There are many reasons why I love living in Canada. Near the top of the list is that Canada is the adopted home of many nations from around the world. The multi-ethnic character of our country has spilled over into the local church that I pastor. Devonwood Community Church of the Nazarene is a multi-ethnic […]
Living the Kingdom on Earth
Posts by John Neposlan
In the New Testament, Christ’s 2nd Coming is mentioned close to 300 times. One out of every 13 verses is about the 2nd Coming. But it’s never brought up to get you to speculate about the End. Let me share what Jesus said regarding His 2nd Coming in the last days of His 1st Coming […]
We have reached the end of our journey through this great Book of Isaiah. In Isaiah 62, we have a wonderful picture of the consummation of God’s covenant relationship with His people. God’s people are pictured as a Holy Bride who are inhabiting a gloriously redeemed Jerusalem with people from all nations streaming to it. […]
In John 12, the Apostle John has two quotations from the Book of Isaiah. The first reference in Jo. 12:38 is from the Suffering Servant Song passage in Isaiah 52:13-53:12: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (Is. 53:1). This verse appears in a song […]
We are nearing the end of our journey through the Book of Isaiah. One of the themes in Isaiah’s ministry is to point out the deep pride and self-deception of God’s people, even in their religiosity, or maybe, especially in their religiosity. It seems like the LORD needs to light a spiritual dynamite stick in […]
In the Apostle Paul’s great Letter to the Romans, we have the most detailed explanation of God’s plan of salvation for the world. We have a systematic presentation of God’s powerful redeeming work in and through Jesus Christ, the LORD. Paul summarizes the teaching of this Letter in Romans 1:16-17: I am not ashamed of […]
In the major subsection of Isaiah 40-55, the prophet Isaiah foresees a time when the Israelites will be restored back to their land from Babylonian exile. God’s ‘servant’, Cyrus, the Persian king, will issue a decree that will bring the Jewish exiles back to Canaan. Even though this foreign leader does not know Yahweh God, […]
In our reading today, we have two of the four Servant Songs in Isaiah 40-55 that prophesy the coming of the Servant of the LORD. In Isaiah 49:1-7 and 50:4-9, we have a more detailed explanation of the identity and work of this Servant, who was initially introduced to us in Isaiah 42:1-9. He is […]
Just put yourself in the shoes of a Hebrew who has just seen his nation conquered by Babylon and has seen the Jerusalem Temple destroyed by this invading army. Now he is being carted off to Babylon where he will spend the rest of his life in exile. What conclusions would he be tempted to […]
In our last blog, we mentioned that Isaiah 42:1-9 is the first of four Servant Songs that appear in Isaiah 40-55 (Is. 42:1-9; 49:1-7; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12). They are songs that prophesy a coming individual who will accomplish Yahweh God’s purpose for the redemption of the world. Israel as a nation was called by God to […]