There is a profound sense in which these words of Jesus speak to us today. The light of Jesus comes to us through the Scriptures, and each of us has it for “a little while.” What will you do with the light you have received?

Suppose that y...

The human story can be described in four eras. And in each of them, the light of Jesus shines in a different way.

Moonlight
“You search the Scriptures... and it is they that bear witness about me” (Jn. 5:39)....

What does a more abundant life look like? It is a life with:

More peace. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (14:27). Jesus can give more peace than any of us has yet received.

More love. “Greater love has ...

Jesus came so that you may have life. If you are in Christ, you have it. Life is in Christ, and if Christ is in you, life is in you.

But Jesus does not stop there. He adds these four marvellous words: “and have it abundantly.” What does th...

Picture your life as a house. You are sitting in your living room, and there is a knock on the door. You pull back the curtain to see who is outside.

Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens th...

Notice that alongside Jesus, who has come into the world to bring life, there is also a thief who comes to steal. The thief takes away what was yours and leaves you with less than you had.

The thief has also come to kill and d...

Someone might hear that Jesus has come into the world, and say, “So what? What difference is that to me?” Here are two reasons to rejoice:

1. Rejoice in the goodness of God
Suppose that this world was ruled by some dar...

Maybe you are not sure if what God wills is really for you. Let’s consider the words of Jesus together:

“This is the will of my Father…”
Some of us could be described as strong-willed. Once you get hold of something, yo...

How did Jesus get the will of God done? Here are two ways:

Jesus came down from heaven
Notice Jesus tells us that He came “down from heaven.” His life did not begin in the manger. Before He lay in the arms of Mary, He w...

Here is another reason Jesus came into the world: to do the will of the Father. Jesus gives us an inside look at God’s will for every believer.

1. All who come to the Son are gifts from God the Father
If you are a believ...

Why doesn’t everyone respond positively to Jesus’ call to follow Him? Here are three different ways people respond:

1. I am too good to need repentance
Let’s accept for a moment that you are living a good moral life. A...

What comes to mind when you hear the word repentance? Do you imagine humiliation, shame, and being hard on yourself?

Here are three things about repentance that people often find surprising:

1. Repentance brings joy,...

This was an irreversible decision. Peter, Andrew, James, and John had a trade to return to, but the Romans would not have welcomed back a man who left his tax booth.

Jesus called Levi to a completely different life—not to add believing in J...

Notice that this command of Jesus is completely open-ended. “Follow me.” What will this mean for Levi? Jesus gives no specifics.

When students are looking around universities, the admissions department will say, “Here’s our course. And here...

Why would Jesus choose a man like Matthew the tax collector to be a disciple? Wasn’t it obvious that a man like this, known for his collaboration and corruption, would be a liability?

Luke tells us that the Pharisees “grumbled at his disci...

Luke records the story of Levi, who became one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. His is a remarkable story. We are told that Jesus “went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth” (5:27).

The fact that Levi was a tax ...

Jesus is speaking here about a family member who puts pressure on you to stop following Jesus. Will you listen to Jesus who says, “Follow Me”? Or to a loved one who says, “Give Him up”?

Jesus tells us how to make this decision. We must coun...

Jesus never endorsed or promoted violence. The gospel can never advance by violence or conquest. So, what did Jesus mean when He said that He came to bring a sword? The meaning of any passage of Scripture will often become clearer when we...

Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace” (Mat. 10:34), but these words are really good news. Here’s why: God has promised that one day, there will be peace. Crime and violence will cease. A world of wars will give way to...

Jesus, the master teacher, again anticipates a misunderstanding. “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.” It would be entirely natural for those who believe in Jesus to think that was why He came.

God had promised a day...

This is good news. The reason Jesus came is that you may be able to live a new life that is pleasing to God. And this life is made possible for you by the power of the Holy Spirit.

A man was serving time for theft. In prison, he heard the ...

It is a wonderful truth that Jesus fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law for us. But what Paul says here is that God sent His Son into the world so “that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us.”</...

This is an astonishing statement. The scribes and the Pharisees devoted their entire lives to the pursuit of righteousness. How could our righteousness ever exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees?

Jesus was scathing in His critique o...

Jesus came into the world to fulfil the law and the prophets, and He did so in His life and in His death.

1. In His Life
Isaiah said that a virgin would conceive and bear a son (Is. 7:14). And when Mary bore Jesus, tha...

A good teacher always anticipates misunderstanding, and here, Jesus corrects a false assumption about why He came into the world.

Perhaps you have thought the message of the Bible is that we are all sinners, but Jesus paid the price of our...

This man knows that Christ has the ability to make him clean, but does He want to? So the man comes to Jesus and asks. He begs Jesus—on his knees.

There’s humility here. This man is not saying, “Why did you let this happen to me? You owe me...

In every one of Jesus’ promises, He tells us something about our relationship with Him.

1. Yoke yourself to Christ: Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you (Mat....

Let’s review the rock-solid commitments that Jesus Christ has made to us:

1. He will give you rest
“Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mat. 11:28). This is the promise of ...

Will you see Jesus’ glory with your eyes, or will you simply understand it more fully in your mind? One of the great Puritan writers, Thomas Manton, says it will be both.

There is a glorified eye as well as a glorified mind. Job said, “Thou...