It is not easy to imagine a place that you have not been to. This section in Isaiah 62 speaks of a promised future still to come, that many of us will find difficult to imagine.
This desire to look for a renewed city here on earth or a new life has always been with us. This is why places in the US are called “New York” or “New Hampshire” etc, as people moved from their original homes to start a new life in a new place, with hopes to start afresh.
As writer C.S. Lewis puts it, “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” (z
This desire for something else beyond this world is one that we all have. As we look at Isaiah 62, let’s consider what the text says for its original hearers, as well as for us today.
What God is going to do is more than their lives and more than what they can imagine. God’ work sweeps across history and creation. What does God’s Word have to say about the relationship between God and His creation?
In these verses, we catch a glimpse of God’s promise to restore Israel and restore His relationship with them.
The book of Ruth is a small and understated book that is tucked between Judges and Joshua. It is set in a time of great spiritual darkness. The book focuses on the story of Ruth, who is a Moabitess and experiences great suffering. Together with her mother-in-law Naomi, she journeys to Bethlehem and we come to see that it is no accident that they return in a time of harvest. As the story unfolds, they learn about the meaning of a redeemer that brings them from hopelessness to a life of hope.
Isaiah also shows us the barrenness of God’s people, that’s not that different from Ruth and Naomi. But God acts and also promises to act on their behalf.
In the previous chapter, we read about true and false fasting, where God’s people were called to task for their surface level worship - we continue on here in Chapter 59 looking at the problem of sin, as God’s people express their grief and suffering. Read 59:1-13.
This study will focus on sin. It is a heavy but important topic for all to understand, even Christians. A lot of things hinge on our understanding of sin. If we come to understand sin as the Bible speaks about it, we will see how glorious it is then, that Christ has come to save us!
Isaiah 58 calls us to turn away from everything else, and to turn to the Lord.
Last week’s study brought us to a point of confrontation. God’s wayward, wicked, and wasting-away people are being called to task for their sin. Yet, there remains a promise of peace and inheritance: God’s very own holy mountain is the resting place and refuge of those who will turn to Him.
At the same time, the Scriptures have much to say about God’s holy mountain. Psalm 24 makes it clear that only the one with clean hands and a pure heart – who does not lift up his soul to what is false – only such a person can dwell on God’s holy mountain.
Our passage today traces the handiwork of God’s grace that enables ones with unclean hands and impure hearts to dwell on God’s holy mountain. Read on!
The prophetic books are foretelling — about the future — and forthtelling — speaking about the condition of our hearts. It speaks also about the holy God, and therefore, how we relate to Him.
Isaiah 56 spoke of the failure of leaders and Isaiah 57 moves on to focus on the people. But yet, it doesn’t just speak about sin, but helps us to see and encounter the God of glory.
God’s people are unguarded and vulnerable when leaders are rebels, pleasure-seekers and ignorant of God.
Revival is a word we often hear about in Christian circles. We often speak about God bringing about revival and pray for it to happen.
But, what does revival look like? Isaiah 56 essentially describes spiritual revival.
In Psalm 1, God promises His blessing to His people when they gather around His word and cling on to it. It is a wonderful picture to be like a tree, planted by streams of water, and growing and bearing fruit in season.
At a glance, this section in 2 Timothy might not be the sort of passage we’d want to read for our devotion/think is applicable. Yet. these verses are real and applicable, for they show us how to end well.
What would you say is an appropriate length for a sermon? Is 20 minutes too short? Is 1 hour too long? Is 30 minutes about right? What’s your appetite for hearing the word of God proclaimed?
What are your expectations for weekly corporate gathering of the church? Do you have a high view of the word of God? Otherwise, you run the risk of subjecting how you respond on Sunday mornings to your mood and environment.
This passage in 2 Timothy 4:1-8 should challenge our expectations and how we respond to God’s word preached.
Following this series, we see how Paul’s call to Timothy is repeated and consistent — guard the gospel, know it well, live it out, fight the good fight, finish well. Tonight’s study is almost a summary of what we’ve heard so far, repackaged, restated, but the difference here is Paul wraps this package up with a beautiful and important bow on top — He talks about how Scripture undergirds all of this.
Paul’s argument tonight is incredibly simple: The key to a godly life is the God-breathed Scripture, and everything that it informs — theology, conviction and life.
What are the greatest challenges in our world today? What would you say and why?
Many things may come to mind. Unstable geopolitical situation? Unstable world banking systems? A crisis of trustworthiness?
Whatever your answer might be, why is it so? What would you say is the reason? Would you say that it is because we live in the end times? This section of 2 Timothy helps us to think about what the Bible says about the last days.
What would you say is the work of God? God’s work was first known when He formed creation and its creatures, and declared it very good. But his creatures turned to sin. In our rebellion we bring about curse rather than blessing. Death and its sting are our destiny. We yearn for eternity and find ourselves returned to dust.
What is God’s work in a fallen world like this? How do we know if it’s going well? And who are the people who get to participate in this work? Christian friends, how do you and I participate in God’s work for a fallen world?
What do we think of suffering? It has been said that “more people have died for their faith in the Twentieth Century than in all of the previous centuries combined.”
We might find this to be far removed from us. Christian gospel suffering can feel a bit far away, and we can be secretly happy about it. Yet this section in 2 Timothy show us how we are to relate to suffering. Paul specifically calls Timothy to share in gospel suffering.
1 Timothy spoke about godliness, God’s truth lived out in life. Now, what else does Paul have to say in 2 Timothy, after all that he has said? 2 Timothy is not just a letter to Timothy, but it is the final letter that Paul ever writes. Paul therefore writes this in a different circumstances from the first — now under imprisonment in Rome. This is the final stage of Paul’s life. He is an old man, about to leave this world under persecution, and these are his final words to young Timothy.
We come to the concluding verses of 1 Timothy, and we see how Paul wraps up his letter to Timothy. Paul leaves him with some final exhortations and encouragements, which we will do well to read and apply too.
We are all being discipled by something or someone.
A heart that loves money is self-sufficient and reliant. Your relationship with money has everything to do with your relationship with God. What the love of money reveals in our hearts is a deep discontentment with God. It is a heart that loves money is a heart that says Christ is not enough. It is a heart that is self sufficient and self reliant.
In this section of 1 Timothy, Paul’s argument is clear — your relationship with money has everything to do with your relationship with God.
W e are in a section of 1 Timothy in 1 Timothy 5-6 which speak of honouring different groups. Godliness expresses itself in honouring others. The command given is to regard with high value and worth. Hence, here, we have a vision for how we think about work, and how we are to respond to them directly. And therefore how we are to see ourselves as workers.
