Against God
We turn this week to the beginning of Jude’s word of exhortation. He has introduced himself and who the letter is written for. He has told them the reason why he has written the letter and what he wants the readers to do in the end. He begins with an introductory statement of how he wants to remind them. Jude tells those who are called, beloved, and kept, that they once knew something that they have forgotten. A truthful statement
Contending for the Faith
After introducing himself and who Jude is writing for he tells them exactly what this letter is written to accomplish. We will look at the specific details of what this entails but we need to note that Jude had sat down at his desk to write a different letter. He informs them that he wanted to write about their common salvation. However, as Jude sat down to write this letter the Holy Spirit carried his pen in a different direction.
Jude: introduction
Jude is the last book before Revelation and is one of the shortest books in the Bible, approximately 461 words (in Greek),[1] making it the fourth-shortest book in the New Testament.[2] Jude has been called the ‘most neglected book in the New Testament.’[3] Carson and Moo explain that Jude is a timeless book addressing issues found in every generation; "The atmosphere of postmodernism in which the church now lives requires us to guard vigilantly against the temptation to welcome heresy
Anna’s Anticipation
We finish our short series as we have seen the response of the incarnation from the first chapters of the Gospel of Luke. We finish with a short story about a woman who had a hard life but was filled with joy and praise. Although she is only mentioned in these two verses, we should find that she is a great example of faith for believers. Her life has a memorial written in the word of God, one that we
Simeon’s Blessing
We come to our second to last person whom we are going to look at during our short study in people’s responses to the incarnation of Jesus. Today we will see a response of a man who I believe understood the promises of the Old Testament in a way that many people have missed. His name is Simeon; Luke begins this section telling us about a man in Jerusalem. We find out four things about him. Righteous, devout, waiting and
A Priest’s Prophecy
We come to the third response to the good news of the incarnation found in the gospel of Luke. We have met this person before, Zechariah. As he was serving in the temple the angel Gabriel appeared to him and told him the news that his wife Elizabeth, who was barren and both of them were advanced in years was going to have a son. However, Zechariah did not believe the words that Gabriel had spoken to him. The last
Mary’s Magnificat
Last week we saw the angel Gabriel appear to Zechariah and give him the good news of the impossible task of him and his wife Elizabeth having a child because they were advanced in years. Then Elizabeth conceives and when she was 6 months pregnant with John the Baptist. Her response was one of joyous exclamation as she knew the promises of God were being fulfilled. This week we continue to ask the question about the correct response to the
Elizabeth’s Blessing
The most wonderful time of the year, apparently. Chaotic family gatherings, searching for sales and gifts in stores, disordered parking lot rules. Every year, this season comes around. We have heard the saying, ‘Jesus is the reason for the season.’ Nevertheless, we might know the reason for this season, but do we know the response that we should have? When we think or celebrate the incarnation of Jesus, the Son of God, coming down to earth and dwelling amongst his
Dwelling with the Lord
David’s heart for God Christian’s love the story of David. We relate to him in his sinful actions. We see him go through times of persecution and remain steadfast in those times. We see him win great battles as he trusts in God. We love reading the Psalms that he wrote. In all of this we either see a man of faith we seek to emulate, or he gives us hope even in our failures. We love to say that he
Mercy
We are looking at the assurances that David tells us about in the twenty-third Psalm. Last week we saw the assurance of pursuing goodness. This week we will look at the assurance of pursuing mercy. John Stevenson explains these two words in Psalm 23 that are inseparable, “Goodness that shall supply him when he is in want—and Mercy that shall forgive him when he sins:—Goodness following to provide, and Mercy following to pardon. Not goodness alone, nor mercy alone, but
