Line Upon Line

Opening a study in 2 Corinthians, Pastor Miles traces Paul's journey from his conversion through his deep, costly love for the imperfect church at Corinth, then shows from the letter's first verses that God is the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort who comforts us in all tribulation so we can comfort others.

Surveying the local, national, and global mission work flowing through Calvary Chapel Escondido—"not a huge church, but a huge vision"—Pastor Miles ties it back to Acts 20:1-6, where Paul travels through the churches he planted, recruiting and training a team to carry on the gospel mission. The central exhortation: every believer is gifted, commissioned, and called to engage in the mission of Chri...

Returning to Acts 19 after a long detour through the epistles, Pastor Miles examines the uproar Paul's gospel preaching caused in Ephesus, where one man teaching in a school subverted an entire pagan idol industry. He calls the church to a "ministry of subversion"—not political protest and boycotts, but simply living and preaching the gospel as ambassadors of Christ who transform communities by it...

On the first Sunday of 2012, Pastor Miles casts a vision for the year built on two themes: enjoying God's grace through salvation and extending God's glory into the world. He argues that the Christian life is far more than attending Bible studies—it is incarnating the fruit of the Spirit and carrying the joy of grace to those living a graceless existence.

Drawing from Isaiah 9 and the Christmas accounts in Luke and John, this teaching shows that Jesus is joy incarnate who has graciously extended His joy to us, calling believers to enjoy that joy fully and then carry it as His messengers into a joyless world.

Pastor Miles traces his own teenage call to follow Christ to teach that serving God out of gratitude is not a joyless, dreadful existence but the very path to increasing and enduring joy. Drawing on Christ's example, biblical commands, the rich young ruler, the parable of the talents, and the martyrs, he argues that Jesus is a treasure worth losing everything to gain.

Continuing a series on joy from John 15:11, Pastor Miles teaches that love overflows in giving, and that giving—motivated by love and the promise of joy—is a God-ordained means of laying hold of greater, enduring joy in Christ.

This teaching argues that the key to full and enduring joy is gratitude, and that genuine gratitude cannot be manufactured by willpower but is an emotive response generated by remembering and beholding the greatness of God and all He has given in Christ. All God's commands—including His commands to give thanks and praise—are ultimately promises for our greatest joy, because He is most glorified in...

Pastor Miles confronts the common Christian tension between serving God and being happy, arguing that our real difficulty is not desire but a belief problem—we have been deceived into seeking ultimate joy in created things. Drawing on Scripture and Psalm 16:11, he insists that in God's presence is fullness of joy, and that the only way to overcome lesser desires is to nourish them with the superio...

Opening a seven-week series on joy, Pastor Miles argues that Jesus offers a fullness of joy that supersedes circumstantial happiness, and that this joy is found paradoxically through self-denial and the loss of all earthly things to gain Christ Himself. Drawing from John Piper, C.S. Lewis, and a harrowing personal story, he establishes that Jesus is the treasure in the field worth joyfully forsaki...

In this 52nd and final study in 1 Corinthians, Pastor Miles draws two observations (the leading of the Lord and the treatment of leaders) and two exhortations (to be watchful, steadfast, courageous, strong, and loving) from Paul's parting words, closing with the sobering choice between the grace and the curse of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Drawing from Paul's instructions in 1 Corinthians 16:1-4, Pastor Miles examines the Bible's extensive teaching on money and possessions, arguing that God addresses giving not to raise money but to raise His children. He shows that all believers are among the world's wealthy, that everything we have belongs to God, and that the cure for greed is to repent, recognize God as owner, and resolve to giv...

Continuing in 1 Corinthians 15, Pastor Miles answers the mocking question "how are the dead raised, and with what body?" by showing that man is more than physical flesh and that God, who created the glorious diversity of the universe, can certainly raise the dead. The resurrection is a mystery revealed only by God, in which the corruptible, dishonored, weak, natural body is transformed in a moment...

Drawing on Steve Jobs's reflection that death is "life's change agent," Pastor Miles contrasts the world's resignation to death with the gospel reality that Christ rose as the firstfruits of the dead. He teaches through 1 Corinthians 15:20–34, showing that death entered through Adam, is conquered in Christ, and will finally be destroyed at His coming, calling believers to awake to righteousness be...

Paul outlines the simple message of the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:3—that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again according to the Scriptures—and Pastor Miles argues that the resurrection of Jesus is the crux of all human history, attested by more than 500 eyewitnesses. The teaching traces the announcement, cover-up, and proclamation of the resurrection, the dramatic conversion of Sau...

On the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001, Pastor Miles confronts the question "why?" behind the world's wickedness and tragedy, locating the answer in sin, and points to the gospel: Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, the way God has intervened to deal with sin's penalty, power, and presence.

Examining Jesus's encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, this teaching reveals our missionary God who goes to the places no one else will go and reaches the people no one else will reach. Jesus reveals to a needy outcast both the gift of God and the giver of that gift, calling believers to carry that same knowledge into a thirsty world.

Opening the great resurrection chapter, Paul declares the gospel afresh to the already-saved Corinthians, reminding believers that the gospel is not a "what" but a "who"—Jesus Himself—and that genuine saving faith holds fast to Christ alone. The teaching explores salvation in its past, present, and future tenses and the conditional "if" that distinguishes true faith from vain faith.

Paul gives clear direction for orderly corporate worship in the church at Corinth, addressing the proper use of tongues, prophecy, and the role of women. The two governing principles are edification and order, because God is not the author of confusion but of peace.

Continuing in 1 Corinthians 14, Pastor Miles teaches that while the gift of tongues is genuine and useful for personal prayer and praise, it must take a lesser position in the corporate gathering because love seeks the edification of the whole body. He works through verses 13-25, arguing that prophecy (intelligible speech) is "greater" in the assembly because it builds up believers and convicts un...

Paul exhorts the Corinthians to pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, but especially to seek prophecy above tongues in the corporate gathering, because prophecy edifies the whole body while uninterpreted tongues edify only the speaker. The teaching defines New Testament prophecy as God's already-revealed word spoken for edification, exhortation, and comfort—distinct from preaching and from the O...

Paul concludes his teaching on love in 1 Corinthians 13:8 by showing that spiritual gifts are imperfect and temporary, while love endures forever. Christian maturity is not measured by spiritual giftedness but by Christlike love, which flows from faith and hope and remains the greatest of the divine triad.

Concluding his study of the characteristics of Christian love in 1 Corinthians 13, Pastor Miles examines the final attributes of verse 7—love bears, believes, hopes, and endures all things, and never fails—and applies them with reference to the 2011 Norway terror attack to show what genuine Christian love looks like in daily life.

Continuing through 1 Corinthians 13, Pastor Miles teaches that love—not doctrine or spiritual gifts—is the fulfillment of God's law and the true mark of a disciple, then examines several characteristics of love: it keeps no record of wrongs, does not rejoice in iniquity, and rejoices in the truth.

Continuing his study of 1 Corinthians 13, Pastor Miles examines the first eight of fifteen characteristics of agape love in verses 4-7, showing that biblical love is active rather than merely emotional and is ultimately found perfectly only in Christ. He argues that patience, kindness, freedom from envy and boasting, humility, courtesy, selflessness, and self-control are the evidence of God's Spir...