The saying of the corporate amen is a great covenant privilege, and has the force of a binding oath. We never want to take it lightly, or invoke it to no purpose, or, worst of all, to mumble it. As we sing the psalms, we offer back to God what He gave us to sing …
Can’t Work the System
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 98 “How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver” (Prov. 16:16). This is another interesting comparison in Proverbs. If you have to choose, choose this over that. If …
Three Temptations
We come now to a passage of Scripture which was well-known to our Lord Jesus—He used it in His victory over the devil in the wilderness. “And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers . . .” (Deuteronomy 6:10-25). It ought …
Faith and Frequency
We come to this table on a weekly basis. It is frequently assumed by many that the only reason for this would be because of some kind of superstitious regard for the merits of the Supper. But superstition is a matter of the heart, a question of attitude. At the time of the Reformation, the …
Tender Mercies
There is no substitute for personal holiness, kindness, and humility. Nothing can be substituted in for it. Nothing adequately takes the place of it. There are many glorious truths in the Christian faith, but there is only one demeanor to adorn them all. The gospel is glorious, but what adorns it? Tender mercies. The covenant …
Gotta Be Authentic
“With the emergence of high and low cultural categories around the turn of the century, distinctions were created between ‘commercial’ art, or entertainment, and nineteenth century ‘high’ art, that which was considered creative and authentic” (William Romanowski, Pop Culture Wars, p. 76).
Confession is not Manipulation
“One of the first principles to remember is that confession is not meritorious — to confess sins as a way of placing God in one’s debt is not dealing with sin; it is commiting another sin. The context of all confession must be a thorough grasp of the fdree grace of justification. Put another way, …
Too Far Into It To See It
“In the temporal plan of the system there is not a moment when those involved in the action do not see themselves separated from their rivals by formidable differences. When one of the ‘brothers’ assumes the role of father and king, the other cannot but feel himself to be the disinherited son. That explains why …
Postmodernism Is Triumphalism
James K.A. Smith recently made a good start in reviewing Greg Boyd’s book on Christians in politics. Justin Taylor had linked to it, and here it is. The book reviewed was The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power is Destroying the Church. The review seemed promising, and Smith scored some good …
Three Cheers
I recently saw part of a commercial for the “Girls Gone Wild” videos, in which some nubile young idiots were enticed — by the presence of cameras (the device that may not be denied), and by the beckoning promise of fleeting immortality — to flash everybody. These poor souls did not know that they had …