Since the Reformation, Paul’s theology of the cross has been paramount. Since the early twentieth century, however, NT scholars have emphasized eschatology (to varying degrees “realized,” or not). 

Paul’s thought seems best encapsulated by understanding the two messianic comings as accomplishing disparate ends—Christ’s crucifixion sacrificially unto Christ’s Parousia gloriously, attaining the Jewish apocalyptic hope of eternal life (cf. Rom. 5:9; 1 Cor. 11:26; Phil. 3:11). Thus, Paul is not saying one main thing in his letters, but rather two main things. - John P. Harrigan

If I forget you, O Jerusalem, May my right hand forget her skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth If I do not remember you, If I do not exalt Jerusalem Above my chief joy.  

Psalm 137:5-6

The more that we lose the Fear of the Lord, the more that we drift away from the narrow path that leads to life, and drift toward the broad road that leads to eternal destruction. Beloved, acquire a fresh sense of the Fear of the Lord, because the time is short. -Joel Richardson

A single day in hell will be worse than a whole life spent in carrying the cross. - JC Ryle

Jesus will fulfill his Davidic and apocalyptic duties when he comes back to this world. The parousia will be marked not exclusively by the final judgement but also the renewal of Israel and the entire planet. - Isaac Oliver

The longer and the more I ponder the gospel of Christ the simpler [not easy] Christianity becomes and the more I see how much we've complicated it. (2 Cor. 11:2-3; 1 Cor. 2:2; Mt. 7:13-14, 28:38-40; Gal. 6:14; Jn 13:34-35; 1 Pet. 2:21-25, 4:7-11, etc) - Stuart Greaves

Do not try to make the gospel tasteful to carnal minds. Do not hide the offense of the cross, lest you make it of no effect. - Spurgeon

We fall from grace not only through licentiousness (Jude:4) but also through legalism (Gal 5:4) - Stuart Greaves

Our desire for God is God's gift to us. Our desire for God is an expression of His desire for us. -Mike Bickle

The God of Israel still seeks to ultimately glorify himself on the last day when he will restore creation by means of his Messiah through the judgement, resurrection, and kingdom. Jesus of Nazareth is indeed this Messiah, and for now it seems that Israel’s God is choosing to extend mercy through him to the Gentiles. - John P. Harrigan

As seen throughout Paul’s letters, the day of YHWH is associated with the judgment of the wicked, the resurrection of the dead, and the coming kingdom of the Messiah. Rather than redefining common Jewish apocalyptic expectations, it seems that Paul was primarily concerned  with pastoral needs and faithful discipleship in light of such expectations. 

The Jewish apocalyptic hope is the presumed goal in which all discipleship finds completion (cf. Rom. 2:5; 1 Cor. 1:8; 2 Cor. 1:14; Phil. 1:6; etc.). - John P. Harrigan

“Paul, as others before him, refers this honorific Christos to Jesus. In texts roughly contemporary with his letters, Christos most commonly stands for an End-time Davidic warrior and ruler. Traditions visible both in Paul’s letters and in the later gospels also present Jesus as such a redemptive End-time figure: returning with angels, coming on clouds of glory to gather his elect, bringing in the Kingdom with power”  - Paula Fredriksen

"Apart from the second Advent of our Lord, the world is more likely to sink into a pandemonium than to rise into a millennium." – Spurgeon 

When asked "who is the neighbor that I should love?" [Implication: "You don't mean ANYONE, do you?"] --Jesus gave an example of a man not just showing sentiment but risking his life--not for someone like him but someone of a hated race and religion. In short, "Yes, I mean anyone" - Tim Keller

Perhaps nowhere else (1 Corinthians 15) is Paul so binary in his description of the messianic kingdom, a plain fact which modern commentators surreptitiously avoid. Modern inaugurated eschatology presupposes that flesh and blood does indeed inherit the (partially realized) kingdom of God. Of course, modern realized eschatology and first-century realized eschatology are different (they have different eschatological reference points), but they do similarly presume that mortality can inherit the kingdom of God before the Parousia. 

