Michiana Covenant Presbyterian Church

How does Ahab die? One could say that he dies in battle against the Syrians. That's true. But one could also say that Ahab dies by the Word of the LORD. Ahab spent his whole life in rebellion against the Word of Yahweh. The real battle in Ahab's life was not his border skirmishes with the Syrians. The real battle was his unremitting warfare against the God of Israel and his prophets. The basic les...

Do you understand what an insult it is for Ahab to ask Naboth if he can turn his vineyard into a vegetable garden? A vineyard takes years to develop. You carefully tend the vines over several years, and only when they are mature do they provide a bountiful crop. A good vineyard is hard work and difficult to replace, and can last for generations. A vegetable garden, on the other hand, comes and goe...

[Sung Psalm (91) "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." This is a stunning statement – but Paul just says it and moves on. "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." Wait, Paul, don't you mean that God has crushed Satan under Jesus' feet? Or at the very least, God will crush Satan under Jesus' feet, when he returns? No. Paul says, "The God of peace will soon crush...

1 Kings ends with three stories about Ahab that tell of his sins: first in relation to the nations (chapter 20), then in relation to Israel (chapter 21) and finally in relation to the prophet of the LORD and the king of Judah (chapter 22). At the end of chapter 19 we heard that Elijah was commissioned to anoint the three agents of God's judgment against Israel. First, he was to anoint some guy nam...

[Sung Psalm: 129] In verses 3-16, then Paul says to "greet" someone sixteen times. It would be easy to skim over this as just another list of names. When John Chrysostom came to the end of the book of Romans, he said: "I think that many even of those who have the appearance of being extremely good men, hasten over this part of the Epistle as superfluous, and having no great weight in it...For beca...

[Sung Psalm: 72] In Isaiah 60, we hear a promise that the coastlands shall hope for the LORD – and ships of Tarshish will come, bringing your children home – laden with gold and silver. We don't know the exact location of Tarshish – but many have suggested that it may refer to a trading port in Spain. In Romans 15, Paul speaks of his desire to go to Spain the preach the gospel there. He also speak...

This is a passage that has often been misread. Too many commentators and preachers have tried to psychologize Elijah. They think that Elijah is whining – and that God is rebuking Elijah for self-pity. Baloney. Elijah is not whining. He is complaining! If you would learn to complain well to God – then listen to Elijah! And further, where in this passage do you hear the slightest hint of rebuke? If...

In Luke 9 Moses and Elijah appear on the mountain with Jesus at his transfiguration. Moses is the obvious one. He was the one whom God used to bring Israel out of Egypt. But why Elijah? Why not Abraham or David or Isaiah? When you consider what Jesus came to do, it makes sense: Elijah is portrayed in Kings as a new Moses. He is the one who leads a new exodus out of idolatry. Just as Moses had triu...

[Sung Psalm: 90] In Romans 15, Paul will refer to the "priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable." Where would Paul have gotten the idea of offering people to God? Obviously, human sacrifice is condemned and forbidden by God! Well, Isaiah 66:19-21 speaks about how God will send survivors to the nations – those who "have not heard my fame or seen...

Why is Elijah sent to a Sidonian widow? Well, remember what we saw last time? Ahab had married a Sidonian princess! Ahab "took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians." The name of Baal – the Canaanite god – is all over verses 31-32 of chapter 16: "he took for his wife JezeBaal, the daughter of EthBaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshipped him. H...

[Sung Psalm: 69] Last time we saw at the beginning of chapter 14 that the strong should welcome the one who is weak – but not to quarrel over opinions. The one who is weak (according to Paul) is the one who tends to be judgmental and legalistic – in Paul's day, this was the one who insists on following the details of the Mosaic system with respect to food laws and feasts/fasts. Paul repeatedly war...

Have you heard of the "year of the four emperors"? In AD 69, there were four different emperors who ruled in Rome. After Nero's suicide in AD 68, there were four men who reigned in the next few months: Galba (reigned for six months – assassinated in January), Otho (committed suicide after losing a key battle in April), Vitellius (killed by a mob in December), and Vespasian, who finally restored so...

