One of the crucial differences between the new covenant and the old is that in the new covenant, the entire covenant community knows the Lord: “For they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest” (Jer 31:34; cf. Isa 54:13). Under the Mosaic administration the covenant community was an ethnic entity marked off by circumcision. To answer the question, Who’s in the covenant?, you would point to all the circumcised offspring of Abraham and their families. Those families were part of the covenant community regardless of whether they knew the Lord. And the covenant itself was administrated by prophets, priests, and kings who were to mediate the knowledge of God to the people. Yet now the new covenant partakes of both a new nature and a new structure. The new covenant’s structure is new in that there’s no need for a set of covenant mediators. Through the work of the covenant’s one mediator, Jesus the Messiah (Heb 8:6; 9:15; 12:24; cf. 1 Tim 2:5), and the indwelling Holy Spi...

  Recently, I read an article that made the case for bringing back hymnals to the local church. It was excellent.  You can read it here-   Why Churches Should Ditch Projector Screens and Bring Back Hymnals To be clear, there is room for both but sadly the issues of today in corporate worship gatherings are more than the return of the hymnals to the pew. However, I'm in favor of bringing them back! I'm going to offer a few suggestions on this.  :) 1. Let Scripture regulate the gatherings of the church (its leading officers, song choices, prayers offered, ordinances administered, and sermons), not trends or creative ideas. It will only further strengthen the congregation's view of the sufficiency of the Scriptures. 2. Let the hymns we sing be rich in biblical theology, the gospel, and the glory of God. Rehearse the precious and specific doctrinal truths that lead to deep affections for Christ in our music. 3. Let the songs (rooted in the Word) be...

Isaiah gives layers of images and words here. But verse 11 focuses them into a laser beam to draw our attention: “By his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.” The Messiah-Servant will do two things in his death . First, he will take what is ours—our iniquities. And second, he will give us what is his—his righteousness. He will provide an obedient covenant partner. All of this points us ahead to the future death of Messiah Jesus. The crowd at the cross sees a bloody, weak man who must die. With Isaiah’s prophetic insight, we see the Lord of glory, Immanuel, God with us, the divine Son become man on the cross, dying to take our sin and to give us his righteousness. As the New Testament will say, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). On the cross, the black hole of the human heart devoured the light of the world, but as John wrote, “The light shines in the ...

Because he is zealous to rescue you from you, God’s care can be violent. He rips you from what is dangerous to give you what is better. When you think of God’s care, what picture comes into your mind? When you consider God’s grace, what mental images does the term grace conjure up? Could it be that there are times in your life when you are crying out for the grace of God even though you’re getting it? God’s grace does not always come in the form of comfort and encouragement. His care doesn’t always mean relief and release. Could it be that the “care” that we often cry out for is not the care that we really need? Judg. 2:11–19 says   And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger.… So the...

Paul’s command to the Ephesian Christians, “Be filled with the Spirit,” is binding on all of us Christians everywhere in every age. There are no exceptions.  We must conclude that since we are ordered to be filled with the Spirit, we are sinning if we are not filled. And our failure to be filled with the Spirit constitutes one of the greatest sins against the Holy Spirit. It is interesting to note that the command to “Be filled with the Spirit” actually has the idea of continuously being filled in the original Greek language Paul used. We are not filled once for all, like a bucket. Instead, we are to be filled constantly. It might be translated, “Be filled and keep on being filled,” or “Be being filled.” Ephesians 5:18 literally says, “Keep on being filled with the Spirit.” Graham, B. (2010). Unto the hills: a daily devotional. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.