Sermons

Isaiah 7:14 appears on a lot of Christmasware, but do we understand what it meant to the man who first heard it? Do we need to in order to understand what it means? Is there a connection between Isaiah’s prophecy and the virgin birth in Bethlehem?

As we complete the Book of Judges and begin a series on Jesus Christ, it is good to notice the connection between the two. Judges leaves us with a bitter taste in our mouth. But the sweetness of the coming Messiah takes care of that! By seeing the two together we better understand that the entire Bible is all about one thing. One Person. Merry Christmas!

The Book of Judges ends with a whimper. The last two events of this book perfectly capture the single greatest problem in Israel in these days and the single greatest problem in our days. It can be summarized in the words, “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” We may not kidnap dancing girls, but our solutions to life’s problems are usually just as awful, if not so remarkable.

When times are darkest, and He feels absent, He is sovereignly moving His kingdom and deliverance forward. Take heart: The sovereign silence (not absence) of God The sovereign power of God. Take heart in the sovereign silence (not absence) of God and the sovereign power of God

There is perhaps no darker chapter in all the Bible than Judges 19. The author records a terrible story in order to show us what happens when everyone does what is right in his own eyes. Sometimes we avoid reading texts like this, but seeing these chapters where they fit in the whole Book of Judges makes it clear. We are to take careful note… do we want to follow our own eyes or look to our Maker? May the Lord give us grace to learn and follow Him.

Jesus is going to look people in the eye on the Day of Judgement and tell them that He never knew them. Those people will spend eternity in hell. What is so distressing about this is that those same people thought they were good with God! They were not atheists or agnostics… they were people who claimed to be in a relationship with the real God. The last chapters of Judges paint us a vivid picture of how easy it is to be spiritually self-deceived. Don’t fall prey to this horrible mistake!

We have learned so much from the life of this enigmatic saviour, Samson. Now we hit the one story for which he seems most famous. Why is that? Why are we so intrigued by the love and manipulation of this mighty man? And is this just a bit of a forbidden titillation that snuck into our Bibles, or does it have something to teach us about Jesus Christ? After all, didn’t Jesus Himself say that all the Scriptures were pointing to Him (Luke 24:27)?