by Paul Apple | Mar 30, 2024 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: THIS LIFE HAS MEANING WHEN WE RISE ABOVE THE FUTILITY OF MAN’S WISDOM TO EMBRACE GOD’S WISDOM = FEAR GOD AND OBEY HIM BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE BECAUSE WE ALL WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE INTRODUCTION: Our culture: Getting older; living longer, more healthcare and...
by Paul Apple | Mar 29, 2024 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: BY OPPORTUNISTIC FAITH AND JOYFUL CONTENTMENT WE CAN LIVE BOTH A PRODUCTIVE AND ENJOYABLE LIFE INTRODUCTION: We need balance in our lives. Some people concentrate so much on being productive and achieving something … they seem to have no enjoyment of life. ...
by Paul Apple | Mar 29, 2024 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: FOLLY ON THE PART OF RULERS PUTS A NATION IN JEOPARDY AND REQUIRES A RESPONSE OF WISDOM – YET WISDOM IS PRECARIOUS AT BEST INTRODUCTION: Most people would find no structure in these proverbs – similar to chap. 7 – Those that try to group the verses in some...
by Paul Apple | Mar 28, 2024 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: WISDOM CANNOT INSULATE ONE FROM LIFE’S UNCERTAINTIES OR GUARANTEE RECOGNITION AND REWARD INTRODUCTION: Tremper Longman: Summary of Chap. 9 In ch. 9, Qohelet gives advice in the context of statements of deep skepticism. Indeed, this chapter might be judged...
by Paul Apple | Mar 27, 2024 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: WHEN YOU CAN’T MAKE SENSE OF YOUR DESTINY, AT LEAST ENJOY THE PRESENT INTRODUCTION: Despite the repetition of common themes in this Book of Ecclesiastes, I find one aspect to be especially puzzling – to what extent does the view of Solomon ever rise above...
by Paul Apple | Mar 26, 2024 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: WISDOM CANNOT FIGURE OUT LIFE’S PERPLEXITIES INTRODUCTION: Douglas Miller: In sum, the larger unit (8:1-17) begins in 8:1 with the double rhetorical question: Who is like the wise man? Who knows the interpretation/explanation? It closes with statements that...
by Paul Apple | Mar 25, 2024 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: WISDOM TREADS CAREFULLY IN INTERACTING WITH SOVEREIGN POWER BECAUSE OF THE PRIORITY OF SUBMISSION AND THE REALITY OF LIMITATIONS INTRODUCTION: John Gill: The preacher begins this chapter with the praise of wisdom, from its excellency and...
by Paul Apple | Mar 24, 2024 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: UNDERSTANDING THE PERVASIVENESS OF FUTILITY AND THE REALITY OF PERSONAL PERVERSITY, PURSUE THE PATH OF WISDOM AND THE FEAR OF GOD INTRODUCTION: Albert Mohler: Wise living in this world must take human evil into account with utter realism. Stupidity and...
by Paul Apple | Mar 24, 2024 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: WE ARE ALL HEADED FOR DEATH SO BE PREPARED TO FACE GOD INTRODUCTION: This is going to be a short Scripture reflection but hopefully memorable – I just want to focus on one verse from the Ecclesiastes 7:2 — “It is better to go to a house of...
by Paul Apple | Mar 22, 2024 | Bible-NT
BIG IDEA: SINCE GOD IS SOVEREIGN, THE WISE MUST BENEFIT FROM SORROW AND SUBMIT RATHER THAN EXPRESS PRIDEFUL IMPATIENCE AND FRUSTRATION INTRODUCTION: Walter Kaiser: Present grief and pain may prove to be more beneficial in their effect on us than all the festivity,...
by Paul Apple | Mar 20, 2024 | Bible-NT
BIG IDEA: EVEN THOSE WHO APPEAR TO HAVE GRABBED HOLD OF THE GOOD LIFE STRUGGLE WITH NO ENJOYMENT, NO SATISFACTION AND NO ANSWERS TO LIFE’S ULTIMATE QUESTIONS INTRODUCTION: Daniel Akin: Chapter 6 begins, echoing the curse with the language of “sickening tragedy,” by...
