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Reading : 1 Corinthians 13

Love is perhaps one of the most over-used words in any language. Certainly in English we can use it in a variety of different contexts. Personally I love listening to music, eating a favourite meal, watching a sports game, going out into the countryside on my bicycle. I love my wife to whom I have been married for 50 years. Those varying objects of my love will – or should - necessarily involve differing intensities of feeling and emotion, certainly if I apply the following definition of love taken from a dictionary: “an intense emotion of affection, warmth, fondness and regard towards a person or thing”. I would hope my love for my wife would be of a higher, more durable and more intense character than, say, my love for my favourite football team.

In Zechariah 6:1 we read of the 8th vision which concerns four war chariots drawn by horses which came out of two mountains of brass. We read that Zechariah turned and raised his eyes and saw these four chariots that God sent to execute His judgments, and which came from between two mountains, and these mountains were made out of brass.

The horses were of different colours – red, black, white, and grisled and bay (or dappled) horses. So, we ask, why were their four war-chariots and we suggest that they refer to God’s judgments on the earth and in Daniel 2 we read of Nebuchadnezzar’s multi-metallic image which speaks of the four empires representing the Kingdom of Men.

Readings: Job 39; Malachi 1; Revelation 17-18

For words of exhortation, I would like to take our thoughts from Zephaniah. It's a small but powerful prophecy. We will briefly look at chapter one, then bring out some general principles which are relevant for us today.

In Zechariah 5:5-11 we read that Zechariah had a very unusual vision. In v.5 we are told that he saw an ephah [AV], that is, an earthenware jar [NKJV] or a measuring basket [NIV] going forth. What exactly is an ephah? Well, in Bible times it was a dry measure which would contain about seven and a half gallons, three pecks or nearly a bushel of dry material. Because an ephah was a specific measure in Israel, that is what we shall continue to call it. But what was it used for in Israel? Well apparently, it was used for measuring something like wheat or some other cereal in OT times, and so it was quite a large item.

Readings: Job 29-30; Zechariah 6-7; Revelation 3-4

One of the greatest challenges in our daily discipleship is remembering what is important in our lives. We can easily be distracted and pulled away with busy pursuits that we can get involved in. As a result, our spiritual lives can suffer.

It’s by no coincidence then, that one of the parting themes the Lord Jesus Christ emphasises in his ministry was the need for vigilance in keeping before us the reality of the coming kingdom, which surely can’t be far away. Consider these words of Luke 21:28,36:

We re-join the prophet in chapter 3. If you recall that the rulers had been oppressing the people. Verses 5 and 6 then state: “The just LORD is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame. I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant”.

Readings: Job 18-19; Zephaniah 1; 2 Peter 3

The events surrounding the birth of Jesus are only recorded in two places in the Bible; in Matthew’s and Luke’s gospels. The critical aspect of his birth was that he was the Son of God, and we need to understand that it was a fantastic miracle and there is no way that we can explain exactly how it happened. We need to accept in faith that Jesus was the Son of God and the whole events commenced with Mary being overshadowed by the power of God; the Holy Spirit. This clearly explains that Jesus wasn’t born by a man and a woman coming together as normally happens when children are conceived.

In Zephaniah we have one of the smaller revelations to the people of Israel. The minor prophets appeared toward the critical end points of the divided nation, clusters of messages at key times in the nation’s history. Here were the Father’s last attempts to draw his people back from the edge of their self-induced destruction. They also sought to give comfort and hope to the remnant of the faithful. Perhaps we see the same pattern towards the end of the New Testament, in the flurry of smaller letters which arose just prior to the fall of Jerusalem and the long prophetic silence of the darkness of the days of the Gentiles.

Readings: Job 10; Micah 6; James 2

“My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.  For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?” (James 2:1-4).

This short letter Paul penned to Timothy is poignant and urgent and gives a unique message to one Paul describes as his 'beloved son'. Although relevant to all believers, it was written as a personal letter to one man, Timothy, and begins by reminding Timothy of his relationship with the apostle Paul, and his calling. Paul encourages Timothy to follow the example he has set, warns him that he will encounter suffering, and urges him to get to Rome (from Ephesus) to complete the apostle's mission. Timothy needs the encouragement. He is under pressure from the spiritual battle faced in Ephesus. Remember Paul's warning to the Ephesian elders there, in Acts 20 at Miletus, when he said savage wolves would enter, not sparing the flock and, from the eldership itself, men would arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them.