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Key Verse: Revelation 2:5 “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works…” The New Open Bible, in the prologue to its map, says “Notice that John addressed the churches in exactly the order shown on this map — from Ephesus north to Pergamos, then south all the way to Laodicea. […]

Key Verse: Revelation 1:17, 18 “…Do not be afraid;…I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.” Chapter one is fairly straightforward. It sets out to establish the who, what, why, and where of the vision. Relative to the […]

    Our government this week warned we may be living with physical distancing and face masks for another two years. The recent surge of Covid infections in countries who thought they had “flattened the curve” has precipitated a major rethink. We are on a precipice. It’s comforting to remember that “this is our Father’s world”. […]

Matthew 5 A Summary Comment Many years ago I had the honour of interviewing John R. W. Stott for a television show. I brought my copy of his classic, “The Message of The Sermon on the Mount” to the studio. He graciously singed it. As we waited for the crew to make the final lighting […]

Key Verse: 1 John 5:12 “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God doesn’t not have life.” John says things as they are. He knew that the “whole world” for a period of time was “under the control of the evil one” (v.19). He also knew that […]

Key Verse: 1 John 4:21 “And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” It was John, in his gospel, who gave us those immortal words of Jesus, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…” (John 3:16). Now, in this chapter he says, […]

Key Verse: 1 John 3: 19, 20 “This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in HIs presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything.” Before commenting on this key verse, allow me to […]

Key Verse: 1 John 2:17 “The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” As stated in the introduction, John was concerned about the effect of heretical teaching on his “dear children” (v.1). These heretics (known as “Gnostics”) were spiritual “elitists” who saw the Gospel as […]

Key Verse: 1 John 1:3 “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father with His Son, Jesus Christ.” In the poet Browning’s “A death in the Desert”, the apostle John lies dying in the presence of some […]

Matthew 5 Persecuted because of Righteousness vv.10-12 Rather than do a word study on “righteousness” (which he could have done), Jesus qualifies its meaning as that which is done “on my account” or “because of me” (v. 11b). He is looking ahead and anticipates the push-back the disciples will suffer as they “go into all […]

Key Verse: 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” The subject of this concluding chapter is the return of Christ. Already in Peter’s day there were impatient believers and […]

Key Verse: 2 Peter 2:19b “…a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.” Chapter 2 is rather gloomy reading. It describes false teachers in very explicit terms. Peter refers to them as shameful (v.2), greedy (v.3), corrupt (v.10a), arrogant (v.10b), blasphemous and ignorant (v.12a), beasts (v.12b), blots and blemishes (v.13), springs without water […]