Paul’s response to both would be the same: “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.”  -John P. Harrigan

Mocking the city Jesus wept over seems unwise. - Joshua Reese

When God at long last appears in resplendent majesty, when the heavens open wide with cleansing fire and warring hosts, then will creation be restored to its primal paradisal glory—on earth as it is in heaven, in the end as it was in the beginning. -John P. Harrigan

Watching the USA collapse financially, morally, and spiritually only reinforces the growing Maranatha cry.

To the struggling remnant: Stay faithful; the night will soon end, the Sun of Righteousness will rise and we’ll all skip around like baby goats in joyful celebration. - Joel Richardson

My teaching on an introduction to the gospel of Luke. Notes. Audio 1. Audio 2. 

Although not as numerous as Jesus’ references in the Gospels, Paul does speak often of the messianic kingdom in his letters (cf. Rom. 14:17; 1 Cor. 4:20; 6:9, 10; 15:24, 50; Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5; Col. 1:13; 4:11; 1 Thess. 2:12; 2 Thess. 1:5; 2 Tim. 4:1, 18). Like the resurrection of the dead, Paul’s references to the kingdom are generally without definition, utilized for the sake of exhortation (both positive and negative). Moreover, his references to the messianic kingdom are generally synonymous with the resurrection and day of judgment, thus falling in line with the Jewish apocalyptic narrative of history. -John P. Harrigan

Paul’s apocalyptic conviction was not initiated by his conversion to Christ but formed the background of his Pharisaic world view. . . . The apocalyptic structure of his thought remains the constant in his Pharisaic and Christian life. The truth of this assertion is evident from the Pauline letters, because apocalyptic persists from the earliest letter (1 Thessalonians) to the latest (Philippians). Apocalyptic is not a peripheral curiosity for Paul but the central climate and focus of his thought, as it was for most early Christian thinkers- Beker  

In Paul, hope has an apocalyptic specificity. It centers on a happening in time and space that is the object of the yearning and sighing of the Christian, that is, the victory over evil and death in the Parousia of Christ or the kingdom of God - Beker  

My teaching on growing in the knowledge of Jesus: notes, audio 1, audio 2

The Bible doesn’t speak of a kingdom entering people as if it was a mystical, ethereal, and private thing, but speaks of people entering the kingdom because it is an actual place with time-space dimensions and will be headquartered in a geographical place on this earth during the renewal. -Adam Welch

When God wants to judge a nation, He gives them wicked rulers. - John Calvin 

“Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:6–7

The humble who exalt his mighty hand: He cares for them now.

He exalts them later.

-John Piper

"Reading doth furnish with matter; it is the oil that feeds the lamp of meditation. Be sure your meditations are founded upon Scripture. Reading without meditation is unfruitful; meditation without reading is dangerous." -Thomas Watson 

You say, ‘I want to walk nearer to God than anybody else,’ then you’ll carry a bigger cross than anybody else, you'll have a greater vision than anybody else, know more brokenness than anybody else — and this is the hardest of all — you’ll know more LONELINESS than anybody else. - Leonard Ravenhill

The resurrection of the body is necessary for entrance into the kingdom of God. -John P. Harrigan

“The present epistle (1 Thess) discloses that the Lord’s coming has been in the forefront of Paul’s thinking. Whatever the subject he touches on here—be it the greeting of the community (1:2–3), their acceptance of the faith (1:9–10), his hope concerning their ultimate salvation (2:19–20), his own behavior toward them (2:9–12), or his prayers on their behalf (3:11–13; 5:23–24)—his referent is the Parousia of Christ” - Plevnik  

Paul’s many references to the eschatological judgment generally fall in line with common Jewish apocalyptic expectations. The judgment is directly associated with the day of the Lord and the punishment of the wicked. Moreover, Jesus’s messianic identity and Parousia are understood within this eschatological framework. The fact that Paul generally makes passing references to the eschatological judgment (e.g., “the judgment seat” in Rom. 14:10 and 2 Cor. 5:10) without definition or explanation reinforces the supposition that he simply takes for granted the Jewish apocalyptic narrative in his writings.  -John P. Harrigan

“The alternation between God and Christ does not signal confusion on Paul’s part. Instead it demonstrates the very close relationship between them. Christ functions as God’s representative in the judgment, hence judgment in Paul can be ascribed either to Christ (2 Cor. 5:10) or to God (Rom. 14:10)” -Thomas R. Schreiner

