Upon this seashore, Luke tells us, “the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God.” But it’s not the place or the people I want to draw your attention to. It’s this little phrase: “to hear the word of God.”
Author Archives: John Clayton
When the Wicked Rule
1 and 2 Kings contain primarily the royal history of Israel’s rulers, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Most were bad, and if by ugly we mean vile, then many were that too. In fact, it’s easy to list the good ones, because there were so few. But if we were to rank the bad ones, where would we start?
The Authority of the Word
Just as Jesus defeated the devil’s temptations in the desert with the Word of God, so we endure the devil’s rage and stand against his schemes, which don’t typically come at us in the form of demons in the middle of a Jewish synagogue but through the ways of the world, the lies of our sinful flesh, and the devil’s distortion of truth.
Believing Without Seeing
The irony of Nazareth is that the embodied favor of God stood in their presence, but they would not receive him. He who was conceived, anointed, and empowered by the Spirit of the Lord, proclaimed the good news of his coming explicitly, revealing his identity.
Preaching the Word, the Word Preached
For those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, the spiritual and physical realities of Isaiah’s prophecy will be reconciled. In the new heavens and earth, there will be no poverty or captivity or blindness or oppression. For we will dwell with God as his people forever…
Tempted As We Are
As we proceed from the third chapter of Genesis through the rest of the Old Testament, we see evidence of God’s sovereign preservation of individuals, such as Seth, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and then a people, Israel, chosen by God with prophetic purpose to fulfill his promise. But we also see Satan’s sinister attempts to unravel the mystery, to destroy the woman’s offspring, to thwart God’s plan.
Remember the Days of Old
nd so, we remember the days of old to see God’s work in the lives of sinners like you and me. We remember the days of old to remember that God has always been at work in and through the leaders of his church. We remember the days of old to be encouraged by the saints who have gone before us, who by God’s grace have lived lives imitating Christ to the glory of God. We remember the days of old that we too may glorify God in our lives today.
Truly God and Truly Man
We can read through Jesus’ genealogy and find encouragement and inspiration from some of the names on the list, but there is only one who saves, only one who lives in us, only one to whom we may draw near, and he is at the top of the list.
How Deep the Father’s Love
In our passage today, he comes. But he comes not with the fanfare of a king but in the humility of a man among the people, Jesus of Nazareth.
Pointing to Christ
For those who had ears to hear, John called to repentance, but for those who would not, he promised judgement. To some the seismic message of the gospel was indeed good news, evidenced by the multitude of people who were repenting of their sins and being baptized. But others were merely present, not repenting but observing, neither hearing nor believing.
Planter, Pastor, Preacher 