Grains of Sand

Exodus 28, 29 is a tedious read There are some passages in the Old Testament which many of us avoid simply because they seem totally foreign and totally irrelevant. You might be able to make an argument for that except for one “small” detail—God made sure that the information was recorded for us as part of His infallible Word, as part of the “ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness , so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work ” (2 Timothy 3:16, 17, emphasis mine). Exodus 28, 29 (in case you really don’t feel you can manage the perseverance to read it yourself) is all about the special clothing the high priest and the other priests were to wear in the performance of their duties, and the ritual surrounding their consecration as priests in the service of the Lord. “Special” hardly seems to sufficiently describe these garments. Exodus 29:29 says: “ Aaron’s sacred garments… ” or as the ESV pu...

Google Images It’s not a pleasant picture. As hard as we work to introduce people to the forgiveness and new life they can have in Jesus Christ the majority will not believe. As convincing as the Spirit of God is as He works to show men the depth of their sin and the sufficiency of the Saviour most will refuse to listen. We are to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20) of the nations, but the nations will not necessarily respond positively. Pessimistic? No, realistic. Matthew 7:13, 14 tells us what Jesus said about the matter. “ Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it .” Does this stop us from sharing the Gospel at every opportunity or praying for family, friends, neighbours, and the lost wherever they may be found? No, it shouldn’t. We don’t know who those few are who will eventually find the narrow road and ...

Google Images I have an old framed picture left over from my parents’ day that depicts the old English countryside. Coming up the path in front of a thatched-roofed cottage is a shepherd with a flock of sheep. Contrary to popular notion, the shepherd is walking in front of the flock. He isn’t driving them from behind, he is leading from the front. As I read Matthew 4 this morning, I looked closely at verses 18 to 22 which detail the calling of the first disciples. Jesus encounters a group of fishermen working along the shores of Lake Galilee. He says to them: “‘ Come follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people ” (vs. 19). The next verse tells us that they immediately left what they were doing to follow Jesus. This process is repeated with another pair of fishermen just a little while later. A good shepherd leads. A good disciple follows. Obedience is immediate. In John 10, the relationship between a shepherd and his sheep is described in great detail. We are...

Google Images It’s not hard to resist the wolves on the outside the church, but it sometimes is a challenge to recognize the wolves, disguised in sheep’s clothing, inside the Body of Christ. It didn’t take the believers of the Galatian church long to be deceived. Paul begins his letter with this cryptic statement: “ I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ ” (Galatians 1:6, 7). It’s subtle—that’s the nature of a wolf disguised as a sheep. What he says sounds good, but if we examine what is said in the light of the Scriptures we will be able to discern the truth from the half-truth or the outright lie. The key for us is to be students of the Word of God, to chew for ourselves what the Bible says. Every believer has the Spirit of God as his Teacher (John 14:26), and...