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The New Testament places a unique emphasis on singing as a part of corporate worship. As examined in a previous article, our singing is directed “to the Lord” for His praise and glorification. In fact, both Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 (two key New Testament verses regarding singing) end with those three words, “to the Lord.” These two key verses underscore another significant element of singing in New Testament worship—the reciprocal nature of singing, not solely “to the Lord” (although…

The serpent said, “God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5). Eve was in the “Garden of God” and was surrounded by the evidence of His existence. She was naïve and learning so much as she lived in that garden. The opportunity to be like God was given to her. She looked at the tree that was “…good for food, that…

It is remarkable how easy it becomes to understand a difficult passage if we just look at the precise words found in that verse. Far too often we read a verse and assume we know the meaning of every word, when we do not fully understand how God uses that word elsewhere in the Bible. For example, hear these words from God. “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son He receives” (Heb. 12:6). We sometimes are…

Last week, we looked at two vital aspects of Paul’s advice to a young preacher. When he wrote to Timothy, he expected to see him very soon, and this fact emphasizes the importance of the spiritual advice Paul gave to him. When an abbreviated message is sent it contains the most important information that should be remembered. As noted last week Paul told Timothy to first give attention to reading. Young preachers and those of all ages should remember this.…

Years ago, when letters were the primary source of communication those letters often were shorter if you knew it would not be long before you would see those you wrote. Later it was the phone call that was shortened with comments like, “I will tell you the rest when I get there.” Now it is text messages as we shorten them and just send the most important information as an abbreviated form. This same concept is seen in letters written…

Last week we discussed the book in the Bible which has the fewest verses, so this week we look at Third John, which has the fewest words. What truths can be expressed in only 296 words? What is there in this book which caused God to include it in the Bible? This book from the apostle John is written to Gaius. Whether he is one of the three men named Gaius in the New Testament makes little difference. What is…

There are five of the sixty-six books in the Bible which contain just one chapter. Some books have over 30,000 words in them, but all five of these books contain a total of less than 3,000 words! As you read these shorter books, think about why they are included in the Bible. Do not overlook such great truths that our Father gave in them to us. The Bible completely furnishes us (2 Tim. 3:16-17), and if these books were not…

There are places in the Bible where when it discusses some vital truth it emphatically affirms, “There is one.” When these words are used it implies two truths. One truth is that that truth does exist. You can never say there is none when the Bible says there is one. The second truth is that this denies there could be two, three or even more. No mortal has any right to ever say there is none, nor to ever say…

There may be sections of the book of Revelation which seemingly are difficult to understand, but there is one that can be easily understood and can be such a blessing to every Christian. We might struggle as we read chapter twelve, trying to discover the identity of the woman on the moon (v. 1) or what was meant by those 1260 days in wilderness (v. 5) or that war in heaven (v. 7). However, those who read this section for…

There is no doubt that the Bible gives greater importance to the firstborn child in families. There is great responsibility for them, but in the Old Testament, they received a greater portion of the family inheritance. When God wanted to empress to the nation of Israel how important it was to Him, He did so by affirming that He was their Father, and they were His firstborn (Jer. 31:9). I am not a firstborn. Those who share my “plight” may…

The Bible is filled with a great number of stories of men and women. Some are described as epic feats of strength and courage while others are emotional tales of faith and sacrifice. Within the recordings of their lives are examples given to us to draw lessons of how we should live. When we evaluate our lives to those found in the Scriptures, we may be intimidated. Who am I compared to a David or a Paul? After I’m gone,…

There must have been such great excitement in the heart of the Jews as they heard the prophecies of Isaiah of the coming Messiah. They would not understand them all, but it must have been fascinating to think about the Messiah as the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God and Everlasting Father. (We looked at these titles in the last three weeks.) And as war was all around them (with Assyria capturing the northern kingdom and then coming against the southern kingdom),…