Line Upon Line

Drawing from Isaiah 62, Pastor Miles teaches that God's design for His people—first Israel, now the church—was to shine the light of His righteousness to the nations, and that despite Israel's failure, God promises a future restoration in which they will be glorified, renamed, protected, and called His delight. He then moves into Isaiah 63's coming day of vengeance, showing that before that glorio...

A verse-by-verse teaching on Isaiah 60–61 showing that Jesus is the Light of the world who calls His people out of darkness to arise and shine, and that this prophecy looks ahead to the millennial reign of Christ when Israel is glorified, the nations gather to Jerusalem, and God's people are clothed in His righteousness.

In 1 Corinthians 7:17-24, Paul gives a paradigm-shifting principle: accept the situation God placed you in and continue to serve Him there, because the gospel is not about social revolution but personal and spiritual transformation. Using the examples of circumcision and slavery, Pastor Miles shows that Christianity transcends race, class, and status, transforming individuals from the inside out a...

Pastor Miles teaches Isaiah 58–59, where God commands Isaiah to cry aloud and expose Judah's sins. Though the people kept fasts, feasts, and sacrifices, their hearts were wicked and their religious observance an empty external sham; God shows that true religion is rooted in a transformed heart that produces justice and mercy, and that sin—not divine weakness—separates a people from God.

A verse-by-verse teaching on 1 Corinthians 7:8-16 covering Paul's instruction to the unmarried, widows, married believers, and believers married to unbelievers. Pastor Miles argues that marriage is a lifelong, God-created institution, identifies the biblical exceptions for divorce, and calls believers to be transformed by God's word rather than conformed to the culture's confused view of marriage.

A verse-by-verse study of Isaiah 56–57 showing that God calls His people to maintain justice and righteousness in light of His soon-coming salvation, extends His covenant blessings to foreigners and outcasts, indicts the blind, indulgent watchmen of Judah, and promises mercy and revival to the contrite while declaring there is no peace for the wicked.

Paul shifts from confronting carnality to answering the Corinthians' questions about marriage and intimacy, teaching that celibacy is good but tempting, that married couples should not withhold themselves from one another, and that both marriage and singleness are gifts to be offered to God.

A verse-by-verse teaching through Isaiah 54 (and into Isaiah 55) showing how God turns the shame of Israel's barrenness, widowhood, and rejection into joy, restoration, and everlasting kindness — a picture of the gospel and the believer's secure inheritance in Christ. The message presses every Christian to find this same testimony of revived barrenness and to receive freely the living water and wo...

Paul corrects the Corinthian church's misapplication of his teaching on Christian liberty ("all things are lawful"), showing that genuine freedom in Christ does not license sexual immorality. Because believers are members of Christ and their bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, bought with a price, they are called to flee fornication and glorify God in body and spirit.

Pastor Miles teaches Isaiah 52 and the suffering-servant prophecy that begins in 52:13 and runs through chapter 53, showing how God calls his sinful people out of self-inflicted captivity into a costly-yet-free redemption secured by the Messiah. The teaching unfolds the public glory of God's salvation and the believer's call to carry the beautiful gospel of peace to the world.

Paul rebukes the Corinthian church for taking trivial disputes between believers before secular courts, damaging the church's unity and witness. Pastor Miles teaches that, since Christians will one day judge the world and angels, we should be able to settle such matters internally through righteous, meek, forgiving, biblical judgment—even if it means accepting wrong.

Studying Isaiah 50 and 51, Pastor Miles shows that Judah's suffering was not God forgetting or unjustly divorcing them, but the harvest of their own sin—God remained near and able to save. The latter half of the passage turns prophetically to the Messiah, the suffering servant given the tongue of the learned and an obedient ear, whose example calls believers to trust God, speak gracious words, and...

