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Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. (Ephesians 3:7-12, ESV) * * * "To have a share in any earthly inheritance, is to diminish the share of the other inheritors. In the inheritance of the saints, that which each has, goes to increase the possession of the rest." George MacDonald
Unspoken Sermons "The Inheritance"
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When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? (Ps. 56:3,4, ESV) * * * “It is a law of the spiritual life that every act of trust makes the next act less difficult. Trusting becomes like breathing, the natural unconsciousness of the redeemed soul.” Hannah Whitall Smith
The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” (Jn. 14:6a) “[That middle clause] has a Greek background. In Greek the noun aletheia has a double sense. It means truth as distinguished from falsehood, and it means that which is real and genuine as opposed to that which is unreal and counterfeit. “If we take it in a combination of both these meanings, it means that in Jesus we come face to face with truth and reality. In him we penetrate beyond the guesses and the gropings, beyond the perhapses and the maybes, and arrive at The Truth; we pass beyond the counterfeits and the substitutes, the imitations and the shadows, and arrive at reality. Because Jesus is the truth, he alone can tell us about God and brings us into the things which are real. Vincent Taylor says that Jesus is the Truth because ‘revelation is embodied in his person.’” William Barclay
Jesus As They Saw Him It is the middle of a hot sunny afternoon in the far northcountry, far above the Galilee, and you are trailing tiredly behind Jesus with the other disciples. Red and gray rock walls rise up on both sides of the path. Thick foliage comes right down to the edge of where you’re walking. Somewhere, in the unseeable distance, there is the loud sound of a spring flowing. Just a hint of breeze is blowing, up in the treetops.
For much of the day, Jesus has been walking up at the head of the group, clearly thinking about something which He hasn’t yet revealed to any of you. His eyes are straight forward; his pace quick. And it is only after another long while—only when you arrive to a clearing, an upland meadow—that He suddenly turns and faces you with the subject of His rumination: this direct question: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” In essence, He is asking the ultimate secondary question—the penultimate consideration for every human heart: What does humanity think of Me? There is a murmuring amidst you Twelve, standing around Him. Someone finally speaks up with a safe, soft answer: “Well, some say John the Baptist. Some say Elijah, others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” In other words, there is a great disparity of opinion about you, Jesus. Some say this; others say that. Imagine the look in the eyes of Jesus that ensues—a fascinating blend of both immense humility and almighty divinity—as He leans closer and asks, “But what about YOU? Who do YOU say that I am?” I believe it's no overstatement to say that, every moment of every day since the Incarnation, this has been the operative, the ultimate question begged of every human heart. Not for others, but for YOU, what is the definition of this Man? We know what Peter then says. But what do YOU, everyday, say with the reality of your life? What follows directly after, in Matthew's account, is a particular statement made to the particular disciple, Simon-called-Peter, and yet those next words of Jesus have a universal, even totalizing meaning for all who would believe. Standing there, on a path in the sunshine in Caesarea Philippi, Jesus is speaking to us even as He’s speaking the following to Peter:
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January 2026
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Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.A.
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