When He gives quietness, who then can make trouble? – Job 34:29a It has always been easy to neglect personal communion with God. The matters which lie right in front of us call for our time and attention, and if there are any of those two things left at the end of the day, well, we’re tired and we want to “turn off.” God gets the scraps of our time. But our relationship with our Father in heaven cannot be …
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Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. – Phil. 4:6-7 It is easy to worry. There is always something that we can think about that will be guaranteed to perturb our souls. The Apostle Paul knew something about that. His imagination could have envisioned the next round of …
I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only. – Psalm 71:16 Psalm 71 is all about trusting the Lord, and seeing that in Him we have a strong foundation for our lives. Even amid peril and distress there is a reason for hope. Many of the psalms are heartfelt cries to God for help; sometimes for safety from ones enemies, sometimes for encouragement, and at other times for …
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus… – Hebrews 6:19-20a The “hope” of which the inspired writer speaks is the sure hope of someone to whom God has pledged eternal salvation and peace. That is you if you are trusting in the shed blood of Jesus Christ to save you from your sins. This pledge or “oath” to you is …
For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. – Hebrews 6:13-15 When the God of the universe makes a promise to someone to do something, that promise is as sure as anything can be. It is as sure as God’s unimpeachable character and unstoppable power. …
Because of the present concerns over the coronavirus and the precautions that must be taken over it, I thought that one thing I could do was post some encouraging meditations for my readers. I’ll try to write two or three of these a week. This first one is a revision of something I wrote previously. Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your …
Part Eight Having come to a conclusion about the foremost question in the debate about the range of the New Covenant and its connection to Jesus Christ, I want to spread out before the reader my reasons for identifying Him with the NC. These reasons are roughly, exegetical, theological, and devotional. I see no need to go back over the arguments for Luke 22, 1 Corinthians 11, 2 Corinthians 3, and the the Book of Hebrews (although I shall look into …
Part Seven So we turn to the last two options in Vlach’s list: The New Covenant will be fulfilled with Israel but the church is an added referent to the New Covenant promises so there is a sense in which the New Covenant is being fulfilled with the church. The New Covenant has two referents—Israel and the church (some revised dispensationalists; Paul Feinberg) Since the New Covenant was given to Israel for the purpose of also blessing Gentiles there is literal fulfillment of the spiritual blessings …
Part Six Is Christ’s Blood Divided? I want to begin with two more quotes from Beacham. I should say first that I think his article is an excellent presentation of Option 1. On page 22 of his paper he states: The soteriological benefits that Israel experiences at the ratification of the New Covenant are not exclusive either to Israel or to the New Covenant. Many people, throughout human history, have experienced spiritual blessings like those promised to Israel under the …
Part Five Gentiles and Their Connection to the New Covenant What has proven to be a thorny issue for Dispensationalists is the relation of the Church/Gentiles to the New Covenant. Since the only explicit NC text in Jeremiah 31:31-34 (repeated in Hebrews 8) identifies Israel and Judah as parties to the NC with God, the contention is that the Church is associated with the NC in a less direct way, or perhaps not connected at all! This brings us back …
