UNFOLDING THE WORD With Dr. Gary Kuhne

I Kings 19 explains to us how the prophet Elijah fell into great discouragement, depressed to the point of wanting God to take his life. After highlighting “4 Triggers” that can push us toward times of discouragement and depression, vs. 3-5 identify some “slippery steps” that pull us downward on the stairway to the “pits”! We slip down when we shift from “faith into fear”. We slip down further when we allow our fear to cause us to “run away from God’s call in our lives”. We slip closer to the bottom when we “give in to thoughts of despair”. We end up at the bottom of the stairs and fully in the pits when we “retreat into sleep”.

SUNDAY EXPOSITIONS” are extended weekly Bible teaching times in which I go through a Book of Bible verse by verse. My current exposition is taken from the Book of Ephesians. The SUNDAY EXPOSITIONS are posted on Sunday each week.

I Kings 19 explains to us how the prophet Elijah fell into great discouragement, depressed to the point of wanting God to take his life. The chapter explains how we can drift into such times, how God meets us in the midst of such times, and the steps to climb back out of the pits and back into productive service. The chapter begins by highlighting “4 Triggers” that often can push us toward times of discouragement and depression.

“SUNDAY EXPOSITIONS” are extended weekly Bible teaching times in which I go through a Book of Bible verse by verse. My current exposition is taken from the Book of Ephesians. The SUNDAY EXPOSITIONS are posted on Sunday each week.

The seventh church being measured by God was the church at Laodicea, wealthy and powerful city that was at the center of trade, banking, and influence. In a sense, Laodicea was a church in an environment similar to the church in America at this point in history. Because of the wealth of the region and city, the church had to be materially prosperous in a way that was not reflective of many other parts of the world. The church received two rebukes from Christ. First, they were characterized as “lukewarm, spiritually complacent as a church family. Christ says that reality about a church family makes him “sick to his stomach”. Second, they were characterized as “self-deceived in their pride”, meaning they were entirely wrong about how they saw themselves as a church. The answer for Laodicea was the answer for all church families – “salve your eyes” so you can see the truth about yourself! And the “salve” is the very Word of God, that teaches us, rebukes us, corrects us, and trains us. And a church should trust what the Word says more than what they “feel” – listen to the Word as if it were Christ “knocking on their door”.

“SUNDAY EXPOSITIONS” are extended weekly Bible teaching times in which I go through a Book of Bible verse by verse. My current exposition is taken from the Book of Ephesians. The SUNDAY EXPOSITIONS are posted on Sunday each week

The sixth church being measured by God was the church at Philadelphia, a wealthy and powerful city that housed the major Roman military base that provided protection and control for the region. The church did not receive a rebuke from Christ – instead they got a message of encouragement. Christ began by reminding the church of two important facts. First, it is Christ, not our human strategies, that “opens doors for ministry”. Second, we should be praying as a church for God to open such doors of ministry. Christ then turned attention to two spiritual choices of the church that stood out for affirmation. First, the church “kept Christ’s Word”, they saw the Word as inspired and inerrant and were obediant to the commands and authority of the Word. Second, the church had “not denied Christ’s Word” even in the face of opposition from their culture, they were clear to their community that it was God’s Word, not the cultural norms, that was the true source of absolutes of morality and ethics. Christ concluded His message by promising both eventual vindication for the church before those who oppose their message, as well as escape from the coming time of Great Tribulation. They were facing trials, but would not face the Tribulation period. Christ also affirmed the promise of dwelling in His presence in intimate fellowship forever.

“SUNDAY EXPOSITIONS” are extended weekly Bible teaching times in which I go through a Book of Bible verse by verse. My current exposition is taken from the Book of Ephesians. The SUNDAY EXPOSITIONS are posted on Sunday each week.

The fifth church being measured by God was the church at Sardis, a wealthy and powerful city sitting built on an imposing hill that made it nearly immune to defeat by opposing armies, a city in which the culture was complacent in their position. While the church was wealthy by human standard, Christ strongly confronts it because of two major problems. First, the church had a reputation without reality, a church that many saw as prosperous and blessed, but which was actually dead. As II Timothy 3:5 explains, the church “had the appearance of godliness but denied its power. God is not impressed by what tends to impress us – numbers, wealth and facilities are not enough!  Second, the church was marked by “empty works” – they were doing things, but the works were empty and unproductive in terms of the Kingdom! They were merely “going through the motions”. The answer for Sardis was to wake up, strengthen what remains, and keep the Biblical commands. Christ warns of coming discipline should they continue in merely having the form without the reality.

“SUNDAY EXPOSITIONS” are extended weekly Bible teaching times in which I go through a Book of Bible verse by verse. My current exposition is taken from the Book of Ephesians. The SUNDAY EXPOSITIONS are posted on Sunday each week.