“But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is...
“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will...
John the Baptist was called of God, even before he was born, to be “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” And he did exactly as the Lord had called him to do. He came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the...
“For the choir director. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
“Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
And...
“Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me...
The missing word in today’s Gospel is repentance. When was the last time you heard someone preach repentance? If you had to guess, it’s been a long time for most of us. But flip open the Bible and you’ll find the word on every page. John the Baptist preached, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven...
“So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and...
Testimony
I was born Susan Jane Thorn, December 31, 1949, to my parents Hugh Evan and Dorothy E. Thorn, in Akron, Ohio (USA). I was in the middle of their five children. I had two older brothers and two younger sisters. I was not an outgoing child. I was fairly quiet and reserved. I had a few...
“What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?”
Says the Lord.
“I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of fed cattle;
And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats.
“When you come to appear before Me,
Who requires of you this trampling of My courts?
“Bring your...
“Then you will say on that day,
‘I will give thanks to You, O Lord;
For although You were angry with me,
Your anger is turned away,
And You comfort me.
Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
For the Lord God is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation.’...
“There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death,
Prisoners in misery and chains,
Because they had rebelled against the words of God
And spurned the counsel of the Most High.
Therefore He humbled their heart with labor;
They stumbled and there was none to help.
Then they cried...
There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, Jesus said: “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell...
“He entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a...
Such troubling times we live in now
Because to Christ much do not bow
But bow to men, they surely do
And to their idols stick like glue
They masquerade of righteousness
But to their sins they not address
They walk in sin, and not by faith,
Because their sins they not abate
They will not obey...
Background
The Israelites of Jeremiah’s time were sinning greatly against God. They were dishonest, liars, rebellious, idolatrous, adulterous, sexually immoral, senseless, stubborn, wicked, self-indulgent and treacherous people who did not honor God but who rejected the Lord and his...