Sermons and Biblical Studies

ISAIAH 45:1–7 … I make peace and create calamity … (Isa. 45:7). Hebrew literature often uses parallelism. A parallelism is a relationship between two or more sentences or clauses that correspond in similarity or are set with each other. There are three basic types of parallelism: synonymous, antithetic, and synthetic. Synonymous parallelism occurs when different … Continue reading “THE USE OF PARALLELISM”

2 PETER 1 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed … (2 Peter 1:19). While our study of biblical interpretation is hardly exhaustive, we want to highlight some general rules to help you as we study 1 and 2 Corinthians together this year. First, you must read the … Continue reading “CONTEXT AND MEANING”

ACTS 18:18–28 They explained to him the way of God more accurately (Acts 18:26). Before we begin our study of 1 Corinthians, we will spend the next nine days examining some principles of biblical interpretation. Most students of the Bible struggle to know how to interpret and study the Scriptures properly and profitably. It will … Continue reading “INTERPRETING THE BIBLE”

1 CORINTHIANS (Skim the Entire Book) Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast (1 Cor. 5:7 niv). Paul deals with eight problems that plagued the Corinthian church. The apostle was informed of these issues by visitors from Corinth and by a letter Paul received from the church. … Continue reading “A CHURCH WITH PROBLEMS”

ACTS 18:1–17 After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth (Acts 18:1). Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians from Ephesus during his third missionary journey, a.d. 53–57 (16:8). Various indications found in Acts narrow the date of this letter to approximately a.d. 55 to 57, about five years after his … Continue reading “A CORINTHIAN VANITY FAIR”

EPHESIANS 4:7–16 And He Himself gave some to be … pastors and teachers …” (Eph. 4:11). Paul tells us in Ephesians 4 that Christ gave to the church “… pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” God did not … Continue reading “HE GAVE US TEACHERS”

JOB 42:10–17 … the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before” (Job 42:10). Matthew Henry says of Job’s restoration that perhaps the “extraordinary prosperity” with which he “was crowned … after his afflictions was intended to be to us Christians a type and figure of the glory and happiness of heaven, which … Continue reading “A DOUBLE PORTION”

JOB 42:7–9 “… you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has” (Job 42:8). After Job repented, God graciously forgave him, restored his reputation, and then sorely rebuked his three friends, saying “you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” God called Job His … Continue reading “JOB’S RESTORATION”

JOB 42:5–6 “Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6). Unless people confess how vile they are because of their sin, they cannot be truly repentant. Shame and self-abasement over one’s sin, however, must not be confused with shame over someone else’s sin. When someone sins against us, we are not … Continue reading “I ABHOR MYSELF!”

JOB 42:1–4 “I know that You can do everything …” (Job 42:2). Job’s repentance begins with a confession of the truth of what God had told him. He admits that God alone is all-powerful and all-knowing, and he confesses that he had sinned grievously against God, that he spoke without knowledge, foolishly justifying himself instead … Continue reading “TRUTH LEADS TO REPENTANCE”