This current age is broken and it’s obvious to those liberal and conservative despite the valley between us. There is someone coming to make all things new. Where those who are merciful will receive mercy and those who are persecuted for His righteousness will inherit His Kingdom. -TJB Sewob

"The blessed hope" for all Christians is Jesus' visible appearing in glory, not an invisible rapture that happens seven years beforehand. -Joel Richardson

Excommunication (1 Corinthians 5) is the temporal judgment that is meant to awaken people to the eternal judgment associated with the day of the Lord—“deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord” (5:5). Likewise, eschatological judgment should relativize temporal judgments in this age: “Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!” (6:3).  -John P. Harrigan 

For Paul, as for most first-century Jews, the day of YHWH, the judgment of the wicked, and the kingdom of God were inextricably bound together eschatologically. 

Thus, discipleship is contingent upon spiritual focus and sobriety: “Pay careful attention, then, to how you live—not as unwise people but as wise—making the most of the time, because the days are evil” (vv. 15–16, CSB). Because this age is inherently corrupt and evil (cf. Rom. 8:20; Gal. 1:4; Eph. 2:2), it demands a militant attitude (cf. Eph. 6:10–20), so as “to stand against the schemes of the devil” (6:11). Believers ultimately wrestle against “the cosmic powers over this present darkness” (v. 12; emphasis added), which assumes the coming age of light. -John P. Harrigan

"God never gives us a burden to break our backs but to bow our knees." -Corrie ten Boom

"Reading the whole Bible is how you become a whole Christian." -J.C. Ryle 

 "If a man doesn't treat his wife right, I don't want to hear him talk about Christianity." -D.L. Moody

My teaching on Galatians 6. Notes. Audio 1. Audio 2. 

If we do not understand that God is committed first to helping us grow in love, we can be confused about His leadership in our life. -Mike Bickle

My teaching on Psalm 110 in a more informal Bible study format. Notes. Audio 1, Audio 2. 

For Jesus and the apostles, the soon and coming day of the Lord, the resurrection of the dead, the judgment of all by the Jewish Messiah, and the establishing of his worldwide kingdom of justice is what drove them to fervent obedience and self-denial.  - Josh Hawkins

Somebody once said to John Wesley, “Your church won’t prosper. It won’t go on.” He said, “Why?” The man said, “You don’t have a single doctorate in the whole range of your preachers.” Wesley replied, “Our theology isn’t sick enough to need a doctor.”

-Leonard Ravenhill

Theology 101:

Resurrection, not death, is the finish line. 

And the starting line.

-Dr. Michael Svigel

The most convincing evidence of love is that love makes sacrifices for others. -Mike Bickle

The sinful people [of Israel] do not exhaust the kindness of Yahweh...and he gives them hope to watch for the one who will be enthroned in Zion on his holy hill. - Dr. Jim Hamiliton

Followers of Jesus are to do good through all the purging judgments they face until the kingdom for which they strive comes, and in their persevering and receiving of the kingdom God’s glory will shine. -Dr. Jim Hamiliton

The most important appointment that any of us will ever have is in our future—when we stand before Jesus. Each will stand before Jesus at His judgment seat to give an account of what we did with what God gave us. - Mike Bickle

“Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!’” John 1:47 No sham. No posing. No duplicity. No spin. No dodging. No evasion. No fear. Oh, how refreshing is such a friend. - John Piper

A great mystery of the spiritual life is that it’s possible to feel free when you are actually in bondage and possible to feel constricted and confined when you are actually free. This is why we can’t rely on our feelings to tell us what we are, but only on the Word of God. - Travis Snow

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul likewise introduces with his goal of discipleship: “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (1:6). Here we see Paul explicitly communicating his terminus of discipleship. Life and faith have one goal and one end (that ultimately matters): the day of the Lord. And he concludes his introduction with a reprise in the form of a prayer, 

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (vv. 9–11; emphasis added)    

-John P. Harrigan

Romans 13:8 - 14:18

Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not covet; and any other commandment, are summed up by this commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law.

Besides this, since you know the time, it is already the hour for you to wake up from sleep, because now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is nearly over, and the day is near; so let us discard the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk with decency, as in the daytime: not in carousing and drunkenness; not in sexual impurity and promiscuity; not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.

