A sermon from the book of Job about how when the reality of this trouble comes upon us, it can seem like an all-pervasive reality to us that eclipses the reality of God in our minds. Eliphaz was realistic when he said, “man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” When you sit…
Our text is located within the history of Israel’s exodus from Egypt. The event of the exodus is a paradigm of salvation. To be sure, not every Israelite who was physically redeemed from Egypt and led through the Red Sea experienced eternal salvation (1 Cor. 10:5). Many of them did not believe and perished as…
The baptism of Jesus by John was the initiation rite marking the formal commencement of Jesus’s public ministry. And right at the outset, our Lord begins His ministry by formally identifying with the sinners He came to redeem. Hence the significance of Jesus’s baptism can be summarized in this: His vicarious identification with sinners as the sin-bearer.
Mark’s point is to show John the Baptist’s prophetic background. Isaiah prophesied of John’s coming 700 years before he was born, and Malachi, 400 years prior. The Baptist is one of the few individuals who have ever lived whose life was so historically significant that it was expressly foretold by the Prophets in the Scriptures.
Mark was probably written in Rome during the final phase of Peter’s ministry. As Peter was preaching the gospel in Rome, Mark was inspired by the same Spirit that was upon Peter to record the preaching of the apostle and to organize the material into a permanent, written testimony for the ongoing use of the…
Corinth was a prominent Graeco-Roman city in the Peloponnesus region, southeast of Rome. Paul spent 18 months there on his second missionary journey. Due to its geographic region, the city had a high profile and a booming population. It was economically prosperous, famous for its bronze, shrines, Olympic games, and especially its philosophers. It was…
The problem of evil was initially raised by the Greek philosopher Epicurus and was popularized by the skeptical philosopher David Hume. Hume put it like this: “Is [God] willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing: whence then is evil?” His question is meant to cast doubt on the existence of God.
The problem of evil is often recognized as the greatest challenge for biblical theism. From the outset we must confess that we cannot penetrate the secret counsel of the mind of God. Scripture gives us light, but it does not give us a full answer to the “Why?” question. It gives us what we need to know, not necessarily all that we would like to know. So the answer of Scripture is not exhaustive, but it certainly is sufficient for a well-grounded, informed, and reasonable faith. Deuteronomy 29:29, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
A well-grounded assurance of faith is a heaven of delight in the heart of believers this side of eternity. The Apostle Paul teaches that believers rejoice in tribulation because of the joy of a well-grounded assurance, an assurance enjoyed subjectively and grounded objectively on the Word and promises of God. The doctrine of justification should be embraced and relished such that it yields sweet comfort and consolation in our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit, for we know that Christ’s perfect righteousness is imputed to believers and they will never perish. We can be free from the haunting guilt of past shame and the fear of death because our salvation is perfect, perpetual, and permanent, based on the righteousness of Jesus Christ alone.