“The Word preached is the engine God uses to effect repentance. It is compared to a hammer and to a fire (Jer. 23:29), the one to break, the other to melt the heart” (Watson, in Hughes, Expository Preaching With Word Pictures, p. 252).
For Is That Not My Brand?
My new goal is to think inside the box, which is increasingly hard these days. At the same time,because so many people are trying to think outside the box, I get a lot of time to myself. On top of that, I begin to suspect that those who have decided to think outside the box …
A Glimpse of the Old David
Introduction As we begin to work through this passage, we see that David is still far too passive, far too trusting. Even though he is forgiven for his sin, he is forgiven in a palace. It is not until he is walking toward the wilderness, barefoot, as a seventy-year-old man, that we see the stirrings …
No Real Bottom
The word apostasia is used twice in the New Testament. In the first instance, it is of a sin alleged (Acts 21:21), where it is said of Paul that he was teaching Jews to “forsake” or “fall away from” Moses. He wasn’t really, not the way they claimed, but the allegation was that he was …
Decorum and Decency
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #131 “Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse” (1 Cor. 11: 17). Paul here returns to the subject of the Lord’s Supper, …
Washing the Devil’s Face
“When we are advocates in a bad cause, pleading for any impious, unjustifiable act; when we baptize sin with the name of religion, and with our oratory wash the devil’s face, this is to be servants of men” (Thomas Watson, as quoted in Hughes, Expository Preaching With Word Pictures, p. 213).
What Nature Teaches
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #130 “Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have …
A Field on Fire
Introduction God continues to unroll the consequences of David’s sin, while at the same time fulfilling His gracious promises to David. Solomon is not mentioned in this section, but he is clearly waiting in the wings. The Text: “Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king’s heart was toward Absalom. And Joab sent …
To Curvet and Simper in the Pulpit
The sodomy challenge — and all related sexuality challenges — present us with a glorious opportunity. It is a glorious opportunity that the Spirit has cleverly disguised as a real hazard to our future comfort and well-being. For the gospel is a troublemaker. Let me explain that first and then come back to the sodomy …
Crown of the Argument
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #129 “Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of …