As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
Jesus testified of John the Baptist that, “if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.” (Matt. 11:14). John the Baptist was the forerunner of the Lord. Therefore, when Jesus will later speak in reference to John the Baptist, as “Elijah…come already” (Matt. 17:12-13), He is saying that John was an Elijah-figure, even though John himself had told the people that he was not Elijah (Jn. 1:21).
“In the introduction, Piper opens the door to see God and his world anew, offering four invitations to study God’s providence. These are invitations to worship and know the God who ‘did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all,’ and to find assurance that through his providence he will ‘graciously give us all things,’ very much including Christ himself (Rom.
“Carson is so evenhanded. He is a complementarian who nonetheless takes an unpopular position among his fellow conservatives. He critiques the work of friends and former students graciously but clearly. He also is willing to side with the critics on individual rendering choices in specific passages.” - Mark Ward
“The Word of God gives us everything God wants us to know. We call this the sufficiency of Scripture. All the words that God wants you to have when it comes to salvation, and trusting Him, and obeying Him are found in the Bible.” - P&D
After Matthew has completed his narration of Jesus’ birth, ending at His family’s relocation in Nazareth, he plunges straight in to John the Baptist’s preaching of the Kingdom. Both the Gospels and Josephus1 accord John the Baptist a place of honor as a highly respected (at least among the general populace) and powerful influence in Judea and Galilee in the twenties A. D. From Luke 3:7, 15, 21, Matthew 3:5, and Mark 1:5 it is clear that he drew a lot of attention and that his impact was marked.
“There are still arrangements like this. They’re called monasteries. Before exploring how monasteries show us how ‘socialism’ can work, let me acknowledge that I’m hesitant to present monasticism as ‘socialism.’ The voluntary profession of monasticism has nothing to do with the state seizing the means of production or the mass terror that inevitably follows in its wake.” - Acton
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We visited Eisenach and the Wartburg Castle on the Sunday of our 500th anniversary Reformation trip.
The day was gloriously dark and dreary. Fortunately, we felt only a few raindrops. But it was an absolutely perfect day for a ride through the Thuringian Forest.
“The Reformers said that the doctrine of justification–that is, how sinners are put right with God through the work of Christ–is ‘the article upon which the church stands or falls.’ Today in many of America’s churches, this teaching can scarcely be heard.” - Veith
In Judges 11-12, we find the narrative about Jephthah.
When we think of him, we almost immediately think of his foolish vow and the consequences of it to his daughter.
Judges 11:30-31 in the ESV reads:
30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.”
Discussion