Jesus is a merciful and faithful High Priest.

He is a faithful as well as a merciful high priest in God’s service. It is possible, of course, to suggest here that in His high priestly service Christ is merciful towards man and faithful to God, the twin title reflecting the manward and Godward aspects of His ministry. 

But it is equally true that He is faithful to us. The trustworthy and reliable Christ is the One who comes to our help when we are tempted, not a vacillating, capricious, occasionally unavailable Helper, but One who has proved Himself fully dependable and completely adequate in every experience of life.
 

Raymond Brown, The Message of Hebrews, Bible Speaks Today, IVP, 1982 pg. 72

Three Terrible Questions and One Astounding Answer

Alas and did my Saviour bleed and did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?
Was it for crimes that I had done He groaned upon that tree?
Amazing pity, grace unknown and love beyond degree!

A long gestation period before the new birth

God's reward for faithful ministry is beautifully illustrated by the story of Luke Short, converted at the tender age of 103. Mr Short was sitting under a hedge in Virginia when he happened to remember a sermon he had once heard preached by the famous Puritan John Flavel. As he recalled the sermon, he asked God to forgive his sins right then and there, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Short lived for three more years, and when he died, the following words were inscribed on his tombstone, 

"Here lies a babe in grace, aged three years, who died according to nature, aged 106."

Here is the truly remarkable part of the story. The sermon that old Mr. Short remembered had been preached eighty-five years earlier back in England! nearly a century passed between Flavel's sermon and Short's conversion, between the sowing and the reaping. Sooner or later, by the grace of God, faithful work always has it's reward.

Philip Ryken, Entrusted with the Gospel, Crossway Publishing, 2010 page 41

Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Galatians 6:9

Prayer Requested / Be för mig snälla

Today I am leaving with Rachel, Eoin and Aan-Sofie to the Calvary Chapel Scandinavian Conference in Stockholm. I'll be teaching two of the main sessions;

Thursday night I'll be talking about legalism as the chief enemy of the gospel from 1 Timothy 4, 

and Saturday morning I'll be talking about the work of gospel ministry from 2 Timothy 2.

I hope that I can encourage (and be encouraged by) my Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and Icelandic brothers and sisters. Your prayers are appreciated.  
Tack så mycket!

O cross, tool of salvation of the Most High! 

O cross, banner of Christ’s victory over all enemies!
St Andrew

Why Do We Know God?

We know who God is not because any of us was smart enough to figure Him out, but because out of His own love, grace, and mercy He has spoken to us.

Al Mohler, He is Not Silent: Preaching in a Postmodern world, Moody Publishers, 2008, pg. 54

Why Do We Praise God?

   

But the most obvious fact about praise - whether of God or any thing - strangely     escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honour. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it. The world rings with praise - lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favourite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favourite game - praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians or scholars…
    I had not noticed either that just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: “Isn’t she lovely? Wasn’t it glorious? Don’t you think that magnificent?” The Psalmists in telling everyone to  praise God are doing what all men do when they speak about what they care about…
    I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete until it is expressed. 

C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms (New York; Harcourt, Brace & World, 1958) pg. 93

Who is this Man?

He wrote no books, and yet the books written about Him would fill the largest library in the world. He wrote no music, and yet more songs, more oratios, more anthems, more hymns have been written about Him than about anyone who ever lived.

D. James Kennedy, Cross Purposes, Multnomah Publishers, 2007, pg. 108.

What do you say when you are about to die? Part 3

I think of the story an elderly Scottish woman who lay at death’s door. Her pastor came to see her, and as was the custom, he inquired into the reality of her faith, probing deeply. At last, he asked her this penetrating question: “Sadie, after all God has done for you, suppose that when you die, He still allows you to perish. What then?”
Sadie answered, “Well, that’s up to Him. He will do what He will. However, if He does allow me to perish, then He will lose more than I, for though I will lose my soul, He will lose His honour, for He has promised me in His Word, ‘He that trusteth in Me shall never perish.’”

D. James Kennedy, Cross Purposes, Multnomah Publishers, 2007, pg. 20.

What should we fear?

"Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter."

-Francis Chan

Jesus in Hebrews, Worship in Costa Coffee

Yesterday at Costa Coffee I sat down with my friend Shane Dean and he taught me a bit of how to use the Logos Bible Software that I had on my computer, yet had been completely unable to figure out myself. It was a great couple of hours of explaining lexicons, hyperlinks, language tools, text comparisons, sentence diagrams, visual filters, etc.

And then right before he left he showed me the passage analysis feature, which allows you to chart out any pericope according to the frequency of words used, or quickly see the importance of a word or theme in a book. I offhandedly typed in "Jesus" as my search, and "Epistle to the Hebrews" as my pericope. The chart that came up nearly brought me to tears. 

It so wonderfully showed the great and noble name that He possesses and the great things that Jesus has done for us. 

• The One who is the Apostle and High Priest of our confession is the same One who suffered outside the gate. 

• The One who is called the Son of God is also the One who opened a way for us through the curtain of His flesh. 

• The Great Shepherd of the Sheep, who was crowned with glory and honour experienced the suffering of death.  

 It was an amazing moment as I was quickly reminded that the Scriptures are not just words to be studied, but they teach us about (and lead us to) the Saviour to whom we are to worship. I just looked at the chart and whispered a quiet prayer of thanks to my Lord, Jesus Christ, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

What is Repentance?

Some people encounter Jesus and say, “Sweet! Jesus, do You want to join the party of my life with this sin, that addiction, this destructive relationship, and we’ll all just coexist together?” 

But repentance means saying, “Sweet Jesus, You are the best thing that has ever happened to me! I want to turn from all the sin and selfishness that rules me. I want to let it go and walk with You. Only You. You are my life now. Help me to walk away from the enslaving, worthless things in my life.”

France Chan, Forgotten God, David C. Cook Publishers, 2009, pg. 83

How to Read the Bible

A conversation between myself and Shane Angland about how we should read the Bible. (6 of 6, there aren't any more!)



I really enjoyed doing this interview with Shane and I hope you have enjoyed watching it. Shane's a fantastic guy and a great friend and I love serving Jesus with him. Make sure you check out his blog because it's better than mine! (He actually writes his own stuff!)

Why Does God Love Us?

He is the great God, “the God of the spirits and of all flesh,” “the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,” and created not angels and men because He wanted them, for He is being itself, and as such must necessarily be infinitely happy in the glorious perfections of His nature from everlasting to everlasting; and as He did not create, so neither did He redeem because He needed us, but He loved us because He loved us, He would have mercy because He would have mercy, He would show compassion because He would show compassion.

Susanna Wesley (1669-1724) as quoted by Fred Sanders in The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything, Crossway Publishers, 2010, pg. 67

What translation do you use?

A conversation between myself and Shane Angland about Bible Translations. (5 of 6, more to come!)