M’Cheyne’s Daily Readings for March 28, 2018

Exodus 39: Bezalel makes the ephod, the breastplate, the tunics, the turban, and the sash for Aaron to wear. The author tells us that “the people of Israel did all that the Lord had commanded to Moses, so they did” (v. 32).

Proverbs 15: Solomon points out the difference between the words of the wise and the words of the fool: “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly” (v. 1-2).

John 18: Jesus is arrested and betrayed by Judas. He appears before Annas and Caiaphas and is questioned. Peter denies Jesus three times. Jesus is led before Pilate and examined. Pilate asks Jesus if He is King of the Jews. Jesus tells Pilate that His kingdom is not of this world: “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world” (v. 36). Jesus establishes His kingdom, not through force of arms or violent opposition, but through humble, self-effacing love and self-sacrifice for his enemies.

Phil. 2: Paul commands the church to look not to his own interests but to the interests of others. He sets forth the example of Jesus Christ as the supreme example of self-giving humility.

M’Cheyne’s Daily Readings for March 27, 2018

Exodus 38: Bezalel makes the altar for the burnt offering, the laver, and the court.

Proverbs 14: The fool is deceptive and his behavior leads to destruction. The wise, however, will flourish.

John 17: Jesus prays to the Father. He prays that the Father might glorify the Son so that the Son might glorify the Father. He prays for his disciples and for those who will believe through their word, that they might be perfectly one.

Phil 1: Paul thanks God for the Philippians and writes that what has happened to him has served to advance the gospel. Some preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. Paul rejoices that “in every way, whether in pretense, Christ is proclaimed, and in that rejoice.” He instructs the church to live lives worthy of the gospel of Christ.

M’Cheyne’s Daily Readings for March 26, 2018

Exodus 37- Bezalel makes the ark with the cherubim, the table, the lampstand and the altar of incense. He also makes the anointing oil and the incense.

Proverbs 13: Solomon continues to emphasize the difference between the righteous and the wicked: “The righteous hates falsehood, but the wicked brings shame and disgrace. Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, but sin overthrows the wicked” (v. 5-6).

John 16: The disciples profess their belief that Jesus came from God (v. 29-30). Jesus responds by predicting their abandonment and says that the Father is with Him (v. 32). He has spoken these things so that the disciples might have peace (v. 33). While they will have tribulation in the world, He assures them that He has overcome the world (v. 33).

Ephesians 6: Paul addresses children, fathers, and bondservants. He speaks of the whole armor of God which believers are to put on in their fight against the devil. He concludes the letter with the following benediction: “Peace be to the brothers and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible” (v. 23-24).

Bulletin for Maundy Thursday Service

Attached is the bulletin for our Maundy Thursday service!  I hope to see you all there at 7:00 pm!.

M’Cheyne’s Daily Readings for March 25, 2018

Exodus 36: Bazalel and Oholiab receive from Moses all the contribution of the people of Israel for the construction of the sanctuary. The people give more than enough so Moses tells the people not to give more than is needed. Bezalel makes the curtains, the boards, the veil and the pillars for the tabernacle.

Proverbs 12: Solomon addresses wisdom within the context of marriage: “An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones” (v. 4).

John 15: Jesus proclaims Himself as the true vine, His Father as the vinedresser, and His people as the branches. He calls upon His people to abide in Him since apart from Him we can do nothing (v. 5). He continues to emphasize the love command (v. 12), teaching that true love sacrifices itself for the sake of others (v. 13). He tells the disciples that the world will hate them just as it has hated Him (v. 18). The Helper is spoken of again as the one whom Jesus will send to the disciples from the Father. He identifies Him as “the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father” (v. 26) who will bear witness about Jesus.

Ephesians 5: Paul continues to build upon the doctrinal foundation he has laid in the epistle with a number of practical commands for the church. He addresses wives (v. 22-24); husbands (v. 25-33); and speaks of the relationship between Christ and the church as the archetypal reality upon which marriage is grounded.

M’Cheyne’s Daily Readings for March 24, 2018

Exodus 35: Moses commands the people to keep the Sabbath. He calls for skillful craftsmen to help construct the tabernacle.

Proverbs 11: Solomon addresses honesty and falsehood; pride and humility; wealth and poverty; kindness and cruelty; punishment and deliverance.

John 14: Jesus assures his disciples of his gracious purposes and tells them not to be troubled. He proclaims Himself as the way, the truth, and the life: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (14:6). Phillip asks Jesus to show them the Father. Jesus says that “whoever has seen me as seen the Father” (v. 9). Jesus promises the presence of “another Helper” to be with the disciples forever, the Spirit of truth (v. 16).

Ephesians 4: Paul urges the Ephesians to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which they have been called. He commands them to no longer walk as the Gentiles walk in the futility of their minds. They are to imitate God by exhibiting kindness and forgiveness: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (v. 32).

M’Cheyne’s Daily Readings for March 23, 2018

Exodus 34: Moses makes new tablets of stone. The Lord speaks with Moses and enters into covenant with Israel. When Moses comes down from the mountain his face shines and he puts a veil over his face.