Welcome anyone who is weak in faith, but don’t argue about disputed matters. One person believes he may eat anything, while one who is weak eats only vegetables. One who eats must not look down on one who does not eat, and one who does not eat must not judge one who does, because God has accepted him. Who are you to judge another’s household servant? Before his own Lord he stands or falls. And he will stand, because the Lord is able to make him stand.

One person judges one day to be more important than another day. Someone else judges every day to be the same. Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind. Whoever observes the day, observes it for the honor of the Lord. Whoever eats, eats for the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; and whoever does not eat, it is for the Lord that he does not eat it, and he gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for himself, and no one dies for himself. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. Christ died and returned to life for this: that he might be Lord over both the dead and the living. But you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written,

As I live, says the Lord,
every knee will bow to me,
and every tongue will give praise to God.

So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Therefore, let us no longer judge one another. Instead decide never to put a stumbling block or pitfall in the way of your brother or sister. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. Still, to someone who considers a thing to be unclean, to that one it is unclean. For if your brother or sister is hurt by what you eat, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy, by what you eat, someone for whom Christ died. Therefore, do not let your good be slandered, for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever serves Christ in this way is acceptable to God and receives human approval.

Since the age to come consists of love and godliness, Paul reasons, we should conform our lives in this age according to our destiny. -John P. Harrigan

The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion. 

- Isaiah 52

 Learn to trust to Christ’s word, whatever sight may say. We live in dark times. - Robert M. McCheyne

That new heavenly nature which is formed in believers, as the first vital act of that union which is between Christ and them by the inhabitation of the same Spirit, is peculiarly his nature.  -John Owen

Paul defined the wisdom of God as including the message of the cross (1 Cor. 1:18-27). God’s wisdom that was modeled by Jesus was seen at the cross. This wisdom will also be demonstrated through the corporate Church at the end of this age.

-Mike Bickle

"Who is this who comes from Edom, With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, The one who is majestic in his apparel..." Isaiah 63:1 The Second Exodus will be literal, and it will be glorious. 

-Travis Snow 

If the Babylonian destruction of the temple was any precedent, and the message of the prophet Ezekiel at that time is still to be believed, then the God of Israel continues to dwell among his people, and the city and land remain the proper objects of their hope. - Mark Kinzer

As in Jewish apocalyptic thought, the day of YHWH lies at the center of Paul’s understanding of the future. He references the eschatological “day” twenty-two times in his letters. Varying in occasion and purpose, these references represent Paul’s assumption that history is moving toward a singular and cataclysmic end. Moreover, Paul makes passing references to the two age framework of history throughout his letters—“this age” (1 Cor. 1:20; 2:6, 8; 3:18; Eph. 1:21), “this world” (Rom. 12:2; 1 Cor. 3:19; 5:10; 7:31; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2), “this present world” (2 Tim. 4:10), “this present time” (Rom. 8:18), “the present age” (1 Tim. 6:17; Titus 2:12), and “the present evil age” (Gal. 1:4) all assume an eschatological reference point. -John P. Harrigan

In effect, Paul seeks to combat Gentile arrogance by reaffirming that the Jewish apocalyptic plan of history has not changed. God’s mission to the Gentiles is a subsidiary plan rather than a supersessionist program. Once the full number of the Gentiles comes in, then the presupposed expectations of the day of wrath, resurrection of the dead, and judgment of the wicked will commence, “as it is written, ‘The deliverer will come from Zion…’” (v. 26b; cf. Isa. 59:20). Paul thus seems to theologize about God’s merciful mission to the Gentiles (cf. vv. 30–32) within an unaltered Jewish apocalyptic framework of redemptive history. -John P. Harrigan

Apocalyptic ice cream flavors: How does the world end? Naturalist: Climate change. Hollywood: Aliens/extraterrestrials. Western Christian: Tribulation/rapture. 1st-century Jewish: Messiah descends with fire/angels to regather Israel and restore creation. I prefer the last one. - Joshua Hawkins

Jesus and the apostles remained steadfast and faithful even in the midst of oppressive regimes, government overreach, and unjust laws. They knew that God had appointed a Day to definitively deal with humanity's wickedness. We do well when we imitate them. - Joshua Hawkins

The scattering was literal:–so also will be the gathering.

