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Paul’s letters in the New Testament excite me. Way back when I was a bachelor we walked through his letter to the Ephesians, chapter by chapter (1 2 3 4 5 6), and I thought it would be a good idea to make a similar journey through another of Paul’s letters, the one he wrote to the Galatians. Let’s start at the beginning.

‘Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—and all the brothers who are with me,

To the churches of Galatia:

Grace to you and peace from…  ( Click for more )

As a Christian there is one question that has returned again and again, and which the answer seems to have continually changed. It is this: What did Jesus mean when he said ‘every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven’ (Matthew 12:31)?

Context

The biggest problem I’ve found in interpreting Scripture is me. Namely my desire to extract as much possible information from every word. This is a good thing, but can sometimes lead to dead ends – nothing happens as an isolated event, everything…  ( Click for more )

Let’s start with a shameless plug. Available at http://samisaacson.co.cc for a competitive price is a book I wrote on the parable of the talents so if you like this overview click here and buy it! But because our authority is the Bible rather than me, let’s dive into this, Jesus’ final parable in Matthew’s gospel, and my favourite.

‘For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.…  ( Click for more )

We’re getting close to the end of Matthew now, and the parables have started to become a little more aggressive. This parable has some aspects that I think will comfort us, yet some will smack us in the face.

‘Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was…  ( Click for more )

This parable is a familiar one, yet that doesn't stop it packing a powerful punch. Or, more accurately, several powerful punches.

'The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.’ But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm,…  ( Click for more )

The parable we’ll be looking at this week is a challenge. It also feels a little like an enormous pointing finger coming down out of the sky, coupled with a booming voice saying, ‘it’s you!’ but not in a good way.

‘“There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another,…  ( Click for more )

I’m sure this never happens to you, but sometimes I read a passage from the Bible and just end up thinking…what the heck?! Check it out:

‘A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly,…  ( Click for more )

Now, this is one of my favourite parables – strap your seatbelts on:

‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the labourers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the…  ( Click for more )

I have heard this parable before, but even so the title is not a pleasant one. Jesus is about to talk about ‘the unforgiving servant’; who would ever want to bear that title? There are some serious challenges in this text, so let’s get right to work:

‘Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment…  ( Click for more )

Do you ever have those moments when you read the title and you are excited about the content? When I see that Jesus is about to tell us a story entitled ‘The Lost Sheep’ I know the words that are about to reach my ears will be comforting, and encouraging:

‘What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not…  ( Click for more )

Jesus continues his parables about the Kingdom with this perhaps uncomforting parable:

‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Matthew 13:47-50)

A thought before we dig in

Before…  ( Click for more )

Something I love about Jesus’ parables is that sometimes reading them can really confirm something that we just know. The following two parables are very similar, and this is true of them; have a read:

‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.’ (Matthew 13:44-46)

Finding the…  ( Click for more )

Another short parable this week, but one which I think ought to challenge us:

‘The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.’ (Matthew 13:33)

What does leaven do?

Leaven is not quite yeast, but for the sake of this study we may as well treat it as such. Leaven is something which, although small, affects the whole of the substance in which it is hid. As Paul said, ‘a little leaven leavens the whole lump’ (1 Corinthians 5:6, Galatians 5:9). So the message intended by…  ( Click for more )

This week’s parable is the first of a few weeks that is very short, yet no less powerful. I am sure that this is familiar to many of us:

‘The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.’ (Matthew 13:31-32)

Jesus’ imagery

It is often useful to try to get inside the head of a first century Jew when reading Jesus’ parables,…  ( Click for more )

…  ( Click for more )

The next parable may again be a familiar one:

‘A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.’…  ( Click for more )

This week we look at what may be a familiar text:

‘Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.’ (Matthew…  ( Click for more )

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4 (ESV)

Someone excessively wise once said that the only things we can be sure of in this world are 'death and taxes'. Although you could probably class both of these in this wider bracket I would like to add an extra word to this: 'trials'. Whatever stage of life we are in, whatever location, age, nationality, gender,…  ( Click for more )

I think it’s about time for a new series. I love Jesus’ parables and believe there is so much power in them that they pretty much preach themselves. It’s therefore quite surprising that I have never tried doing a study of one. Over the course of the next 17(ish) weeks we are therefore going to work our way through Matthew’s gospel, spending one week on each parable as we encounter it.

The first parable appears in chapter 7, then clumps of parables appear in chapters 13,18, 20-22,24-25. Some people will tell you that a lot of Matthew’s parables…  ( Click for more )

'I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.' (Romans 12:1 ESV)

This verse has been quoted and used to challenge possibly more than any other in the Bible but there have always been questions in my mind surrounding this oxymoron 'living sacrifices'. Sacrifices are surely meant to be dead, and a number of times we are encouraged to die daily (1 Corinthians 15:31), take up our cross (Matthew 16:24) and be put to death all day long (Romans 8:36). Firstly…  ( Click for more )

I have a confession to make: I trust too much. If someone tells me something I tend to learn it, accept it as fact, but then forget where I have learnt it from; allow me to give an embarrassing illustration. For years I have been quoting the well-known Bible verse ‘at the name of Jesus every demon flees’ because someone ‘quoted’ it to me once. Now while I think that the essence of that quoted ‘verse’ is true and even biblical I challenge you to find those particular words in any translation of the Bible; it is not there!

The verse we will look…  ( Click for more )

As a 19-year-old student I remember a friend telling me his motto: 'I'll sleep when I'm dead' - he told me that he would rather party all night getting drunk and fat - he would have all the time he wanted to relax and sleep when he was dead. How many people today have this attitude? And how long has this attitude been around for?

Isaiah was well aware of this worldview and pointed it out on many occasions: '“Come,” they say, “let me get wine; let us fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow will be like this day, great beyond measure.”' (Isaiah…  ( Click for more )

I have recently rediscovered the beauty and richness of digging deep into single Bible verses, and I would love to share some of my experiences in this forum. I am sure that in the near future we will set off on another series which is likely to be a New Testament letter (although I have not decided which one yet) but for the moment let us press on with a verse for this week:

‘…avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.’ (Titus 3:9)

Wise words for then, and for now. ‘Foolish…  ( Click for more )

I tend to spot challenges in the Bible when they relate to men. It surprised me, therefore, when I noticed the names of two inspirational ladies when reading the Bible this morning. Paul, writing his second letter to Timothy, wrote the following: 'I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.' (2 Timothy 1:5) I would like us to start by identifying some key doctrines highlighted in this verse before giving some practical application.

Faith dwells

The word which…  ( Click for more )