The Lord has prepared a table for us here, in the presence of our enemies. This means that we dine while they rage. The Lord has taken us into His pavilion, while outside is the strife of tongues. There was this thing called the strife of tongues, even before the Internet. The strife of tongues …
A Covenantal Synecdoche
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #201 “I am glad of the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus: for that which was lacking on your part they have supplied. For they have refreshed my spirit and yours: therefore acknowledge ye them that are such” …
Caleb and Jacqueline
We know that God is the Creator of all things, but we should also pay closer attention to His methods, the way in which He creates. One of the things we can see in Genesis is that He delights to create in the first instance, and then He loves to take a second pass. And …
Surveying the Text: Philippians
Introduction: The occasion of this letter was tied in with the activity of Epaphroditus—whose name incidentally means “dedicated to Aphrodite.” He had brought news to Paul in prison about the church at Philippi, and he had delivered their gift to Paul (2:30; 4:18). Once he got to Paul he nearly died of a severe illness, …
The Covenant Home #6: Common Sins of the Household
Introduction: In a message on “common sins” in the household, it would be easy to focus on those common sins which everyone knows and acknowledges to be sins—complaining, fighting, etc. But the point this morning is to take a step or two back, and address some of the problems which set up the temptations for …
Yearning By Letting Go
As we build, we are fulfilling a true vocation under God. God’s people should always be builders. But as we build, we are not, Babel-like, to be building a name for ourselves (Gen. 11:4). When we build in the name of Christ, it should be a house for His name (2 Sam. 7:13). When Jesus …
The Return of Love
We come here as Christians, which means that we come as those who are followers of Jesus Christ. We do not follow Him because we happened to be a crowd that happens to be going that way. We follow Him because He has called each of us, individually. We have heard His voice, according to …
Surveying the Text/Ephesians
Introduction: If Galatians is the great charter of Christian liberty, and the ground of it, Ephesians is the great charter of Christian identity, and what flows from it. The Text: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory …
The Covenant Home #5/The Federal Family
Introduction: We have already seen that marriages are covenant entities. This is no less true of the fruit of such covenant unions. The family is not established by custom, or by legislation. The family is established and defined by the Word of God alone. The Text: And his sons would go and feast in their houses, …
That Builds Things
As the kingdom of Christ is established and rooted in any given place, the only way this can happen is by displacing what was there before. Sometimes that previous regime is old and decrepit, and is ready to relinquish its hold. These are tribes, nations and kingdoms ready for conversion, eager for something different. Other …