Life is a grab bag. You have good days and bad. You have friends and enemies. You laugh and you cry. But a separation is coming, says Jesus, when everything good will end up on one side, and everything bad will end up on the other side. Keep listening as Dr. Boice looks at Jesus’ parable about a fish net and checks out the consequences for the fish.
Matthew 13:47-50
It’s not something you see much in real life. A person discovers something so desirable and so valuable that he’s willing to sell everything he owns just to buy it. You may never see such a thing in your lifetime - but it makes a great parable, doesn’t it? Keep listening as Dr. Boice examines two parables about discovering the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 13:44-46
What is it with the church? Outsiders criticize it for hypocrisy and irrelevance, and insiders complain about everything from long-winded preachers to lazy pew-sitters. If the church is supposed to be the vanguard of the kingdom of heaven, why does it fall so far short? Keep listening as Dr. Boice looks at three parables about enemy activity within the kingdom.
Matthew 13:24-30
Question: If you hear a stranger preaching, how can you tell if he’s an ordinary preacher or Jesus himself? Answer: Check your watch. If the message is a 45-minute sermon, it’s a preacher. If the message is a 20-second parable, it’s Jesus. Stay tuned now for The Bible Study Hour as Dr. James Boice begins a series of ... well, 25-minute sermons ... talking about Jesus the master parable-teller.
Matthew 13:3-9
In one way, it’s not a happy ending to the book of Acts. The hero of the early chapters is forgotten. The hero of the later chapters is in jail. The Jews are blasé about the gospel. Yet it’s the ending God planned. New churches are everywhere. The gospel is being preached. And the book’s real hero, Christ himself, is alive and well.
Acts 28:17-31
Turmoil on one side, peace on the other. Wavering on one side, decisiveness on the other. Fear on one side, faith on the other. The turmoil, the wavering, and the fear were all on the side of the Roman authorities. While the peace, the decisiveness, and the faith were all on the side of their prisoner Paul.
Acts 28:1-16
It’s the stuff of adventure movies. A sea voyage with a boatload of prisoners. Unfavorable winds, worsening weather, a brewing storm. Throwing cargo overboard to lighten the load. Hurricane-force winds, shipwreck on an island. And finally, the guards on the brink of killing all the prisoners -- among them, the apostle Paul.
Acts 27
In this corner: Agrippa II, king of Israel; son of Herod Agrippa, who imprisoned Peter and killed James; great-grandson of Herod the Great, who massacred babies trying to kill Jesus. And in this corner: Paul; a Jew from Tarsus; a prisoner, a troublemaker, a chronic nuisance for two Roman governors. Is this a fair fight?
Acts 25:13-26:32
Not many of us inspire enough hatred in other people to become the target of an assassination plot. The apostle Paul was one who did. In Jerusalem, forty men vowed not to eat or drink until they killed him. Keep listening as Dr. James Boice talks about the plot, what it meant for Paul’s life, and what it means for us -- even if we don’t see people plotting against us.
Acts 23:12-35
It’s a clever ploy. When two groups of people are attacking you at the same time, do something that will turn them against each other. That’s exactly what Paul did when the Pharisees and Saducees were ganging up on him in Jerusalem. He pushed their hot button by mentioning the resurrection, and it was all over but the shouting.
Acts 22:23-23:11
Everybody wants their church to grow. But what if your church suddenly started attracting ... well ... the wrong class of people? Undesirables. Outcasts. Rejects. That’s what was happening in the early church as the gospel spread beyond its Jewish roots to the much-despised Gentiles. And some of the Jews were ready to start a riot.
Acts 21:27-22:22