Every careful Christian has considered the vexing question of assurance. What is the ground of my salvation? What is the ground of my confidence in salvation? How can I know that I am right before God? “And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him . …
Distinguishable, Not Separable
“My contention is that there should be no such disjunction between the ‘appeal’ and the preaching, any more than there should be between the sacraments and preaching” (Lloyd-Jones, Preachers and Preaching, p. 274).
No Traffic in Grays
Recall that John gives a cycle of tests for genuine Christianity. That three-fold cycle includes righteousness, love, and doctrinal integrity, and in this place he begins working his way through this cycle for a second time. A true Christian may be described as one who does what is right, loves his brothers, and believes certain …
Preaching Through an Uplifted Nose
“Above all; do not put on a ‘parsonic’ voice. What a terrible thing that is, and yet how common. Young men develop this bad habit; they hear others and they begin to use the same affected parsonic unnatural voice. It offends people. Still worse is to put on a false appearance of piety — sanctimoniousness. …
AntiChrist and Beast
Few teachings in the Bible have been as wildly misunderstood as the teaching of the apostle John on the Antichrist. Opinions and speculation about him are commonplace. Unfortunately, the assumptions made about Antichrist are usually far away from the actual teaching of the Bible on the subject. “Little children, it is the last hour; and …
Get a Bit and Bridle on Your Gifts
“Watch your natural gifts and tendencies and idiosyncrasies. Watch them. What I mean is that they will tend to run away with you. It can all be summed up in a phrase — watch your strength. Not so much your weaknesses: it is your strength you have to watch, the things at which you excel, …
Love Not the Vanishing World
The world, taken in one sense, is one of the three great adversaries of the Christian. The three adversaries are, respectively, the world, the flesh, and the devil. All three are found in this passage. “. . . And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will …
God Loves a Cheerful Worshipper
“I have always opposed the idea of trying to force people to attend church services; w hat I am saying is that our preaching ought to fill them with a desire to do this. You should not have to whip them up to do it” (Lloyd-Jones, Preachers and Preaching, p. 252).
Types and Antitypes
INTRODUCTION: The Word of God comes to us in many ways, with many figures and devices. We are comfortable with many of them, and not quite so comfortable with others. One of the areas of discomfort is the biblical practice of using types and antitypes. This is not just a literary device of God as …
Not Shades of Twilight
Throughout the book of 1 John, we see detailed treatments of three basic tests of genuine Christianity. They are the moral and ethical (keeping God’s commands), the familial (loving one another), and doctrinal (believing the truth). In this passage of his letter, we find John addressing the first two of these. Now by this we …