Hebrews: A 28-Day Musical Devotional-Day 7
Wandered The writer of Hebrews quotes Psalm 95:7-11 to remind his readers that in Moses’ day the Israelites failed to enter God’s rest because of their disobedience. Even after they had witnessed how the Lord rescued them out of Egypt, they grumbled against God and lost sight of his promises to deliver them to Canaan. They wandered in the wilderness for forty years, and the entire generation of rebellious people died. In today’s...
Hebrews: A 28-Day Musical Devotional-Day 4
A First WarningThe author pauses his discussion on Jesus’ superiority over the angels and gives his readers their first warning. (Here, we also see the first instance of toggling between exposition and exhortation). The logic of the first warning is a bit twisty at first glance, but some background will clarify the author’s reasoning. The law that God gave Moses in the Old Testament is oftentimes referred to as the Mosaic Law, or...
Hebrews: A 28-Day Musical Devotional-Day 3
The Angel’s Moment in the SunThis Jesus, through whom God has now spoken, is supreme. His preeminence is seen first in comparison to the angels. Yes, angels are glorious beings, but Jesus is more glorious. The author gives three pairs of Old Testament quotations to emphasize the expansive gulf existing between the eternal Son of God and these heavenly servants.Angels, they may be on high,Sweetly singing o’er the plains,But the...
Hebrews: A 28-Day Musical Devotional-Day 2
Heaven and EarthThe letter opens with a bang! Unlike other New Testament epistles, there is no salutation or greeting. The author launches straight into a proclamation about Jesus, whose words of salvation are better than those of prophets of old. In former days (“long ago”), God spoke to his people in a variety of ways (think human prophets, a burning bush, the mouth of a donkey). But now, “in these last days,” God has given us a far...
Honoring Christ In Our Preaching-Day 3
How to Learn, Not What To Think … The most important thing we can learn to do, is to preach the Truth to ourselves. In my 18 years of teaching, I’ve seen educator after educator, and preacher after preacher assume that their audience knows the Word because they teach it to them. In my experience, it’s exactly the opposite. People don’t know how to learn, from our methods, only what to think. We...
Honoring Christ In Our Preaching-Day 2
1 Peter 3:15 says, “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” What causes someone to ask you to tell them the truth? It seems this is what Peter’s getting at. He seems to imply that our “preaching” should be so loud through our “living” that it demands a question. So how...
Honoring Christ In Our Preaching-Day 1
Questions Over Statements: Let me just pose to you something and see if it changes what you think of preaching. Here goes … If you were to go through the entire ministry and life of Jesus, and create a ratio from all of the things he said, you would come up with this: Jesus asked 4 questions for every 1 statement he made. Think about that … that the all-knowing God and most wise King of the universe stooped down to us to ask...