The pulling down of Zion was literal:–so also will be the building up. The rejection of Israel was literal:–so also will be the restoration. - J. C. Ryle

 My teaching on Psalm 118. Notes. Audio 1, Audio 2. 

“A man really believes not what he recites in his creed, but only the things he is ready to die for” - Richard Wurmbrand

"Thus says the Lord God: Remove the turban and take off the crown. Things shall not remain as they are. Exalt that which is low, and bring low that which is exalted...until he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him." // Ezekiel 21

"David's throne must at least mean the peculiar sovereignty of Messiah over the literal Israel; the peculiar dominion which He is to exercise over the tribes and Land over which David ruled. At least it means this, else it be as vague a term as could be employed." -Horatius Bonar 

Pride is the carbon monoxide of sin. It silently and slowly kills you without you even knowing. -Timothy Keller

"Brethren, no truth ought to be more frequently proclaimed, next to the first coming of the Lord, than His second coming; and you cannot thoroughly set forth all of the ends and bearings of the first advent if you forget the second." -Charles Spurgeon

The hearers of Jesus' words or recipients of Paul's letters understood their words a certain way because of their age, world, culture, and context. Sound interpretation begins by asking "what did it mean for them?" and then seeking meaning for us today. Not the other way around.

-Josh Hawkins

Israel is the missing piece in ecclesiology, pneumatology and eschatology. For 1900 years they've been doing theology without considering the mystery re: Abraham's natural kids. Paul says that leads to arrogance (Rom. 11:25). And arrogance leads to blindness. Open our eyes Lord. - Ron Cantor

Why should you be surprised at the extravagant, unconditional affections the Father has for you? You have the blood of Jesus on your life! - Bob Sorge

"Paul is always writing in the fullness of doxological overflow." -John Piper

From the strands of seemingly disparate and mundane events—a famine that leads to exile, ten years of barrenness, bereavement, the persistence of a Moabite girl, the field in which she happens to glean—Yahweh has woven a magnificent tapestry of mercy. - Dr. Jim Hamilton on the book of Ruth

 

Why we can have such confidence in the scriptures. 

God’s throne is the epicenter of joy in the universe, and those nearest His throne enjoy the greatest measure of joy available. He is the very fountain of joy. - Mike Bickle

Mirroring her Messiah, "After his anguish, he shall see light and be satisfied (Isaiah 54)."

Jerusalem’s beautification comes on the heels of Jerusalem’s chastisement. - Dalton Thomas

His (Paul's) consistent references to the day of the Lord (cf. Rom. 2:5, 13:12; 1 Cor. 1:8; 3:13; 5:5; 2 Cor. 1:14; Eph. 4:30; Phil. 1:6, 10; 2:16; 1 Thess. 5:2ff.; 2 Thess. 1:10; 2:2f.; 2 Tim. 1:12, 4:8), the coming judgment (cf. Rom. 2:16; 3:6; 8:23; 14:10; 1 Cor. 4:4; 6:2; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Thess. 1:9; 2 Tim. 4:1), the resurrection of the dead (cf. Rom. 6:5; 1 Cor. 6:14; 15:12ff.; 2 Cor. 4:14; Phil. 3:11, 21; 2 Tim. 2:18), and the messianic kingdom (cf. 1 Cor. 6:9, 10; 15:24, 50; Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5; Col. 4:11; 1 Thess. 2:12; 2 Thess. 1:5; 2 Tim. 4:1, 18) reveal his apocalyptic hermeneutical assumptions. He was theologizing within a preconceived, and widely presupposed, view of God, history, and the future. -John P. Harrigan

“We can distill from this mass of writings a general pattern of Endtime events, themselves amplifications of themes shaping the older prophetic paradigm of Exile and Return. Before the End comes, the righteous will suffer persecution at the hands of the wicked. Suddenly, though, things will begin to reverse. The Day of the Lord will arrive, when the world will be convulsed by celestial and terrestrial catastrophes: earthquakes, plagues, darkness at noon, falling stars. . . . With the resurrection of the dead, the judgment of the wicked, and the vindication of the righteous, Israel will reassemble, all twelve tribes, and return to the Land. God’s spirit will pour out onto “all flesh” (Joel 2:28). The redeemed will gather in Jerusalem, at a rebuilt or renewed temple. Peace unalterably established, the entire world, human and divine, will acknowledge and worship the god of Israel” - Paula Fredricksen 

