A few entries ago, I posted an exhortation that noted that believers are friends of God, and that part of our duty in worship is to give Him counsel. I gather that this has excited comment in some quarters, and so perhaps I should develop a bit further what I mean. First, what I do …
State of the Church 2005
Introduction: The Church continues to hampered in the work of reformation by certain “unquestionable truths” that are still circulated among us. The Text: “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (Ex. 20: 2). Overview: The Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, …
Holiness and Thunder/Psalm 29
There is little doubt that the inspiration for this glorious psalm was a monumental thunderstorm. In this inspired account we find a true and biblical description of glory, beauty, and holiness. “Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength . . .” (Ps. 29:1-11). The psalm divides readily into …
Wisdom and Application
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 29 Christian maturity comes down to making applications from the Bible. The Bible commends the wise, for example, and condemns the foolish. And so, if we are wise, the Bible praises us. If we are foolish, the Bible rebukes us. …
Deliverance Now
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Father of our Lord Jesus, You are the one who cast down Pharaoh, and drowned his entire army in the Red Sea, and You did this because Your loving kindness endures forever. You destroyed Og, the king of Bashan, because your mercy …
Friends of God
You are entering into the heavenly courts, and you are doing so as a congregation that has every right to be there. This is because we present ourselves at the gates as a people who are clothed in the righteousness of our head, the Lord Jesus Christ, and we are accepted on that basis. Knowing …
Looking for a City
The Word and the sacrament go together. Without the sacrament, the Word by turns gradually evolves into mere lecturing, or, if it is excited, a hectoring of God’s people. On the other hand, the sacrament without the Word gradually turns to superstitious and blind observance, at the end indistinguishable from rank paganism. The two go …
Foundations of Marriage VIII
Introduction: We have seen that the creation of man, male and female, is not unrelated to God’s pronouncement that the whole creation was “very good.” But the same thing is true of the new creation in Christ. In the new creation, the relation of husbands and wives plays an important part in the worship of …
N. T. Wright at Auburn 2005
The bulk of my review of N.T. Wright’s presentations at Auburn 2005 will be occupied with concerned observations and/or criticisms, so I need to establish the context of all this in the first couple of paragraphs. In all my years of listening to Christian speakers, I have to say that I have never heard anyone …
Richard Gaffin at Auburn 2005
Richard Gaffin is a gracious Christian gentleman, who really knows his subject. I learned a great deal from his talks, and appreciated how careful he was being. Some of this was no doubt because of the setting, for, after all, he was speaking at the Auburn Avenue Pastors’ Conference. This means that his words are …