by Paul Apple | Mar 19, 2024 | Bible-NT
BIG IDEA: APART FROM CONTENTMENT IN ENJOYING GOD’S GIFTS, THE PURSUIT OF WEALTH CAN CREATE HUGE PROBLEMS INTRODUCTION Iain Provan: Ecclesiastes 5:8–9 picks up the thoughts of 4:1–3, making it clear to the reader that oppression is not merely a matter of individuals...
by Paul Apple | Mar 18, 2024 | Bible-NT
BIG IDEA: WISE WORSHIP CALLS FOR OBEDIENT LISTENING, CONTROLLED SPEECH, FAITHFUL COMMITMENT AND REVERENTIAL AWE INTRODUCTION Douglas Sean O’Donnell: As we approach God in worship, Pastor Solomon wants to establish a safe distance between us and the transcendent God....
by Paul Apple | Mar 10, 2024 | Bible-NT
BIG IDEA: TWELVE FINAL EXPRESSIONS CONSTITUTE THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF OUR LONGING FOR JESUS TO RETURN SOON INTRODUCTION: We have arrived finally at the end of our journey through the book of Revelation. This wraps up our study of the entire canon of scripture as...
by Paul Apple | Mar 9, 2024 | Bible-NT
BIG IDEA: WITH ITS FRUIT-BEARING TREE OF LIFE AND ILLUMINATION BY GOD’S PRESENCE, PARADISE TRANSFORMED SURPASSES THE SPLENDOR OF EDEN INTRODUCTION: Many times we experience disappointment and regret when our new experiences revisit and remind us of past similar...
by Paul Apple | Mar 8, 2024 | Bible-NT
BIG IDEA: 3 DEFINING REALITIES OF THE ETERNAL STATE – HOUSES THE PRESENCE OF GOD, MANIFESTS THE BRILLIANCE OF GOD’S GLORY AND CONTAINS DEDICATED WORSHIPERS INTRODUCTION: Grant Osborne: The rest of the chapter provides a glimpse of the holiness, glory, and joy that...
by Paul Apple | Mar 7, 2024 | Bible-NT
BIG IDEA: NEW JERUSALEM IS PRESENTED AS GLORIOUS IN APPEARANCE WITH MAGNIFICENT ARCHITECTURE AND COSTLY BUILDING MATERIALS INTRODUCTION: Gordon Fee: The point of all this, of course, is to indicate how great is the “new Jerusalem,” where God and the Lamb sit...
by Paul Apple | Mar 6, 2024 | Bible-NT
BIG IDEA: JESUS WILL CREATE A NEW COSMIC ORDER WITH NEW JERUSALEM AS THE CAPITAL CITY WHERE OVERCOMERS WILL ENJOY ALL THE BENEFITS OF ETERNAL LIFE IN COMMUNION WITH GOD INTRODUCTION: Daniel Akin: Main Idea: God will establish a new heaven and a new earth, where Christ...
by Paul Apple | Mar 5, 2024 | Bible-NT
BIG IDEA: THE WICKED DEAD WILL STAND BEFORE THE DIVINE JUDGE TO BE CONDEMNED TO THE ETERNAL LAKE OF FIRE BASED ON A FAIR EVALUATION OF THEIR WORKS INTRODUCTION: S. Lewis Johnson: The writer of the Epistle of the Hebrews says, “It is appointed unto men once to die, and...
by Paul Apple | Mar 4, 2024 | Bible-NT
BIG IDEA: SATAN IS IMPRISONED DURING THE BLESSED MILLENNIAL KINGDOM BUT THEN RELEASED FOR ULTIMATE DEFEAT AND CONDEMNATION INTRODUCTION: Grant Osborne: Premillennialism believes that Christ will return to earth, destroy the evil forces, and reign here for a thousand...
