We come to the Lord’s Table every week, but what the seating arrangements? What should our posture be, and how is the Supper laid out? In the aftermath of the Reformation, this is one of the things that came to be reformed. Previously, the people would come to the Table rarely, they would come down …
Adorned Clean Through
The Bible teaches that the woman is the glory of the man. This is why she takes what the man provides and glorifies. She is a glory, and she is a glorifier. The man brings home a paycheck, and she turns it into a living room, or bacon and eggs in the morning. Adornment is …
You May Be a Soul Man Now . . .
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #190 “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: …
Good to Know
“The historical context concerns the circumstances or situation that prompted the text . . . The literary context, on the other hand, is simply the text around your text” (Helm, Expositional Preaching, p. 45).
Whose Ox Is Being Sued
Paul famously prohibits Christians from going to court against one another, except that he doesn’t. What he prohibits is taking disputes between Christians before unbelievers. Here is the text: “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the …
Itself a Fine Example of Contextualization
“The trouble is that too many of us push exegesis back in our preparation, and we clothe the message in a short red dress of contextualization by focusing on culture and our ability to connect with it. It’s like we want to spin her out away from us in exciting circles, showing off her long …
Surveying the Text/Amos
Introduction: Now let us consider the prophecy of Amos. Apart from what is revealed in the course of his writing here, we know nothing about the man. Among the minor prophets, he occupies the vanguard in this period of Israel’s history, even though he is placed third in the canonical order. He is very much …
Self-Examination and the Supper
When it comes to observance of the Lord’s Supper, and especially when it comes to regular, weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper, there are a number of questions that we have to address and answer. One of them is what devout preparation for participation looks like. Paul teaches us that we do have a duty …
More Growth Problems
When real ministry is occurring, one of the things you can expect to see is something of a mess. “Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: But much increase is by the strength of the ox” (Prov. 14:4). Dying churches are usually clean and tidy. Growing churches, flourishing churches, are characterized by “situations” that …
Real Originality
“Originality in man, then, is not the power of making a communication of truth but of apprehending one” (Shedd, p. 10).