On April 22, 1877, Charles Spurgeon, pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in inner city London, preached on Isaiah 6:8. His sermon was titled “A Divine Call for Missionaries.” Isaiah 6:8 says, “I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I, send me.’” The sermon begins with Spurgeon saying that missionary work among the nations should be pursued because the lost are perishing and because the only way for them to be saved is through [...]

The Bible begins and ends the same way, namely, with God living with his people in a garden-temple. This is why the tabernacle and temple, the places where God’s presence dwelt with Israel, were filled with garden imagery, with things like palm branches and pomegranates and a golden lampstand that looked like a tree with almond blossoms. God made us to live with him in a garden. This plan reaches all the way back to before creation. Why is there something rather than nothing? Why are there creatures who [...]