The final theophany of God will bring with it final judgment and reckoning—the ultimate denouement of the error of Eden. - John P. Harrigan

There are two groups of people associated with the name of Christ who will be disqualified on the last day: those who presume upon the sacrifice and those who set aside the sacrifice. - John P. Harrigan Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. - Paul

"Whenever you and I begin to try to manage God’s kingdom for him, we find the divine scepter too heavy for our little hands to hold." — Charles Spurgeon 

Make disciples. Let God bring the kingdom of God. 

For the upright will inhabit the land, and those of integrity will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous ripped out of it. - Proverbs 2

Maranatha.  

No man’s ministry is a failure, however meager the results, if he has been faithfully and earnestly preaching the gospel of the grace of God, holding up to dying, sinful men God’s message of redeeming love. Such a ministry is not, could not be, a failure. - Francis Grimke

My message on the "Icons of Evolution" Video. 

“We’re not doubting that God will do the best for us; we’re wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.” - C.S. Lewis 

Theology 101: Dying and going to heaven is not resurrection. It’s death. Resurrection is resurrection. -Dr. Michael Svigel

When you look at the cross you can’t help but tremble under the weight of this obvious truth: God does this kind of thing with His favorites. - Bob Sorge

Theology 101: If the resurrection of your body is not part of your soteriology, somewhere you got it wrong. -Dr. Michael Svigel

The words of the gospel, even right words anointed by the Holy Spirit, must be substantiated and demonstrated by righteous deeds derived from holy intentions. Those who proclaim the hope of the age to come must actually live for the age to come. - John P. Harrigan

The different aspects of the cross...are not mere metaphors, images, or figures of speech. They are different aspects of real history, based upon real events, involving real persons, culminating in a real Day.  -John P. Harrigan

Who puts blood on their door at dusk, but then goes down to frolic in the Nile before midnight?

Who looks at the snake on the pole once, but then goes about tending to his wounds?  

The dead man does. - John P. Harrigan

“There is, in fact, no redemptive work done anywhere without suffering.” ~ Elisabeth Elliot 

"The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light." Romans 13:12  

Eschatology drives discipleship. - John P. Harrigan

My teaching on the Messianic delay from Psalm 110. Notes. Audio 1, Audio 2

"On other people's graves it is written, 'Here lies so-and-so,' but on Christ's tomb it is recorded, 'He is not here.'" — Charles Spurgeon  

The sweetest prayers God ever hears are the groans and sighs of those who have no hope in anything but his love. -Charles Spurgeon  

"When asked, 'What is more important: Prayer or Reading the Bible?'

I ask, 'What is more important: Breathing in or Breathing out?'" — Charles Spurgeon 

May we sit at the foot of the cross; and there learn what sin has done, what justice has done, what love has done. -John Newton

There is nothing the natural man hates more than to be told that he is a sinner, and that his nature is twisted and perverted. He believes in himself, and that he is a good fellow; all the teaching of psychology encourages him to believe in himself. – Martyn Lloyd-Jones

This eschatological hope (involving the Parousia, resurrection, judgment, and kingdom) set for Paul the parameters of his discipleship agenda. The Gentiles are being discipled into the Jewish apocalyptic hope. Paul’s Jewish eschatology also provided both the mechanism and the pattern for his ethics. Far from causing ethical disengagement (as commonly mischaracterized in modern studies), Paul’s apocalyptic hope inspired his ethical “fight” and “race.” -John P. Harrigan

Paul’s language of propitiation, justification, redemption, and reconciliation is consistently used in relation to the Messiah’s sacrificial death “for our sins.” Moreover, the need for divine forgiveness is generally predicated upon the expectations of divine judgment inherent to Jewish eschatology. Paul thus theologized about the death of the Messiah within his native Jewish apocalyptic worldview, rather than in contrast to it. - John P. Harrigan

The prize of Christianity is not the transformation of the world. It is Jesus himself. Our job on earth is to prove that he is our prize above everything and everybody in this world (1 Pet. 1:7). Then, at the right time, God will give us, along with him, all things (Rom. 8:32). -Roland Baker

