We are considering verbal strife. Scripture teaches that such strife has certain preconditions. “Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth. As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife” (Prov. 26:20-21). The fire department tells …
Marriage As Manifest Glory XXXII
INTRODUCTION: The messages this week and next have perhaps been implicit in what has been said thus far, but there is still a need to make it explicit. This week we need to address the truth that men are stupid, and next week consider the corresponding truth that women are stupid. A more biblical way …
Harvest and Sons
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 60 “He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame” (Prov. 10:5). In Scripture business is closely related to family. But this is not a ancient truth, relevant …
But Now We See
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Father of deliverance, Father of all salvation, we worship You now through the great name of Jesus Christ. When we were blind in our sin, You loved us. When we lived in a way that despised Your ongoing kindness, You showed mercy …
Also An Act of God
When disaster befalls a city, the prophet Amos tells us, the Lord is the one who has done it. What has happened to New Orleans this past week is not something that slipped past God, or somehow got away from Him. He is the divine author of all things, and this truly was an act …
Our Priest, King and Prophet
Our Father, great God of heaven, we glorify You through Jesus Christ our Priest, King and Prophet. He is our Lord, and on this day He rose from the dead, making all things new. Because He remade the heavens and the earth, because He is the Lord of the new creation, it was only fitting …
Preaching A Tiny Christ
The apostle Paul resolved to know nothing but Christ and him crucified (1 Cor. 1: 22-24). I grew up in a tradition that interpreted this as requiring a simple gospel message every Sunday. So every seven days, the faithful saints gathered, and heard a message explaining to them how they could become Christians. And then …
A Slow Burn
It takes wisdom to understand the origins of strife. The Scriptures tell us that one source of strife is anger. “A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife” (Prov. 15:18). But often this is missed because the one who vents his anger succeeds in browbeating people into a …
The Experience of Obeying
Worship is not to be thought of primarily as an experience, after which we can say that we felt worshipful. Rather, worship is an act, after which we can say, or not, that we were obedient. When experience is sought after in worship, we destroy the very thing we mistakenly exalt. When obedience is rendered …
Proverbs and Beyond
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 59 We have already addressed the fact that Proverbs is full of generalizations, and the fact that they are generally true. We also have to reckon with the fact that the substance of some of these generalizations is repeated over …