Words from a Branch

  Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Acts 17:11 NASB             It is an oft repeated admonition to churches to emulate the Bereans, and as the Bible notes their noble mindedness it is a worthy admonition indeed. In this the focus is most often on searching the scriptures, and holding them as the final authority against which everything is to be judged. Again, this is good and right; but it is not complete. In order to truly be like the Bereans, it is not sufficient to search the scriptures. A careful reading of the passage reveals that searching the scripture is not the primary cause for which they are called noble-minded. Rather it is their eagerness for the word, and not just eagerness but great eagerness. They desired to have things right according to the true measure of rightne...

  I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 2 Timothy 4:1-4 ESV             God’s word is sufficient in every age against every false teaching, hypocrisy, ignorance, self-righteousness, folly, vanity, delusion, lying, and all ills of the heart besides. God’s word is, and always has been, and ever shall be the fully sufficient tool of ministry to bring light into the darkness no matter how deep it appears. There is nothing shocking, or surprising in the darkness of human society t...

  I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other. Isaiah 45:5-6                 God here is calling Cyrus some hundred years before Cyrus is known upon the Earth which is of itself most remarkable. He is also declaring what He shall do through Cyrus, though Cyrus is not a believer. The Lord declares and as we can read in Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah it comes to pass just as He said. All of this is to support the central claim of Isaiah 45:5 to the ends of Isaiah 45:6; which is to say that God is to be ascribed His due glory as the sole sovereign over all creation by all the inhabitants thereof. Psalm 102:15 expresses the same want, as does Matthew 6:9-10. It is the central theme of the Bible; it is the ultimate end...