The early Church was married to poverty, prisons, and persecution. Now we’re trying to marry the Church to prosperity, personality, and popularity. - Leonard Ravenhill

Redemption has a zipcode - Bill Scofield

If the book is read as a unit, one overarching theme may be seen to unite the whole: Yahweh’s interest in and devotion to the city of Jerusalem. - William Dumbrell

We should conform our lives to the narrative of the scripture not conform the narrative of scripture to our lives. Scripture doesn’t speak about me, but it may speak to me. I’m a part of that storyline and reality, that reality doesn’t bend and conform to me. - John Harrigan

Our God uses a great many tools to break our self-reliance and humble our souls, and every one of them is wielded by His love, “that we may share in His holiness.” -BA Purtle

Look unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith, and consider how little a while it will be, before he comes to judgment. -George Whitefield

“You really cannot grow in your knowledge of God if you are full of bitterness.” -D.A. Carson

“Paul sees the saints as agents in the work of ministry by which the church grows (Eph. 4.12). In the New Testament there is no such thing as ‘clergy’ and ‘laity’: we are all ministers and all receive ministry... The word ‘apostle’ (apostolos) means ‘one sent’, and this permits the New Testament writers to apply the term to people outside ‘the twelve’.” -J. Alec Motyer

If we imagine a renewed, amplified Eden, combined with a restored, glorified Kingdom of David, we’re beginning to grasp how the Bible envisions the future, after Jesus returns. - Joel Richardson

Far from negating or supplanting the Torah, the life to which the resurrected Jesus summons His disciples is only comprehensible in terms of that same Torah. - Mark Kinzer

Theology 101: If your eschatology leads you to fear antichrist rather than to hope in Christ…or to hate unbelievers rather than to love your enemies…then find a new eschatology. -Dr. Michael Svigel

“…the unchangeable character of His purpose.” -Heb. 6.17

“I the LORD change not.” -Mal. 3.6 God’s eternal purpose is immutable, and He is gloriously immutable. The shifting sands of history are themselves ruled purposefully by the One who never changes.

Be at peace, Christian. - BA Purtle

A key component to joy is the deep underlying conviction that we have a far better deal than we ever deserved. - Stuart Greaves

On that day the root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will look to him for guidance, and his resting place will be glorious. He will lift up a banner for the nations and gather the dispersed of Israel; he will collect the scattered of Judah. - The prophet Isaiah.

"The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:13–14)

Our faith comes down to one specific point: A crucified God. If you reject that, you may as well throw away your Bible. - Bob Sorge

“All too frequently one’s theological predilections seem to be more formative of what one expects to find in the text than a patient listening to what the text has to say.” -Walter Kaiser Jr.

"The ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away." (Isaiah 35:10)

It takes courage
to let someone
see you cry.

To let your tears be witnessed is to allow them to be planted, like seeds of future hope. What if we saw grief as gardening?

-KJ Ramsey

 

The interconnectedness of the Bible

My teaching on Psalm 72 including a brief introduction to the covenants. Notes. Audio 1, Audio 2

Why would we take the very thing that distinguishes us from every other religion on earth—the cross where God died—and minimize or downplay it? It’s our most glorious distinctive. - Bob Sorge

God sends the [Isaiah 49] servant to accomplish a dual mission: he is to be a “light to the nations”, but also “to raise up the tribes of Jacob.”- Mark Kinzer

Live in the shadow of the cross, and let it drive all frivolity and foolish banter from your soul. - Bob Sorge

“…men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.

Therefore be alert, remembering that for 3 years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.” -Paul Twisting scripture. Self-exaltation. Tearless teaching. Attributes of a false ministry.

-BA Purtle

Mercy now. Wrath then - Joshua Reese

If we inquire as to what God is doing in the present era “until he comes (1 Cor. 11)", we must ultimately conclude that he is waiting to make his enemies his footstool, “not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance (2 Peter)." - John P. Harrigan

He was too weak on the cross to keep living but still strong enough to keep loving. - Bob Sorge

Hebrews—despite its conviction that Jesus has in fact completed his atoning work in the heavenly sanctuary—retains a remarkably open-ended eschatology that continues to look to the future for the consummation of salvation. - Richard Hays

"A vision of God is the end of boasting." — Charles Spurgeon

Jeremiah 31 [the new covenant] cannot be accurately used to describe the experience of any community — yet. - Mark Nanos

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:17

Call? The adamantly self-sufficient hear no compelling call. - John Piper

According to Luke and Acts, the death and resurrection of the Messiah are bound inextricably to both the land and the people. In the final analysis, his salvific work either includes them in its scope, or fails in its purpose.

Jerusalem will suffer many things, as the prophecies of Zechariah (12–14), Ezekiel, and Jesus (Luke 13, 19, 21, and 23) all foretell. But the city will be consoled when the LORD comes to defend her at the end. Luke still awaits that day when “the times of the gentiles are fulfilled,” which will also introduce the “time” when God will “restore the kingdom to Israel"...for the narrative of God’s dealings with Jerusalem, Israel, and the nations has not yet been closed. - Mark Kinzer

The Bible becomes more meaningful to us to the degree that we grow closer to its Author. - Derek Kistner

"But he [Lot] lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city."

Sometimes in our lingering, the Lord is merciful to seize us and drag us away. - Gabe Cali

"... the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21)

Jesus wasn't telling wicked Pharisees that they had a spiritual kingdom within their hearts, nor was he saying that he was the kingdom in their midst. He was correcting their non-apocalyptic eschatology. - Joshua Hawkins

The fact of the resurrection is absolutely essential to our assurance. Hence those who say that it is immaterial and unimportant that you should believe in the literal, physical resurrection are always people who are without assurance.

Indeed they are without a gospel. - Martin Lloyd Jones

My teaching on a brief survey of apostolic teaching and preaching in the book of Acts. Notes. Audio 1, Audio 2

Though the Apostles lived with an expectation of the Day of the Lord and the 2nd Coming of Jesus, they were simultaneously more devoted to evangelism, discipleship, and planting and pastoring churches as a result. - Travis M. Snow

“The Trinity is proof that God is love. For love requires a lover, a beloved, and the spirit of love between them.” - St. Augustine

“For the Lord has chosen Zion, he has desired it for his dwelling, saying, “This is my resting place for ever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it.”

Psalms 132:13-14

No focus on eschatology + no theology of the cross = bad discipleship -John P. Harrigan

Except a man be born again, he will wish one day he had never been born at all. -JC Ryle

It is a humble man who has rest for his soul. A man that is clothed with humility has rest, but a man that has not the humility of the Spirit of Christ does not know what rest is. -DL Moody

"Indeed, none who wait / hope for you shall be put to shame / disappointed." (Psalm 25:3)

“Salvation is not a reward for the righteous; it is a gift for the guilty.” -Steve Lawson

When upon your death-bed you come calmly to review your life, how comfortable will it be to reflect on the conquest which you have made over the depraved feelings of your heart. - John Flavel

Jesus isn’t a step ladder to your destiny. He’ll kill your destiny, and then resurrect you into His upward calling. - Corey Russell

Transgression, limitation, and promise: the consistent pattern critical to understanding the early narratives in Genesis and how they provide a foundation for the rest of the story of the scriptures. -Joshua Hawkins

Christian life and hope is best summarized thusly: "Suffering before glory"—in that specific order. -Joel Richardson