1. God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass (Eph. 1:11; Rom. 11:33; Heb. 6:17; Rom. 9:15, 18): yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin (James 1:13, 17; 1 John 1:5), nor is violence offered …
A Fourth Decade of Psalms/Psalm 34
Introduction: This psalm is an acrostic—what the Latin Fathers called psalmi abcedarii. There are nine of these psalms total, and it is a pity that we can’t figure out a way to bring this across in translation. The Text: I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. …
Actually Praying for Turmoil
It is too easy to pray glibly for reformation. Who could be against that? But know that whenever God has shown His kindness in purifying His church, one of the immediate results is always turmoil. The overall result, of course, is reformation, and later historians will write about how glorious it was to be alive …
Pharisees
We have not really learned all the lessons from the Pharisees that we need to learn. The first lesson is that the Pharisees were not all bad. Jesus was visited by one of their number by night, and Nicodemus was an honorable man. Some Pharisees at one point warned Jesus of a plot against His …
God our Savior
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Creator God, You spoke the Word, and the heavens came to be. You said, let there be light, and there was light. You nodded Your head, and all that has creaturely existence sprang into being. God of all Providence, every atom receives …
What He Purchased, He Will Have
As we gather to worship the Lord, we need to remember. This is one of the great requirements found in many place throughout the Bible—remember. But we are not called to remember a random collection of denominational distinctives. This kind of thing is done so that we can keep denominations and churches straight in our …
What Kind of Miracle?
What are we doing here? Or, more importantly, what is being done to us here? The Church has historically been divided as to the meaning and import of this Supper. Some believe that no miracle occurs here, others believe that a miracle happens, but it is the wrong category of miracle. A third group believes …
For the Wine and Dessert
Father and God, Giver of Life, we thank You for the food You have provided to us yet again. We are grateful for the wine and dessert, we thank You for the soup and the bread, and we rejoice that we are blessed as we have been. We pray that this would be a true …
Westminster Two: Of God, and of the Holy Trinity
1. There is but one only (Deut. 6:4; 1 Cor. 8:4, 6), living, and true God (1 Thess. 1:9; Jer. 10:10), Not that this should be necessary to say, but the Christian faith is monotheistic. But this does not mean that “Christianity” is a belief system which contains one God within it, so that people …
The Covenantal Mind and Heart
We got the name Deuteronomy through a happy misnomer. The name is taken from the Greek version of the text below (17:18), where the king was to write out a “second” copy of the law for himself. But at the same time, the occasion of the book of Deuteronomy was a covenant renewal. A covenant …