“I have always opposed the idea of trying to force people to attend church services; w hat I am saying is that our preaching ought to fill them with a desire to do this. You should not have to whip them up to do it” (Lloyd-Jones, Preachers and Preaching, p. 252).
Types and Antitypes
INTRODUCTION: The Word of God comes to us in many ways, with many figures and devices. We are comfortable with many of them, and not quite so comfortable with others. One of the areas of discomfort is the biblical practice of using types and antitypes. This is not just a literary device of God as …
Get ‘Em Before the Controversy Blows Over!
The special edition of Credenda on the Federal Vision is now out and should be in your mailbox any minute, if you haven’t already taken it out. We knew there would be a great deal of interest in this one, and so we took the liberty of printing up some extras. They are now available …
Not Shades of Twilight
Throughout the book of 1 John, we see detailed treatments of three basic tests of genuine Christianity. They are the moral and ethical (keeping God’s commands), the familial (loving one another), and doctrinal (believing the truth). In this passage of his letter, we find John addressing the first two of these. Now by this we …
Turns Out He Was Holding Back
“We turn now to another point in this list of the various things one has to consider in a sermon whether written or extemporary, namely the place of humour in preaching . . . What makes all these things difficult is that they are natural gifts, or the place of the natural gifts, in this …
Filling Up the Outline
“Charles Haddon Spurgeon, that great preacher, did not write out his sermons in full; he just prepared and used a skeleton” (Lloyd-Jones, Preachers and Preaching, p. 214).
Evil “Sinlessness”
From the prologue we might have expected John to begin his “argument proper” with a discourse on the incarnation of Christ. But although his preamble begins with a strong assertion of the Incarnation, when he begins to interact with the teaching of antichrist, he begins at another place entirely. He begins with the moral issue. …
Talk to Your Text
“One of the first things a preacher has to learn is to talk to his texts. They talk to you, and you must talk to them” (Lloyd-Jones, Preachers and Preaching, p. 202).
De Regno Christi
I am happy to refer you all over to De Regno Christi, which is hosting a discussion of the Federal Vision, starting today. Many thanks to them for the privilege of participating in that discussion.
It Only Encourages Them
This Lord’s Day begins a series of exhortations on the subject of our civic responsibilities. We are about a month and a half away from a local election, and I have come to believe that there is no little confusion on the part of many of us as Christians about what our responsibilities actually are. …