As we continue through the book of Deuteronomy, it is best not to tire of hearing about giants too quickly. God was giving the land of the giants to the children of God. “Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, …
Inescapable Imprecation
The message today is on Psalm 35, one of the psalms of imprecation. These psalms have given many Christians many difficulties, and we don’t quite know what to do with them. Let us grant at the outset that they can be abused by people who pretend to embrace them. We can want to “destroy the …
And This is Odd Too
One of the central things we learn as we come to this Table is the nature of our triune God, and consequently the nature of the world He created. Many of the disputes between Christians about what happens at this Table is the result of their secret agreement about the rest of the world. The …
A Sacrificial Meal
The Lord’s Supper is a sacrificial meal, which is not the same thing as a sacrifice. The Lord Jesus offered Himself on the cross two thousand years ago, and when He ascended into heaven some weeks afterward, at that time He presented His sacrifice in the heavenly places, in the ultimate Holy of Holies. His …
Holy Hands
We assemble as God’s holy ones, as those who are called to be saints. We do not gather on one day simply to think certain thoughts about God, and that is the end of it. We come to present our bodies, a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to Him. This means that we cannot detach …
Giants in the Land
We have now come to the place in the historical prologue where Moses points to the success of Israel’s cousins—Edom, Moab and Ammon—in fighting and displacing giants (2:1-23). This is given as a very kind encouragement. “Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as the …
Goodness Poured
Father in heaven, we thank You for all the goodness You have poured out upon us in Your Son, Jesus Christ, and in His Spirit and Yours. We are grateful for the Sabbath rest prepared for us in Him, and we thank You for calling us into Your Sabbath salvation. Your kindness is forever, Your …
What Did He Sing?
The Scriptures tell us that after He instituted the Supper, our Lord Jesus sang a hymn with His disciples and then they went out. We know that the psalms sung at the conclusion of the Passover meal were the Hallel Psalms, 114-118. So what did our Lord sing when He was facing death of an …
The Wine Is Better
We gather together now, in accordance with the will of God, and under the protections provided by His Spirit, and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember that at the conclusion of our service of worship we gather at the table of the Lord. All baptized Christians are welcome at this table, and …
Westminster Six: Of the Fall of Man, of Sin and of the Punishment Thereof
1. Our first parents, being seduced by the subtilty and temptation of Satan, sinned, in eating the forbidden fruit (Gen. 3:13; 2 Cor. 11:3). This their sin, God was pleased, according to His wise and holy counsel, to permit, having purposed to order it to His own glory (Rom. 11:32). Although Genesis does not mention …