We face the new year with joy also because we know who rules and reigns over our trials. We can trust that each and every obstacle, whatever trial we endure, and any heartache we face, are all given to us by God for our good. He doesn’t use challenges or trials in a willy-nilly way,... Continue Reading

Jesus is also our Sabbath rest, having rested from His labors in the tomb on the Old Covenant Sabbath. He is the Redeemer who cried out “It is finished” (John 19:21) so that we would be assured that He is the one who can give us “rest for our souls” (Matt. 11:28-29). He rose on... Continue Reading

Grace moderates our expectations of ourselves and others. At the foot of the cross, we have seen our sin and our sinfulness. We have learned that we are not perfect and never will be. Therefore, when we fall and fail, we don’t torment or torture ourselves. Instead, we calmly take our sins to Calvary knowing... Continue Reading

If we only focus on what is happening in our immediate context, and that immediate context happens to be protected from many of the ills of this world, we can start believing the lie that people are generally good. However, if we look beyond to the heartache that has plagued every generation, we understand that... Continue Reading

In keeping with the journalistic tradition of looking back at the recent past, we present the top 50 stories of the year that were read on The Aquila Report site based on the number of hits. We will present the 50 stories in groups of 10 to run on five lists on consecutive days. Here... Continue Reading

The great news is that God is the author of 2018. He knows each and every twist and turn that lay ahead both for you and for me. He has planned 2018 down to the minutest detail, all with the goal of his glory and our good. So when it comes to facing the new... Continue Reading

“Walking with God through suffering means that, in general, you will not experience some kind of instant deliverance from your questions, your sorrow, your fears.  There can be, as we shall see, times in which you receive a surprising, inexplicable ‘peace that passes understanding.’  There will be days in which some new insight comes to... Continue Reading

The sequence is identical to Rev. 20:4–6: the dead come alive, are raised, and are enthroned in heaven to share Christ’s reign. Yet Paul is not describing believers’ future bodily resurrection, ascension, and enthronement. Rather, he speaks of grace received in our past and in our present, when God’s Holy Spirit applies to us the... Continue Reading

In the end, these seem to be separate verdicts, the congruence of which is maintained by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.  But this then poses the question of assurance in a fundamental way.  Wright deals with this in two ways.  First, he suggests that moral perfection is not required but that “the signs... Continue Reading

The Lord promised a sign to the house of David, a virgin bearing a son, who would represent the presence of God with his people—God with us. Isaiah 7:14 does not stand in isolation, but must be read in light of Isaiah’s broader outlook. The whole scenario and context points to something quite special which... Continue Reading