Christ is extolled by the aged apostle as truly man and God, who is holiness and truth, genuine believers being identified by their sensitivity to sin and concern for biblical obedience, and false Christians by their relative indifference to one or the other.

This is the occasion Christ called the multitudes around Him to make a momentous statement of principle. It was a matter on which Israel's 'clergy' had misled them - what defiles people to keep them out of Heaven? Here is the Lord's answer, and the only remedy.

The famous appendix of Judges, speaking of events after Joshua and the elders. Micah and the Danites - a record of astounding syncretism from so-blessed a people, yielding lessons on how we as sincere people may fall into 'double-mindedness', first barely consciously, then fully.

Why does the risen Lord tell Peter he will die a martyr? How did this glorify God and why was Peter told that John's future should not concern him? Here are the reasons and their importance to us as individuals and churches today.

Christ calls us to think about what life should really accomplish and the central importance of the soul. They show how much we need God's words for the soul to live, and the tragedy of devoting our entire lives to this material life and losing Heaven.