Old Testament reading: Deuteronomy 28
Those who don’t believe in “negative preaching” or “fire and brimstone preaching” need to read this chapter carefully. It may be summarized as follows: Obey the Lord and unbelievable blessings will overwhelm you; disobey the Lord and unspeakable horrors will destroy you. God spent only fourteen verses to describe the promised blessings in a general way, but spent FIFTY THREE verses describing in vivid and frightening detail the horrors of disobedience. Even Jeremiah, the heartbroken, weeping prophet, was given four “negatives” and two “positives” when he was commissioned to preach to the people (Jer 1:10). Pay particular note to the “boils of Egypt” and the curses of verses 27-29. In his classic work, None of These Diseases, Dr S.I. McMillen detailed the many “cures” for disease and injury in Egypt in Moses’ day, most being worse than the malady itself, causing disease and even death for non-life threatening problems.
New Testament reading: Philippians
Philippians is a beautiful epistle to perhaps Paul’s most beloved congregation. As with all of Paul’s writing, Jesus was the central theme. One of my favorite outlines of this book is Guy Woods’ – Christ our Life (1:21); Christ our Example (2:5); Christ our Hope (3:8); Christ our Strength and Source of Supply (4:13, 19). Philippians encourages us to be joyful in the face of personal difficulties. Paul was a living illustration of his exhortation. For example, the phrase “furtherance of the gospel” (1:12) is most interesting. The word translated “furtherance” means to make progress. Moreover, the word is used in military terms of one who goes ahead of an advancing army to identify and remove potential hindrances of advancement. Thus, Paul here says that his imprisonment, rather than being a hindrance to the gospel, has actually been a help to the spread of the gospel. How so? Through Paul’s chains, the gospel made its way among the palace guards so that they knew Paul was no criminal (v 13). Moreover, this furtherance was manifested by brethren becoming more bold to speak in the name of Jesus (v 14). Ultimately, there were saints (Christians) to be found even in Caesar’s household (4:22).
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