God makes distinctions between particular congregations. He does not divide the world into two great categories, the baptized and unbaptized, and treat them all accordingly. But neither does He treat everyone according to their individual status alone. It is true that everyone stands or falls at the Last Day one at a time, and God …
Come One, Come All
As we approach this Table, we have to be careful. One the one hand, we are encouraged to come gladly, putting away all false scruples and morbid introspection. On the other hand, we know that coming to this Table is inconsistent with stark unrepented sin. How can we teach against one error without encouraging the …
Bitterness and Baptism
You are not here at the Table by yourself. Seated here with you are all the saints of God, throughout the world, and throughout history. We are called upon to discern the body, and not just the body here in this room. But this does not exclude those who are here in this room. And …
Symbolism Creates
The Word is prior to the world. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This means that everything about that Word was prior to everything in the world. The world does not constitute reality; rather, the world reflects reality. Unlike the materialistic scientist, we do …
What God Is Like
The way God reveals Himself in time and history is a revelation in some way of His eternal nature. As God created the world, He was not composing some sort of ultimate free verse. We look at the world, and unless we are suppressing the truth in unrighteousness, we see His eternal power and majesty. …
The Lord’s Supper and Priestcraft
As we develop a right approach to the Supper, which includes a weekly approach to the Supper, we have to be careful to avoid distractions. One such distraction is the charge that this “high view” of the Supper is somehow incipiently Roman Catholic. In considering a historical debate as we come to the Supper is …
Stay, and Believe in Jesus
Several years ago, we began observing the Lord’s Supper on a weekly basis. Quite a bit went into that discussion beforehand, but one of the striking things about our preparations for it was the warning I got from a wise minister. He said that when we went to weekly communion, we should expect a great …
Present or Absent?
For centuries, Christians have debated the “real presence” of the Lord Jesus in the Supper. Too often it is not noted that the alternative position is necessarily a belief in His real absence. This of course is silly, and so this should cause us to reflect. All orthodox Christians believe in the real presence—the debate …
Take, and Grow
We feed our children so that they might grow up. God feeds us for the same reason—we are His children, and He is growing us up into maturity. This Table is therefore one of the central instruments to resist one of the great idols of our age—that of calculated immaturity. In fashion, in music, in …
The Plow of God
God plows his people. He deals with us, and He deals with us here in the Supper. He deals with sin in the Supper. This is very different from us trying to deal with sin on our own before we come, in order to make ourselves worthy. That misses the point, almost entirely. You do …