A commonplace in Christian circles understands the events surrounding the first Palm Sunday as a demonstration of the “fickleness of crowds.” But there are good reasons for questioning this common assumption. On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, Took branches of …
Vanity in Prayer
In this passage Christ strikes at the heart of religiosity. Christ has no use for spiritual showboating, even if it is of the most subtle variety. The Father sees the heart in our acts of charity; He also sees the heart when we come into His presence in prayer. “And when you pray, you shall …
God’s Daughter-in-Law
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Almighty God, everlasting Father, gracious Lord, we worship You now in Your triune holiness, knowing that we cannot worship You or approach You in any other way. We pray to You, Father, lifting up Your name because we know that Jesus taught …
A Divine Comedy
In the resurrection of Christ from the dead, we see the banishment of the old pagan idea of tragedy. The history of the world, in the light of the resurrection, is actually a divine comedy. And Christ rose from the dead in the middle of human history so that we might know the end of …
Marriage As Manifest Glory XV
Introduction: Forgiveness makes it possible to “start over.” The power of forgiveness is enormous—the reason it is so infrequently employed is because it transforms everything, and not because it is “a dud.” Last week we addressed what forgiveness is (a transaction), and how to understand it when the other party is being difficult. We now …
Sabbath After Sabbath
Father in heaven, we glorify Your name and we lift up our hearts to You. Thank You for all the kindness You bestow, day after day, week after week, Sabbath after Sabbath, year after year, and generation after generation. We know that we are utterly dependent upon You and we ask You to show Your …
The Perseverance of the Elect
This is the one aspect of the gospel which the natural man thinks he might be able to like. But like all spiritual truth, the natural man can only love the truth through a distortion of it. We should therefore begin with misunderstandings of the doctrine: 1. The Existence of Distortions: “If you teach the …
Luck
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 37 As we labor in our various callings and businesses, we have to remember that there is no such thing as luck. Neither good luck nor bad luck exists. The fortune that one man experiences and another man misses are …
Audio Reading of Post
Your Father, Who Sees In Secret
True religion is always found in the presence of God. False religion is always practiced with at least one eye on man — and Jesus teaches us that whether the man is someone else is immaterial. “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you …
Small Beginnings
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Great God, heavenly Father, Lord of all that is, King of heaven and earth, we pray to You now in the name of Jesus Christ, Your Son and our Lord. You delight in manifesting Your glory in things that are small. You …