Proverbs 10: A distinct section in the book consisting of Solomon’s proverbs begins in chapter 10. Solomon emphasizes the contrast between righteousness and wickedness and touches on such themes as words, wealth, and the fear of the Lord.

John 13: Jesus washes the feet of His disciples and tells them that they do not understand the significant of this act now but will understand afterward (v. 6). He commands the disciples to wash one another’s feet. Jesus then predicts the betrayal of Judas (13:21) and identifies him as his betrayer. He gives the disciples a new commandment: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (v. 34-35).

Ephesians 3: Paul prays for the Ephesians and takes up, again, the subject of the “mystery.” When we hear that word, we sometimes think of a mystery novel or a mystery story where the reader is left in the dark for most of the story and then the secret is revealed at the end. That’s not really what Paul has in mind. Paul is talking about the truth of the gospel that was concealed before but now has been openly revealed or disclosed through the coming of Jesus Christ. It is not as though the gospel was completely unknown and hidden in the OT but the unity of Jew and Gentile- the creation of a new humanity, a new people, through the blood of Christ- was a truth that was largely concealed and only now has been clearly revealed in all of its splendor with the coming of Christ. So the mystery is the gospel- the truth of Christ’s death and resurrection for all kinds of people and his creating a people for Himself composed of all kinds of people. He has created a peaceable kingdom in which everyone- Jew and Gentile- are on equal footing, eliminating all cause for boasting.

M’Cheyne’s Daily Readings for March 22, 2018

Exodus 33: The Lord commands Moses and the people to go into the promised land. He promises to send an angel before them but says that He will not go up among them because of their disobedience. Moses again intercedes with the Lord on behalf of the people and the Lord promises to be present with them: “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (v. 14).

Moses asks to see the glory of the Lord. The Lord promises to make his goodness pass before Moses and to proclaim His name. This promise is attended by the proclamation of God’s grace and mercy: “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (v. 19).

In spite of human sin, the Lord remains forever gracious. His presence with Moses and Israel is a gracious presence; the supreme manifestation of His glory consists in the revelation of His goodness, grace, and mercy. In the fulness of time, God would fully reveal His glory in the person of His Son. In Jesus Christ, the glory of the Lord passes before us. We see, in Jesus, what Moses could not see- the face of the covenant Lord: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

Proverbs 9: In verses 1-6, Lady Wisdom plays the role of a host, sending out her young women to invite the simple to a lavish feast of bread and wine (v. 5). Those who answer wisdom’s call receive a great reward. Jesus Christ, who is wisdom Incarnate, similarly calls his sinful people to partake of a lavish feast consisting of bread and wine, a feast which is nothing short of His very body and blood broken and poured out for the sins of the simple. Verses 7-12 consist of an interlude which exposes the resistance of the scoffer and highlights the obedient response of the wise person. Lady folly (v. 13-18) imitates the invitation of lady wisdom. She too calls to the simple and promises reward. Her “reward,” however, is destruction and death (v. 18).  What Puritan Thomas Brooks says of the devil can be equally applied to the deceitfulness of Lady Folly:  “The devil presents the bait and he hides the hook; he presents the golden cup and hides the poison; he presents the sweet, the pleasure, and the profit that may flow in upon the soul by yielding to sin- and he hides from the soul the wrath and misery that will certainly follow the committing of sin.  He is a master of pawning falsehoods upon us by his golden baits and then he leads and leaves us in a fool’s paradise” (Thomas Brooks, Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices).

John 12: Mary of Bethany anoints the feet of Jesus with a pound of ointment made from pure nard and wipes His feet with her hair. Judas objects to Mary’s devotion and asks why it wasn’t sold and given to the poor. John tells us that Judas was motivated, not by a concern for the poor, but by greed: “He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it” (v. 6). Jesus rebukes Judas and commends Mary’s devotion.

A large crowd comes to Bethany to see Jesus and witness the reality of Lazarus’ resurrection. The chief priests plan to kill Lazarus as well as Jesus because many were believing in Jesus on account of the resurrection. John then records Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem in fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9. The large crowd worships Jesus as the long awaited King of Israel, using the words of Ps. 118:25-26 in their shouts of praise. The worshiping crowd who bear witness to His Messianic identity is set in stark contrast to the unbelieving Pharisees who despair of their inability to carry out their murderous plot (v. 19).

Jesus announces that “the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” and alludes to his imminent death (v. 23-26). His soul is troubled by the prospect of death but He remains faithful to his purpose of glorifying the Father’s name (v. 27-28). The Father announces that this purpose- that of Jesus glorifying His name- is being carried out and will be carried out again (v. 28). In verses 29-50, John describes the persistent unbelief of the people in spite of Jesus’ works and words.

Ephesians 2: Paul describes our spiritual condition apart from Christ in v. 1-3. According to Paul, his readers were “dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” According to Paul, the dark reality of sin is foundational to a proper understanding of ourselves, our predicament, and the good news of the gospel. If we do not understand the seriousness of our sin, we will never understand and rejoice in the greatness of our Savior.

