“The first truth concerns the source of the preacher’s incentive. Preaching is hard work. The preacher is often tempted to become dispirited. He needs powerful incentives to strengthen his flagging soul, and there is no doubt that he can find one here. St. Paul certainly did. He was a steward of God’s mysteries, ‘a trustee …
Idolatry of the Grand Scale
One of the great political temptations that moderns face is the temptation of the “grand scale.” When the state aspires to deity, the state needs to generate the requisite awe in those who participate in the process. One of the ways of doing this is to proclaim that the future of the planet is at …
John Mark
As we give ourselves to the study of this Gospel, let us prepare our hearts to hear the words as though they were spoken just yesterday. Just as this Gospel begins with the preparations of John the Baptist; so let us ask God to prepare our hearts in a similar way. Part of this preparation …
The Fox News Jesus or the CNN Jesus?
Okay, here’s a tangled one. Joseph Loconte, writing for The Weekly Standard, takes N.T. Wright to task for his attitude about al-Qa’ida, the war in Iraq, American empire, and all that stuff. What he writes can be found here (HT: Justin Taylor). Loconte does a very fine job in avoiding shrillness in his response — …
Final Assurance
John comes to the conclusion of his short letter in a resounding crescendo of assurance. He does this in the only possible context of biblical assurance, the context of the absolute difference between right and wrong. “This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. …
The Preacher As Steward
“The Christian preacher, therefore is not a prophet. No original revelation is given to him; his task is to expound the revelation which has been given once for all. And however truly he preaches in the power of the Holy Spirit, he is not ‘inspired’ by the Spirit in the sense in which the prophets …
An Intersection of Tests
We have been considering and distinguishing the various tests for genuine Christianity. We now come to the portion of the epistle of John where it becomes evident that while these things may be distinguished, they cannot be separated. We have come to the intersection of the tests. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love …
The Spirit At Work Before the Spirit Falls
“The right way to look upon the unction of the Spirit is to think of it as that which comes upon the preparation” (Lloyd-Jones, Preachers and Preaching, p. 304).
Real Assurance
Every careful Christian has considered the vexing question of assurance. What is the ground of my salvation? What is the ground of my confidence in salvation? How can I know that I am right before God? “And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him . …
Distinguishable, Not Separable
“My contention is that there should be no such disjunction between the ‘appeal’ and the preaching, any more than there should be between the sacraments and preaching” (Lloyd-Jones, Preachers and Preaching, p. 274).