Paul’s faith in Jesus of Nazareth as the Jewish Messiah (and those events associated with that messiahship) generated his emphasis on the Parousia of Christ. -John P. Harrigan

The universal proclamation of divine mercy in light of the Jewish apocalyptic hope of eternal life thus defines the trajectory of Paul’s mission and discipleship of the Gentiles. Without these realities held in tandem, Judaism and the hope of Israel simply become the background of Paul’s novel missiology instead of its fundamental framework.  -John P. Harrigan

Repelled by this reality, and entrenched in a Neoplatonic post-Enlightenment worldview, the church has historically theologized around and away from Israel’s election, relegating her to being God’s ex-wife, and installing the church as God’s new and everlasting beloved. The name for this alleged divine divorce and remarriage is supersessionism. - Stuart  Dauermann

The Parousia of Jesus, resurrection of the dead, and eternal life comprise Paul’s hope, which is attained by the propitiative, justificative, and redemptive death of Jesus for our sins—two heterogeneous sides of one gospel coin.   -John P. Harrigan

Paul and the apostles framed the death of Jesus as an objective sacrificial exchange concerning divine appeasement, acquittal, and payment. -John P. Harrigan

At its core, judgment is simply the establishment of a standard of righteousness. In this way the divine Judge establishes righteousness upon the earth: “When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness” (Isa. 26:9, niv). And God will ultimately be vindicated in his gubernatorial role, for “he has established his throne for judgment” (Ps. 9:7, csb). The Psalms are replete with similar declarations: “He will judge the world with righteousness” (Ps. 98:9); “He will judge the peoples with equity” (Ps. 96:10); “He will execute judgment among the nations” (Ps. 110:6), “for he comes to judge the earth” (Ps. 96:13)—leading to the cry, “Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!” (Ps. 82:8). Thus, projecting eschatologically, Isaiah declares: “The Lord will execute judgment on all people with his fiery sword” (Isa. 66:16, csb). - John P. Harrigan

2022 Summer

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. - Psalm 96

Maranatha

Jesus is used to living in a place where there is incessant thunder and lightning (Rev 4:5). He relaxes in storms (Matt 8:24). - Bob Sorge

I want to die being really soft before the Lord, and having my wife and kids think I’m pretty great. Nothing else matters. -Joel Richardson

Righteousness is fulfilled only at Calvary and in Gehenna. Where humanity will be found on that day is the great choice facing each individual. - John P. Harrigan

Therefore be sober... 1 Peter 4:7

“And so all Israel will be saved.” The context indicates that Paul must be speaking of the Jewish people. He does not mean every Jew that ever lived, but the nation of Israel. Now why do I say that ‘Israel’ in this phrase refers to the Jews? All through his discussion Paul is talking about Israel in part: part of Israel has been blinded, part of Israel has been cut away, part of Israel has been stubborn, part of Israel has been excluded from the kingdom of God and its blessings. The Jews as a people are presently under judgment. But as there was a national judgment, so there will be a national restoration. Their rejection, even though it was a national rejection, did not include the rejection of every individual. So the restoration doesn’t necessarily mean that every individual Jew will be saved, but the nation as a nation will be restored to God. - RC Sproul

Exaltation does not come from the east or the west, for God is the Judge: He brings down one and exalts another. For there is a cup in the Lord’s hand, and he pours from it. All the wicked of the earth will drink, draining it to the dregs. - Psalm 75

Flee the coming wrath.

-Joshua Reese

On the holy mount stands the city he founded; the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob. Glorious things of you are spoken, O city of God. - Psalm 87

And glorious things will be spoken of her again. Maranatha!

