June 17, 2024

“The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.” Proverbs 21:1

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Copyright © 2024 , Truth For Life. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from The ESV® Bible
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https://blog.truthforlife.org/god-you-are-is-the-perfect-book-to-teach-young-children-about-gods-loving-nature

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Standing by a purpose true, Heeding God’s command, Honor them, the faithful few! All hail to Daniel’s band!

In the following excerpt from the first sermon, “The Prayer of Jesus,” Alistair sets the stage for what’s to come as he preaches and teaches from this famous prayer:
This morning, what I want to do is provide, if you like, a preview of John 17. We’re familiar, I think, all of us, with movie trailers. You can watch the trailer. It gives you a selection of shots that are there in order to encourage you or discourage you from going on to view what is there in the entire film. And I want us to approach John 17 in that way this morning.
There are about twenty-one prayers of Jesus that are recorded in the Gospels, and in each of them save one, He begins by addressing God as His Father. The prize will be given to someone who’s able to tell me the exception, and it’s not much of a prize. In fact, I’m not doing a prize, ’cause it could cost me. The exception is Matthew 27, from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” That is a prayer of Jesus.
We have seen, actually, in our studies in John 11 one of those short prayers—John 11:41: “And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I [know] that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.’” And then, in 12:27, you will perhaps recall Jesus prays, “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.” So, there are a number of prayers that we could consider, but John chapter 17 is the only long prayer, continuous prayer, that we have of Jesus.
Prayer obviously played a huge part in the life of Jesus. If, as John says at the end of his Gospel, all the things that we know of Jesus were to have been recorded, then the material would have been extensive, almost exhaustive. And for very clear purposes, the Holy Spirit has recorded for us this particular prayer.
And you will notice that the prayer comes after “Jesus had spoken these words”: “When Jesus had spoken these words…” What are “these words” that He has spoken to the disciples? Well, all of the words that He has spoken to the disciples, but particularly chapters 14, 15, and 16, where Jesus has been teaching His disciples, preparing them for the fact that He’s going away, promising them that the Holy Spirit will come and that although they are naturally fearful, they need not be, because of the ministry of the Spirit to them, among them, and through them. And having spoken these words, provided His instruction, it is now completed in anticipation of His crucifixion, which awaits Him. And, intriguingly, in His own awareness of the impending desertion on the part of His disciples, in that context, Jesus “lifted up his eyes to heaven.” …
The prayer, structurally, is straightforward. In the first five verses, Jesus is praying for Himself. Then, from verse 6 to verse 19, He is praying for His disciples. And then, as I hope you will have noticed as I read it, He goes on from verse 20 to the end to say, “I’m not just praying for the disciples that are here, but I’m also praying for all those who will believe in Me through their word.” In other words, He says, “I’m praying for the believers in all time.” Therefore, if you are a believer this morning, you should be aware of the fact—we should together be aware of the fact—that Jesus in this High Priestly Prayer prayed for us. Prayed for us.
Now, we will work our way through it in detail in the coming Sundays, but for now, just an overview. Let me give you five words that I wrote down to help me: mystery, security, sanctity, unity, glory.

In what may be some of his last recorded words, the apostle Paul wrote to his protégé in the ministry, Timothy, “Do your best to come to me soon” (2 Tim. 4:9). It must have been a lonely life in the Roman prison from which he wrote, but his tie of love for Timothy was strong. He had a vivid memory of Timothy’s tears at their last departure, and he longed for the joy of being together with him again (2 Tim. 1:4). Yet one verse earlier, in 4:8, Paul could confess a love and longing for the “appearing” of Jesus—which, he had said earlier in the letter, “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim. 1:10).

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June 10, 2024

“For our sake [God] made [Christ] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

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Copyright © 2024, Truth For Life. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from The ESV® Bible
(The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing
ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

How should we understand biblical prophecy? Few questions have garnered more debate within Christian circles than the meaning of the last days. Prophecy looks forward, often containing layers of immediate, interim, and ultimate fulfillments. Reading this genre is a lot like hiking in the mountains: as soon as we think we’ve reached the summit, our new vantage point reveals that there are more summits ahead.

June 03, 2024

“In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:4–5

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Our translation partners visiting last month.
Dear Friend,
It happened again last week when I was speaking at a function in Denver: several people introduced themselves to me as Truthpartners. It gave me the opportunity to thank them and let them know the significant impact their partnership is having not only in the US but also around the world.