but of increased love. Knowledge is good, but without love, it is nothing (1 Cor. 13:2). The believers in Ephesus loved knowledge so much that their discussions often dissolved into meaningless and endless debates over disputable matters. Paul encouraged
HAVE YOU HEARD GOD’S ENTIRE MESSAGE? God told the prophet Jeremiah to preach the “entire message” that He had given him. God’s purpose was to warn His people of their sins, so that they might repent, not to tickle their ears. God’s instruction to Jeremiah is the same today. Medicine is ineffective absent its active
THE POWER OF GOD’S WORD The Lord spoke to Jeremiah, describing the difference between a false prophet and a true one. He said the false prophets talk about their dreams and tell lies in my name, but the true prophets proclaim my every word. The difference between the two is like the difference between “straw
OCTOBER IS PASTOR APPRECIATION MONTH The prophet Jeremiah spoke on the Lord’s behalf against those prophets in Judah who were promising peace and safety when the Lord was warning against coming judgment. Here it took the form of a rhetorical question that begs a negative response. “No,” none of them have been in the Lord’s
TO TRULY KNOW THYSELF ONE MUST KNOW GOD Jeremiah cried out to God, proclaiming Him as the One who tests and sees the mind and heart of man. Jeremiah was under constant attack by his brethren for the prophecies the Lord gave him to preach. His plea to the Lord was that his enemies’ motives
LIVING TO PLEASE GOD The apostle Paul urged the Thessalonian believers to live in a way that pleased God. He followed his urging with several practical instructions on how they might live a holy life. Yet his instruction was based on the reality of their faith in Christ. For the key to living a life
THOSE WHO BEAR THE NAME REJOICE IN THE WORD! The prophet Jeremiah didn’t just hear God’s Word, he internalized it. He devoured God’s Word as a man whose soul was famished for God. In spite of those who persecuted him for believing and proclaiming God’s Word, his heart rejoiced in receiving it. The Bible is
GOD’S ENCOURAGEMENT TO DECLARE THE GOSPEL Paul and Silas had been severely mistreated and jailed in the nearby city of Philippi before coming to Thessalonica. Yet that did not cause them to be timid in sharing the Gospel. For God gave them courage to declare “His Good News” to them boldly. When we’ve been hurt
YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN British poet, William Ernest Henley, concluded his poem “Invictus” with these words: “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” His words capture the essence of what sin is. For sin, at its core, is an attitude of rebellion against God’s lordship. Sin puts
DOES THE PEACE OF CHRIST RULE YOUR HEART? Paul said that we are to let the peace of Christ “rule.” The Greek word translated “rule” is “brabeuetō.” It literally means to “umpire, arbitrate, to let make the call.” When difficult circumstances come that bring anxiety, we are to let the peace of Christ act as