-Joshua Reese

As a pledge of this, and of the truth of the whole Scripture, we have, what may be called a standing miracle continually before our eyes. I mean the state of the Jews, who, though dispersed far and wide among many nations, are everywhere preserved a distinct and separate people. The history of the world affords no other instance of the kind. The great monarchies, by which they were successively conquered and scattered, have successively perished. Only the names of them remain. But the people whom they despised, and endeavoured to exterminate, subsist to this day; and though sifted like corn over the earth, and apparently forsaken of God, are still preserved by this wonderful Providence, unaffected by the changes and customs around them; still tenacious of the law of Moses, though the observance of it is rendered impracticable. Many days, many ages they have lived, as the prophets foretold they should, without a temple, without sacrifice or priest (Hosea 3:4, 5) . As yet, many heathen nations are permitted to walk in their own ways. But at length the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in, and all Israel shall be saved (Romans 11:25, 26) . The revolutions and commotions in kingdoms and nations, which astonish and perplex politicians, are all bringing forward this great event. The plan of the human drama, to us, who only see a single scene, is dark and intricate but the catastrophe is approaching; and in the close of the whole, the manifold wisdom of God will be admired and adored, and all holy and happy intelligences will acknowledge with transport, He has done all things well. - John Newton

"Nothing is more certainly foretold than the national conversion of the Jews is in the eleventh chapter of Romans. And there are also many passages of the Old Testament that cannot be interpreted in any other sense." -Jonathan Edwards

“From first to last, and not merely in the epilogue, Christianity is eschatology, is hope, forward looking and forward moving, and therefore also revolutionizing and transforming the present. The eschatological is not one element of Christianity, but it is the medium of Christian faith as such, the key in which everything in it is set, the glow that suffuses everything here in the dawn of an expected new day. . . . A proper theology would therefore have to be constructed in the light of its future goal. Eschatology should not be its end, but its beginning” (Moltmann, Theology of Hope, 16).

In my judgment they are the happiest, who have the lowest thoughts of themselves, and in whose eyes Jesus is most glorious and precious. -John Newton

"In the context of Romans 9-11 there's no warrant for construing 'all Israel' to mean the Church. It must mean ethnic Israel. ....There is a glorious future for them." -John Piper, "There Shall Be a Fountain Opened" (1982 sermon)

My teaching on Jesus, The King Priest from Psalm 110. Notes. Audio 1, Audio 2

The secret of praying is praying in secret. -Leonard Ravenhill

“Theology, scholarship and a devotional spirit are the prime requisites of a commentary.” -Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The study of God is the highest science,the loftiest pursuit,and the mightiest discipline. - Charles Spurgeon

...the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze... But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. - Malachi 4

Maranatha

"The story of Jesus has been, is, and will be the story of the world." - John Eldridge

Looking at the Hebrew prophets, two things stand out today:

1) Prophetic expectation of prosperity and peace to Israel is never static. It isn't an end, it is the means to an end. 2) World redemption isn't envisioned without a headquarters.

The Gospel is Israel/Zion-centric. -Bill Scofield

When Messiah was born, the people that should have tuned into His coming (the priests and spiritual leaders) didn’t, and a childless widow curled up on the floor of the temple did. - Bob Sorge

You cannot separate Jesus from Israel.

You cannot separate Jesus from the Jewish people. You cannot separate His return from Israel’s corporate resurrection. (Romans 11:15)

-TJB Sewob

“Hope does not spring out of the unknown nor impel us into what is accidental. It has its roots in Christ, and even among us Christians of the late twentieth century it demands the expectation of his second coming” -Johannes Baptist Metz

The man who isolates himself from the local church suffocates his own faith, robs God’s people of edification, and forfeits Christian obedience. Individualistic discipleship is altogether a misnomer. It is a contradiction of the worst kind, for “we are members of one another.” -BA Purtle

Beleaguered Christian: All of the holiness that you desire; all of the humility, all of the joy, all of the steadfastness and wisdom, all of the love and godliness that you ache to grow up into— it is found in Christ, and Christ alone.

Look not unto yourself. “Look unto Jesus.” - BA Purtle

"God's judgments are not the most controversial thing about God. It's actually His mercy." —Samuel Whitefield

The ascension of the last Adam is greater than the fall of the first. -BA Purtle

"Why do bad things happen to good people? That only happened once and He volunteered." - R.C. Sproul

“If I had preached any other than the doctrine of Christ crucified, I should years ago have scattered my audience to the winds of heaven. But the old theme is always new, always fresh, always attractive.

Preach Jesus Christ.” -Charles Spurgeon

The definition of every Jewish festival: They tried to destroy us. They failed. Let’s eat. - Bob Sorge

If any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him, for you are worse than he thinks you to be. — Spurgeon

My teaching on the divinity of Jesus from Psalm 110. Notes. Audio 1, Audio 2