Chapter eight begins with the breaking of the seventh seal which depicts a silence in heaven following the final judgment depicted in the breaking of the sixth seal (6:17). The silence in heaven is that of holy awe following the final judgment. It may also be considered the quiet before the storm as the vision […]

The opening of the sixth seal commences the final judgment and the destruction of the present fallen world. But before the opening of the seventh seal there is a dramatic pause while the redeemed of God are assured of the Lord’s protection even as they endure calamities. They are sealed from spiritual harm which harkens […]

As we move into chapter seven of Revelation we enter into territory over which there is strong disagreement between Christians. Our approach toward a proper understanding of Revelation is to begin by taking it on its own terms. As we saw at the beginning of the series, the Book of Revelation began as a letter […]

The descriptions of God’s judgment upon the earth are fierce and unsettling. The four riders depicting the initial signs of God’s judgment are terrifying on their own (6:1-8). They symbolize the world’s all too common experience of death by violent conquest, war, famine, and pestilence. Even God’s own beloved people pay a heavy price while […]

The section of Revelation which begins in chapter six presents readers with not only interpretive challenges but also significant theological questions related to God’s judgment and mercy. One of the things we learn is that for justice to be done, particular acts of judgment are required. Justice is not an abstract idea but a reality […]

In his vision of heaven (chapters 4 & 5) John saw a throne with a figure of great majesty sitting upon it, a scroll sealed with seven seals, and a Lamb who appeared to have been slain. The figure on the throne handed the scroll to the Lamb. We read in chapter five that the […]

Scripture describes salvation not as a singular, once and for all moment. Rather, salvation consists of the Spirit’s sovereign work of regeneration (the new birth), sanctification, and final glorification. The initial work of regeneration may be seen as a coin. On the one side is the Spirit’s sovereign work. On the other side is our […]

Jesus has completed his great Sermon the Mount. The sermon serves as a kind of membership charter in the Kingdom of God. That is, citizens of God’s Kingdom will be characterized by a particular way of life which reflects the Lordship of Jesus. Members of the new covenant community – the church – are possessed […]

As Jesus concludes his sermon, joining his inner circle of disciples are the crowds that have now gathered to listen to his words. It is safe to say that not even his disciples fully understand who he truly is. They are just beginning to understand that perhaps Jesus is the Messiah. But even the implications […]

Just as the crowd had broadened from the inner circle of Jesus’ closest disciples to the large crowd, so too does the scope of his teaching. He warns them that the gate that opens to salvation life is as hard and narrow as the gate which leads to destruction is wide and easy. The first […]

The Sermon on the Mount is, in part, about the Christian’s ethical obligations. Citizens of God’s kingdom must live lives that are distinguished from the unrighteousness of the world. Genuine Christian righteousness is to govern our relationship to the church (5:17-48), acts of piety (6:1-18), material possessions (6:19-34), and our relationships outside the covenant community […]

In this week’s passage, Jesus explains that Christians have a rich relationship with the one true God. By his design, God’s intention is to have a dynamic relationship with his people by faith. Jesus likens this right relationship to a father-son relationship. If you are a Christian, God wants you to come to him with […]

The final section of the Sermon on the Mount zeroes in on how we treat others. Remember that Jesus is instructing his own disciples. He is not giving prescriptions for how sinners may be justified before God. Rather he is teaching his disciples what it means to be citizens of his kingdom. The opening words […]

This section concludes chapter six and builds upon the previous section as the logical consequence of understanding Jesus’ teaching on storing up treasures in heaven. The Christian who understands the reality of the transient nature of all earthly things, as well as the inability of humans to exercise control over the few resources they have, […]

In this wonderful sermon, Jesus continues to declare to us the true nature of citizens of the kingdom of God. In our previous passages, He cautions us against hypocrisy and lays out a right heart attitude that leads to good rewards. Now He turns our attention toward what we treasure, what we hold dear, what […]

Jesus has offered three-fold instruction addressing giving, prayer, and fasting. The message is woven together by a unifying theme, hypocrisy. Jesus expresses his thesis statement for this section in Matthew 6:1, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your […]

Jesus continues teaching on righteous living, specifically, the practice of Christian prayer. The natural tendency for fallen sinful people is to pray in a way that benefits me first and foremost, albeit in Jesus’s name. It might be better therefore to understand the prayer of a righteous person as “Kingdom prayer,” not only in Jesus’s […]

In this tremendous sermon, Jesus has declared who is blessed. Those blessed ones, His people, will shine the light of Christ through their good deeds. In first century Judaism, good deeds would have been defined by the so-called religious elite. Jesus says that the righteousness of God’s true children must exceed that of Scribes and […]

Matthew 5:43-48 is Jesus’ final antithesis in the Sermon on the Mount: “You have heard it said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy,’ but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” He highlights how religious teachers of Jesus’ day distorted the original intent of the Old Testament […]

The text for this sermon contains two often misunderstood teachings: the first is that we should never make oaths or vows, and the second is that we should not resist evil. These are strong statements that require us to look to other scriptures to help understand them. In doing so, we see that these statements […]