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NASB | Matthew 13:11 Jesus answered them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 13:11 Jesus replied to them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. [Mark 4:11] |
Subject: calling all sinners |
Bible Note: Dear Brotehr WOS, I'm not disagreeing with you, either, but maybe I can augment a bit. At the root of it all is the Word of God. Consider: Even the Ethiopian had been reading Isaiah (53:7 according to Acts 8:32). Then Philip, an apostle, whose teaching, by God's grace, was equivalent to the authority of Scripture, explained Christ's atonement using that passage of Isaiah as his text. God dispenses grace through His Word. The old divines used to call this "means of grace." (I always imagine pulling a cord so that grace flows down from heaven like torents of water.) They said that the means of grace included reading, meditating on, and hearing the Word of God preached. (John Owen included Godly conversation as a form of preaching, and definitely a means of grace.) I'd venture, therefore, that we are really talking about the same thing: God's Word in our lives, whether we submit to it through reading, memory, or preaching. Of course, I think we would all hasten to add that the things of the Word of God cannot be understood by anyone without the work of the Holy Spirit. First, in regeneration (John 3:5), and second, in illumination (1 Cor 2:13). Just my 2 mites worth. In Him, Doc PS Interesting how these things come up. I'm currently reading John Piper's little book, "The Supremacy of God in Preaching," while working through the more difficult work by Bryan Chapell, "Christ Centered Preaching." Consequently, your reminder of the importance of preaching was particularly appropriate for me. :-) |