These are familiar words. As familiar words, they have much in common with other well-traveled passages. One common feature is the fact that the promise is not well-understood. The word to us is very clear — “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.“ A blessing is pronounced upon a certain kind of …
The Shepherd Lord/Psalm 23
INTRODUCTION This passage is one of the most famous scriptural passages, and rightly so. The only real problem with it is that people are so familiar with it that it is easy to assume too readily that you have grasped the full import of what is being said. But this psalm has wonderful depths. THE …
Christus Victor/Psalm 22
INTRODUCTION This psalm contains one of the great Old Testament portrayals of the Gospel. Along with Isaiah 53, we learn here that the death of Christ for the sins of the world was no afterthought. The Lamb of God was indeed slain from before the foundations of the world. THE TEXTS My God, my God, …
The Law of Liberty
Understanding the nature and purpose of God’s law is central to our Christian lives. If we misunderstand or disobey what God requires of us, we have sinned grievously. If we understand it and obey, we receive tremendous blessing. To misunderstand law is to misunderstand grace. We see this in the preface to the Ten Commandments. …
Capitol Prayers
Once a fledgling minister was sitting quietly in the back of presbytery. He had not yet learned all the ropes, and was silently enduring until the time came when he would be called upon to speak. He had made it through three meetings of presbytery this way, and it looked as if it was soon …
Auburn Avenue Hubbub (AAH) Cool Quote #10
This is why God has to stoop down to us, which he does by means of the sacraments. This, then, is how we put on the Lord Jesus Christ at baptism . . . Thus, you see that our baptism becomes precious to us when we use it as a shield to deflect all assailing …
Orange Juice Concentrate
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 14 As we study the world around us, and how that world relates to medical practice, we should study in the light of biblical rules of evidence. But it may be objected that to require biblical principles of verifiability in …
Friends of God/Psalm 15
Who may be considered a friend of God? The question is one of the most important that can be posed in this life. The answer requires development, but an accurate summary requires us to remember that a man is a friend of God only when he is a friend of God’s character and attributes. The …
Strange Alliances Forming on Conestoga
Dr. Nick Gier, local intolerista agitator, and author of God, Reason, and the Evangelicals: The Case Against Evangelical Rationalism was recently seen on Conestoga St. in Moscow, looking to link up with Charles Nolan, publisher of J.C. Ryle’s great work entitled Holiness. Subsequent events indicated that they did in fact find each other. Charles Nolan …
Refuse the Benefits First
Another flap has broken out at the University of North Carolina, where a Christian student organization was denied status as a student organization because they declined to sign a statement that said non-Christians were welcome to be members and officers in the organization. Of course, this has caused something of a hissy fit on the …