[Sung Psalm: 34] Paul has just said that we are not to live like the nations around us. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. We live in the hour between the resurrection of Jesus and the final resurrection of the dead. We cannot live in darkness – we cannot walk in the ways of darkness, in orgies, drunkenness, sexual immorality, sensuality, quarreling and jealousy. We are called to put on th...

Is God enough for you? One phrase that we have often heard in the book of Kings is that "his heart was wholly true to the LORD" (15:14) Or – in contrast – "his heart was not wholly true to the LORD" (15:4) The word "shalem" has the same root as "shalom" (peace) and it means "complete, full, perfect." "His heart was complete in the LORD" It was used of Solomon – both positively in 1 Kings 8:61, and...

[Sung Psalm: 80] Last time we saw that the politics of the kingdom of God demands that we submit to earthly rulers, even as we seek first the kingdom of God. And in verse 7, Paul concluded his exhortation regarding this submission by saying, "Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed....

Solomon's sin was that he was led astray by his foreign wives – nd aso he worshiped foreign gods. The result was that his son, Rehoboam, lost the kingdom to the upstart, Jeroboam. God promised Jeroboam that if Jeroboam was like David and was faithful to Yahweh, then God would establish Jeroboam's house. But instead, Jeroboam refuses to allow his people to worship in Jerusalem, and he builds golden...

[Sung Psalm: 2] Francis Schaeffer warned that Christians should not become identified with a particular nation or political party. Christians can be co-belligerents with those who share our views on a particular issue. We can work together with anyone – in any party – who will do what it right before God. But our allegiance is not to a political party – or even to the United States of America. Our...

[Sung Psalm: 94] Our ordinary Christian life is lived in union with Christ. Our everyday, normal existence is normed by life in the Spirit. And that means that you don't need to "make up" for failures in the ordinary through doing something extraordinary – but simply through repentance. And what is repentance? I like the Shorter Catechism's answer: "repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby...

In chapter 11, we heard how Solomon's life had ended poorly. The wages of sin is death – not only the death of Solomon himself, but also the dismemberment of the Kingdom. The golden age of Israel's history – the new Eden that Solomon built – ends the same way that the first one did. And Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. When his heart was set on the LORD, he built a house for the...

[Sung Psalm: 131] How often have you heard people object that "Christians are hypocrites"? How do you answer someone who says that? I think the best answer is to confess that too often it is, in fact, true. And not just in "churches out there" – but right here. How often have we thought about "what do I get out of it?" As we go through these verses, we need to confess that we have fallen short of...

In chapter 3, verse 1, we are told that Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh. But we are assured two verses later that Solomon loved the LORD. So at the beginning of his reign, Solomon married Pharaoh's daughter while remaining true to the LORD. But now – we are told that Solomon "loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh." In other words, if he had only loved one – tha...

[Sung Psalm: 51] In Romans 12 Paul launches a new section of Romans. He will now talk about the "practical" side of the Christian life. He has spent the last 11 chapters talking about the importance of Christian doctrine – the importance of the good news of what Jesus has done. We should remember that "doctrine" simply means "teaching." Doctrine is the foundation for practice. "Teaching" is the st...

1 Kings tells the story of Solomon as a story of wisdom. The whole Solomon narrative revolves around the gift of wisdom and Solomon's use of that gift, centered around the building of the temple – and indeed, with the worship service of chapter 8 at the very heart of the narrative. Our passage tonight returns us to the general theme of Solomon's wisdom, which we saw exhibited in chapters 3-5. In 4...

[Sung Psalm: 80] The basic picture in Romans 11 is that of a cultivated olive tree. The olive tree refers to Israel – you might say that it has an Abrahamic root! Exile and judgment is described by the prophets as a "chopping down" of the tree. When God sends his people into exile, he sends his agents to cut down the tree – but trees are resilient – and you never know what will grow back. I grew u...

[Sung Psalm: 69] At the beginning of this series on Romans we looked at Paul's mission: "to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations." In other words, Paul's mission is to make disciples of the nations. And his letter to the Romans is all about that mission. Paul wants you to understand your place in the kingdom of God. He wants to you understand what God i...