INTRODUCTION: God’s wrath is taught very clearly in Scripture. Our great problem with it is that we confound it with the spirit of accusation that belongs to the devil, and we show that we do not understand how righteousness, the real thing, interacts with sin. We think we know, but we tend to know only …
Following the Template
“Let us remember that as in theology and ethics, so in preaching, we participate in apostolic authority and power by following apostolic precept and example as they set forth in the pages of Scripture” (Wagner, Tongues Aflame, p. 31).
A Large Part of Acts
“The sermons of the apostles, of which there are so many fine examples in Acts (they make up one-fifth of the book), are not therefore, incidental additions to the account, chosen arbitrarily for the purposes of narrative ‘color’. These sermons are cited to emphasize the central role preaching played in the witness of the apostles …
Vile Affections/Romans 5
INTRODUCTION: Recall that we have learned that the wrath of God is revealed in the world, and it is revealed as God “lets go”of a culture, allowing them to run headlong into various suicidal and fruitless practices. In this text, we find a deepening expansion of the point Paul has already made. THE TEXT: “For …
Now That’s Odd
“It is rather remarkable to realize that neither the preaching of Jesus himself, nor the sermons of the apostolic preachers in the Book of Acts have been extensively considered or analyzed as models for developing methods and practices for preachers in our day” (Roger Wagner, Tongues Aflame, p. 15).
Blogging and the Task of Teaching
The authorities in Jerusalem were peeved with the apostles because they had filled Jerusalm with their doctrine (Acts 5:28). A central means assigned for the accomplishment of this is of course preaching and teaching. But of course, as the New Testament itself demonstrates, another significant way to fill the joint up with your doctrine is …
The Glory of the Obvious/Romans 4
INTRODUCTION: God the Father is prominent in the first three chapters of Romans. God the Son figures largely from the middle of three to the end of five. And then the Holy Spirit is central from chapters five through eight. We have the wrath of the Father, the propitiation of the Son, and the liberating …
The Old Corn of the Land
“Trials drive us to the realities of religion. You may feed on chaff until you have real work to do, or real grief to bear; but then you want the old corn of the land, and you must have it, or else you will faint and fail” (Charles Spurgeon, An All-Round Ministry, pp. 384-385).
The Heart of Romans/Romans 3
INTRODUCTION: The gospel is not faith, but the gospel cannot be understood or appropriated apart from a living and evangelical faith. As the Westminster confession puts it, the faith that justifies is “no dead faith” (11.2). Another name for “not dead” is alive, or living. The gospel is objective and outside of us. But the …
Not Even by the Blackjack Dealer of Current Scholarship
The Lord “has not come into His house to be trifled with, and to have His words shuffled like a pack of cards” (Charles Spurgeon, An All-Round Ministry, p. 378).