Paul confronts the Corinthian church over an incestuous relationship they tolerated—even boasted about—and commands them to remove the unrepentant sinner for his ultimate good and the health of the body. The teaching distinguishes being "in the world but not of it" from sinful toleration, and calls Christians to mourn over sin and exercise loving, restorative church discipline.

Teaching from 1 Corinthians 4:6-21, Pastor Miles addresses the Corinthians' unwarranted exaltation of leaders and their divisions, using Paul's correction to challenge our culture's self-esteem doctrine with the biblical truth that everything we have is a gift received from God.

Missionary Don Richardson teaches that God has planted "cultural compasses" — redemptive analogies and foreshadowings — within cultures around the world to point people to Jesus, illustrating this with Old Testament types, encoded Chinese characters discovered by Robert Morrison, ancient Sanskrit writings in India, and his own discovery of the Sawi "peace child" custom in New Guinea. He concludes...

A verse-by-verse teaching on Isaiah 48–49 showing how Judah's outward worship had become a self-deceived sham deserving judgment, yet God spared them for His own name's sake and the covenant with Abraham. The teaching traces God's prophetic faithfulness and unfolds the Messiah, Jesus, as the true Israel and the light of salvation to the Gentiles.

Paul instructs the Corinthians to regard their leaders rightly—as ministers (under-rowers) of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God—neither idolizing nor denigrating them. The chief requirement for a steward is faithfulness, and because the Lord alone is the impartial judge who will one day expose the hidden motives of the heart, we are to judge nothing before its time.

Continuing his charge against idolatry in Isaiah 46–47, Pastor Miles shows how Israel's false gods (Bel and Nebo) were carried into captivity unable to deliver, while the one true God carries and delivers His people. The teaching contrasts powerless idols with the incomparable God who declares the end from the beginning, calls believers to live with expectancy for God's sovereign work, and warns o...

Teaching from 1 Corinthians 3:16 on the truth that believers, individually and corporately, are the temple of God indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and the call to build, keep, and honor that temple rather than defile it with worldly wisdom or division.

In Isaiah 44–45, God calls His backslidden people by name, promises to pour His Spirit and blessing on the thirsty, exposes the foolishness of idolatry, and proves He alone is God by naming the deliverer Cyrus over 150 years before his birth. The teaching urges believers to recognize their spiritual thirst, return to the Lord rejoicing, and trust the one true God who fulfills His word for His glor...

Drawing on 1 Corinthians 3:9 and its surrounding verses, Pastor Miles teaches that the church—both corporately and in each believer's life—must be built upon the right foundation (Jesus Christ and His applied word) and constructed with care, because every believer's work will be tested by the fire of God's holiness. Salvation rests on Christ's finished work alone, but reward in heaven depends on h...

Teaching through Isaiah 43, Pastor Miles shows how God comforts a people facing exile by reminding them that He created, formed, and redeemed them, will be with them through every trial, and has chosen them by grace alone. The passage's declaration that God alone is Creator, Savior, and the First and the Last establishes the deity of Christ and our calling to be witnesses who proclaim His praises...

Teaching from 1 Corinthians 3:1, Pastor Miles examines the tragedy of spiritual immaturity—Christians who, though indwelt by the Spirit, remain carnal "babes in Christ." He calls believers to crucify the flesh, remove the trash of the world, and feed on the meat of God's Word so they grow into mature followers who demonstrate Christ to the world.

A verse-by-verse study of Isaiah 42, identifying the "servant of the Lord" as Jesus Christ and exploring His character (servant, upheld, elect, delighted in, Spirit-filled) and His work (bringing justice, gentleness toward the broken, freeing captives), with applications to the believer's own calling and assurance of God's delight.

Examining 1 Corinthians 2, Pastor Miles shows that Paul deliberately came to Corinth weak, fearful, and trembling, preaching only "Jesus Christ and Him crucified"—a message that appears foolish to the intellectual and offensive to the religious, yet remains the power of God unto salvation. Believers are called to proclaim this same unaltered gospel boldly, relying not on man's wisdom or methods bu...