And now, the eighth commandment. How we respect God’s house is directly related to godly stewardship of what we have in our possession, and is the basis for biblical respect for our neighbor’s goods. Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee . . . (Deuteronomy …
The Glory of Modesty (1 Timothy 2:8-15)
INTRODUCTION: We come now to a passage that has suffered much at the hands of expositors. I have no desire to take my turn at this, but the reason the passage has suffered is not because it is one of those parts of the apostle Paul’s writing that is hard to understand. The passage has …
A Woman’s Only Real Friend in this World
We now finish the Mosaic exposition of the seventh commandment. But as we do, there are several things which we must keep in mind about the nature of sovereign grace. The first is that it is sovereign. The second is that it is grace. He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy …
All Men to be Saved (1 Tim. 2:1-7)
Introduction: We now come to the practical instructions for the Church that Paul is delivering to Timothy. The point of the letter is to provide direction for public worship, and so here we are. The Text: “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; …
The Holiness Code
We must remind ourselves, yet again, that every word that proceeds from the mouth of God is our life. We know that all Scripture is profitable for training in righteousness. The law of the nests considered in our previous installment week was called the least of the commandments by the rabbis, and yet Jesus still …
A Biblical Building Code
In this passage, we conclude the commentary of Moses on applications of the sixth commandment. In some fashion or other, all these commands concern a respect for life. And in all these commandments, we see the glory of biblical wisdom. Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ox or his sheep go astray . . . …
Guilt and Responsibility
Questions concerning life and death remain before us. In the passage we are considering now, more aspects of the sixth commandment are unfolded. If one be found slain in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it . . . (Deuteronomy 21:1-23) In old Israel, when a man was found slain, …
Mercy and Glory (1 Timothy 1:12-20)
Introduction: God advances His kingdom in the world, and because he calls fallen men to be His ministers, He is always working with flawed instruments. The only exception, of course, was the Lord Jesus Himself, but everyone else, from the apostles on down, has to deal with their inadequacies for the task. The Text: “And …
Biblical Warfare
A subject clearly related to murder is the question of war. Whenever war is not conducted in accordance with the Word of God, then it amounts to nothing more than mass murder sanctioned by the civil authority. Consequently, it is important for us to know something of what biblical war looks like. When thou goest …
Sound Doctrine (1 Tim. 1:1-11)
Introduction: As we introduce this first letter in what are called the pastoral epistles, it is important to contextualize it. Reconstructing the chronology of the New Testament, we may conclude that Paul was probably imprisoned in Rome twice. The first is found at the end of the book of Acts, after which he was released, …