Peter Chen
Micah 5:2-4 The Messianic Message of Micah

Micah prophesied of the Messiah that He is the LORD God and that He is the shepherd over His people. This is the true message of Christmas that woos us to worship Christ, to love, honor, and serve Him. May we ponder deeply the wonder of Christmas, that the LORD, the eternal God, came from heaven in human flesh, born in Bethlehem, born of a woman, in the person of Jesus, to seek and save that which was lost and to shepherd all His elect who repent and trust in Him, to guide them away from sin and in the pathway of sanctification all the way home to glory.

Peter Chen
Psalm 37 - God: Your only refuge!

Psalm 37 is a Psalm written by Israel’s greatest king, king David. It reveals only two possibilities for the end of a person’s life. The wicked will be cut off by God’s judgment. Although they prosper abundantly in the present, their end is certain. They are not satisfied with prosperity, so they seek to destroy the righteous. Yet, the righteous seek refuge in the LORD. A repeated refrain in the Psalm is, “do not fret.” The path for settling your soul is through seeking refuge in God. The Christian’s heart is encouraged through this revelation of God, who sustains the righteous. Moreover, the Psalm directs Christians to trust, with great hope, in the LORD. The result is that they can progress through life’s difficulties and into eternity because of the salvation of God. He truly delivers those who seek refuge in Him from evildoers.

Dan Lee
Revelation 4-6, The Reign of God

The revelation of the future is given from the perspective of heaven. God reigns as the supreme ruler and deity who is enthroned and worshipped in heaven. What is true in heaven becomes the reality on earth as the revelation of the future unfolds. This revelation commences with Jesus breaking open the seals and shows the backdrop against which the judgments of God will come: ordinary and natural suffering in the fallen world and the persecution of Christians and their holy prayer for justice. In response to their prayer, divine wrath is poured out upon the world (with the seventh seal [8:1] and the trumpet and bowl judgments that ensue). All of this affirms the resounding biblical call to be ready for Christ. He is indeed coming quickly. May we be dressed in readiness and keep our lamps lit.

Dan Lee
Revelation 2-3, Exhortations of our Loving Lord

Jesus knows the future, that judgment is coming. He, therefore, prepares His elect with strong exhortations to prepare for that day. He speaks strong admonishments out of His immense love for the churches. There is no greater proof of love than to warn your beloved of an impending danger. Divine judgment is coming and Jesus wants none to perish but for all to come to repentance. May we all have ears to hear what the Spirit says to the churches!

Dan Lee
Revelation 1, The Blazing Glory of Jesus

Revelation comes from the triune God who reveals the future return of Christ in blazing glory. This is John’s introduction to the riveting book of prophecy. Jesus is coming again bodily and visibly for all to see. The revelation of His return and all the events surrounding His return are given by the triune God. Christ is revealed in blazing glory with which He will come again.

John 16:1-4, Jesus Our Guardian

The main idea of John 16 is best captured in the identity of Jesus as our Guardian. This idea is seen in vv 1-15 in that Jesus guards us from stumbling (vv 1-4a), from helplessness (vv 4b-11), and from ignorance (vv 12-15). In this first installment of our studies from John 16, we see how Jesus guards His disciples with His prescience (or foreknowledge) of their future persecution. Moreover, we see how Jesus also foretold us of the more general trials of life for His people (“tribulation” or “affliction” of 16:33). Amid all the trials of life, Jesus guards us from the greatest danger, the danger of falling away. He preserves His own to the very and He does so through means.

Isaiah 8:11-20, Stand Firm (Part 2)

We must stand firm on the word of God. The temptation to become like the world in what we say, what we fear, and what we hear are immense. The LORD speaks to Isaiah, the believers of his generation, and to us, to take this matter seriously and to not waver in our commitment and faithfulness to the word of God. The Holy Spirit’s aid is available to all who would humbly hear, believe, and abide in His truth. May the Lord heighten our spiritual alertness this year to stand up and stand firm on the word of God and be the influence we ought to be in this dark and dying world.

Isaiah 8:11-20, Stand Firm (Part 1)

The LORD knew that Isaiah would face the temptation to conform to the unbelieving world around him. Therefore, He spoke to exhort and admonish the prophet to resist conformity and to stand firm on the revelation He had given him. There is a wonderful lesson for us as we embark upon the New Year. We, too, must resist conformity to the world and remain faithful and steadfast in our commitment to the word of God. Stand firm on the word of God is the encouragement that we find in verses 11-15 and 19-20.

Isaiah 8:11-20, Stand Up

God made Isaiah and his sons into a witness for Him. They along with their God-given unique and prophetic names became the living testimony of the veracity of God’s word. Whom has God ordained to be the witnesses for His word in this day and age? This is the question we ponder in our study of Isaiah 8. May the Lord raise up a people to hold up and give testimony to His word for our generation.

Isaiah 9:1-7, Immanuel Has Come

God came down to earth in the person of Jesus. This is the stupendous message of Christmas according to Isaiah. This is the human ruler who is the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Eternal Father, and the Prince of Peace, who comes to deal with the root problem of all our ills at His first coming, then comes again in the future to bring about the fullness of salvation at His second coming.

Isaiah 7:1-25, The Promise of Immanuel

in this three-week Christmas series, we will study the rich prophecy of Immanuel found in Isaiah chapters 7 through 9. In this first installment, we examine the promise of Immanuel given to king Ahaz and to the Jewish people, during a time of impending invasion by the joint forces of Aram and Israel. The king of Judah in this scene stubbornly maintains a disposition of unbelief. Therefore, LORD confronts him of this unbelief with a double sign, one for the immediate deliverance from these two enemies and another for the ultimate deliverance from sin and judgment through the virgin born Immanuel. The God who is able (both omnipotent and omniscient) to deliver us from all our ills calls us to repent and believe in Him. There is a breathtaking deliverance for the soul for all who believe and repent.

1 Thess. 5:8-10, The Wrath of God

The wrath of God is what marks the final seven year period of Daniel 9, also known as the tribulation period. This understanding provides the perspective by which we can understand where the Gentile church fits into the plan and the timeline of God in Daniel 9. God’s wrath is meant for His enemies, not His own people. This is confirmed in Revelation 7 where God seals the Jewish remnant to be protected from the onslaught of His judgments during the tribulation period. God also takes up His church to be removed from the world during this period. The church is removed from the earth before the final 70th heptad. The church belongs to the gap between the 69th and the 70th heptads of Daniel 9. All this means the rapture of the church and the commencement of the day of the Lord are imminent. They can occur anytime. The proper response to this news from 1 Thess. 5:8 is this: Be sober. May the Lord evermore wise us up to be sober-minded, always living in the reality of Jesus’ soon return for rapture.