A wag once commented that the difference between Americans and Englishmen is that Englishmen think that one hundred miles is a long way, and Americans think one hundred years is a long time. And of course in one sense a hundred years is a long time, or, put more accurately, time enough. Much can happen; …
The Secret Things
The covenant is now presented to the people. They will not be faithful to it, and this defection is important in the teaching of the New Testament. “These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel . . .” (Dt. 29:1-29). The first nine verses …
Parish
In his lectures, George Grant has recently been highlighting the remarkable work of Thomas Chalmers, the great Scottish theologian and preacher of the last century. At the center of that work was the concept of “parish.” We frequently start our discussions at the wrong end. Say for example that we bring up the issue of …
Because They Did Not Eat the Fat, or Drink the Sweet
The covenant sanctions include fearsome curses. This section is significantly longer than the blessings, but given the situation the warnings are to the point. This section is not so much an argument as it is a painted picture—it contains a good deal of repetition. These are warnings, not proofs. The proof comes in the judgment. …
Kings and Priests, Not Martinets
We have been considering this Table as a place where we, the people of God, give counsel to our Lord. In one sense, this may sound exciting, but taken another way, it should be troubling.We must never forget the Creator/creature distinction. And this means that we must never pretend that we have knowledge, or wisdom, …
The Mountains of the Covenant
The exposition of each of the ten commandments has now been concluded. Once the terms are established and made clear, the covenant is made (Dt. 27-30). One of the great features of covenants, the blessings and curses, is now set plainly before the people. The blessings and curses are mountains on either side of the …
Deacons and the Woman (1 Tim. 3:8-13)
INTRODUCTION: The apostle Paul then turns to the office of deacon, which is, in many ways, a mysterious office. We are given the qualifications for the office here, but an explicit job description is never given to us. We have some idea from the fact that the synagogue had a deacon, called a chazan, and …
Let Us Feed Cheesecake to our Horses
The famous story tells of the minister who wrote in the margin of his notes, “Argument weak. Shout here.” Whenever anyone is unalterably attached to a position, and that position is wrong, there is always a strong temptation to shout. Moreover, the sillier a position gets, the more shouting is required to keep people from …
Does Your Marriage Need Help?
This is pretty funny, and outlandish, but I bet that any pastor or marriage counselor has a comparable story from real life. So consider this a plug for the 4th Annual Conference on the Family hosted by Providence Church (CREC) in Lynchburg, VA. The date is June 16, 2007. Nancy and I will be speaking …
Testimony on the MARS Testimony
The official testimony of the Mid-America Reformed Seminary has a digest of errors. I stated in an earlier post that I could join with them in rejecting about 43 of their list of 45. But the reasons for this vary. In some cases, it was because I agreed with them in rejecting the errors of …