In verses 4-7 we learn that our hope for salvation from spiritual deadness lies in the person and work of Jesus Christ, specifically in his resurrection from the dead and ascension to the right hand of the Father. The resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ constitutes the resurrection and ascension of those united to Him. Our salvation depends as much upon the resurrection and ascension of Jesus as it does upon his passion and death.

In verses 8-10, Paul elaborates upon the nature of this resurrection-salvation. It is a gift of grace (v. 8) to be received by faith (v. 9) for the purpose of good works (v. 10).

The theme of verses 11-22 could be summarized by Paul’s words in verse 14: “He (i.e. Jesus) Himself is our peace.” It is only through the blood of Jesus Christ that we can possess true peace- peace with the Triune God and peace with one another in this new Israel, a church consisting of both Jew and Gentile.

M’Cheyne’s Daily Readings for March 21, 2018

Exodus 32: The covenant which the Lord has just established and explained requires the people’s obedience to the Lord’s commands. In 32:1-33:6, the author of Exodus emphasizes the disobedience of Israel which angers God and jeopardizes the covenant relationship. The people, turning to Aaron, ask him to make “gods who shall go before us” (v. 1). Aaron fashions a “golden calf” which is meant to represent the Lord. The people worship the golden calf and ascribe to it their deliverance from Egypt. The Lord tells Moses of their idolatry and expresses his desire to consume them so that he can instead make a great nation out of Moses. Moses intercedes for the people with the Lord and the Lord relents from the disaster which he spoke of. Moses breaks the tablets in his anger, burns the golden calf with fire, grinds it into powder, scatters it on the water, and makes the people drink it. Moses gathers the Levites who slay about 3000 of the people. Moses again intercedes for the people and the Lord sends a plague upon them.

Proverbs 8: Wisdom is personified as a woman calling to the children of man to learn prudence and sense (v. 4). She points out the antithesis between truth and wickedness (v. 7); compares wisdom to silver, gold, and jewels (v. 10-11, 19); and defines the fear of the Lord as “the hatred of evil” (v. 13). Lady wisdom says that “the Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old” (v. 22).

John 11: Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead and proclaims Himself to be the resurrection and the life: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (v. 26).

Ephesians 1: Paul begins with an exuberant outburst of praise to God for blessing us with salvation in Christ. Verses 3-14 is a “berakah” or an extended blessing or eulogy, a declaration of praise to God for who he is and what he has done. These verses are one big sentence in Greek which can be divided up into three major sections. The first section (v. 3-6) focuses on God the Father and his redemptive work for us and our salvation. The second section (v. 7-12) focuses especially on the work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and his redemptive work for us and our salvation. The third and final section (v. 13-14) focuses on the role of the holy Spirit in our salvation. The idea in these verses is that the Triune God is intimately involved in our salvation at every point. Paul then expresses his thanks for the Ephesians and prays for them (v. 15-19). This leads Paul to exult in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that redemptive act of God in which Christ is enthroned as King over all (v. 20-23).

M’Cheyne’s Daily Readings for March 20, 2018

Exodus 31: The Lord fills Bezalel with His Spirit- “the Spirit of God” (v. 3), giving him “ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft” (v. 3-6). He appoints Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, to work with him (v. 6). The importance of the Sabbath is emphasized in v. 12-17: “Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout all your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you” (v. 13). When the Lord finished speaking with Moses, he gives him “the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God” (v. 18).

Proverbs 7: Chapter 7 is the final section which addresses sexual behavior and consists of the call to resist temptations to adultery, specifically from “the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words” (v. 5). The author speaks of the young man who “follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter” (v. 22).

John 10: Jesus proclaims Himself to be “the door of the sheep” (v. 7); “the good shepherd” (v. 11) who lays down his life for the sheep: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (v. 11). The good shepherd also knows his sheep: “I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep” (v. 14-15). Jesus lays down his life of his own accord and has authority to take it up again (v. 18). The Jews are divided over Jesus’ words. The unbelieving Jews do not believe because they are not Jesus’ sheep (v. 26). Jesus confesses unity with the Father: “I and the Father are one” (v. 30). Because Jesus claims to be one with God, the Jews pick up stones to stone him (v. 31).

Gal. 6: Those who are caught in any transgression ought to be restored by the spiritual in a spirit of gentleness (v. 1). The church is to bear one another’s burdens, fulfilling the law of Christ (v. 2); sow to the Spirit and reap eternal life (v. 8), not growing weary of doing good, “for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (v. 9). Paul issues a final warning against the Judaizers (v. 11-16). Our ground for boasting is not any work which we perform, but the cross of Jesus Christ: “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (v. 14). In this age of fulfillment, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything since the church of Jesus Christ is a new creation (v. 16)- promise has given way to fulfillment. Paul pronounces peace and mercy upon all who walk by this rule- who embrace Paul’s teaching and live in accordance with it. The “Israel of God” is clearly, within the context of Galatians, the church of Jesus Christ, the true offspring of Abraham, the new creation just spoken of.