The Church of Jesus Christ is a corporate body, a covenanted reality. Together, we are the bride of Christ, organically connected to all who love Jesus Christ all over the world and throughout history. We are the Church. We are also individual Christians. And we know that, while the elect are saved, not everyone who …
Ah, for a Vertebrate Ministry!
“This suspicion is born of want of fidelity in ministers. I saw, just now, outside the shop of a marine-store dealer, a placard which runs thus: ‘Fifty tons of bones wanted.’ ‘Yes,’ I said to myself, ‘mostly backbones.’ Fifty tons of them! I could indicate a place where they could take fifty tons, and not …
Honesty in Academics
We are a few weeks into a new school year, and we have a congregation that contains many students. Not only are there many students here, but there are many students here who are enrolled in very challenging programs—programs where failure is often a real possibility. Now in every demanding circumstance, when you have a …
Fifth Decade of Psalms/Psalm 46
INTRODUCTION: This next psalm was one of Martin Luther’s favorites, and was the inspiration for his hymn “A Mighty Fortress.” There were plenty of times during the Reformation when everything looked pretty black, and Luther would cheerfully say to Melancthon, “Come, Philip, let us sing the forty-sixth Psalm.” We have considered the importance of dogged …
An Epithalamium for the Church
Yesterday I preached on Psalm 45, a glorious wedding poem.
Quick Lies
God is the God of all truth, and so of course, we as His people should be careful to speak the truth. One area where we sometimes neglect this duty is in the area that might be called “quick lies.” They don’t even seem like lies at all unless you take them out in the …
Why Some Sermons Are Half-Baked
“Heart fire is true fire. A housewife, who perseveres in the old method of making her own bread, does not want a great blaze at the mouth of the oven. ‘Oh, no!’ she says, ‘I want to get my faggots far back, and get all the heat into the oven itself, and then it becomes …
Fifth Decade of Psalms/Psalm 45
INTRODUCTION: Psalm 45 is an Epithalamium, which is to say, a wedding song. The way it is quoted in the New Testament makes it very clear that the ultimate fulfillment of this psalm is found in the marriage of Christ to the Church. This psalm is unlike any other, and is likely the wedding hymn …
Together, But Not Lockstep
Last week at this time I mentioned that ritual actions are important to us. They are significant in the Bible, and we don’t ever want to fall into the trap of relegating them to the status of being insignificant. But there is another important element in all of this. We are gathered together as an …
Wisdom Accumulates
“A certain minister may quickly compose a sermon, but you must remember that this is the result of the labour of many years. Even he who, according to common parlance, speaks quite extemporaneously, does not really do so; he delivers what he has in previous years stored up. The mill is full of corn, and, …