We have been considering how to cultivate a humble spirit without falling into discouragement. The way to approach this is by naming your sins rightly, and by tracing our sins back to the root sin, and identifying that root sin correctly. Whenever you sin, whatever the sin is, the root of it is unbelief. If …
Remembering the Basics
We have considered the importance of reading the story we are in. In doing this, we avoid the trap of being like brute beasts—like pigs under an oak tree, eating all the acorns, but never, ever, looking up. The acorns are just there, taken for granted. But as we read the story, we must also …
The Sorrows of the Spirit
We have asked what the difference is between being humbled and being discouraged. The first thing we considered is the difference between thinking about dishonor to God and discomfort for oneself. But there is more to this. Another difference is that we find truth in the gospel paradox that teaches us to respond to them …
Humbled or Discouraged?
What is the difference between being humbled and being discouraged? This is an important question as we prepare ourselves to come to this meal. Humbling ourselves is how we wash up for this meal, and discouragement is a counterfeit form of washing up. So what is the difference? The Puritan William Bridge is a great …
Just Bread and Wine
This is a humble meal, offered to us by God through the humble obedience of Jesus Christ, even to the point of death on a cross. This meal came from humility, and proceeds to humility. The elements are humble—simple bread and wine. It is a plain meal, not one calculated to make us think of …
Prove It
In the Old Testament law, because of man’s hardness of heart, it was possible for a man to put away his wife for trivial reasons. When men and women become bitter, every trivial thing rises to intolerable proportions, and the thing cannot be resolved. But when a woman was put away by a man for …
A Thousands Lives of Sin
In our confusion, we tend to use the greatness of our sin as an argument against receiving the mercy of God. But that is not how the Bible reasons. Isaiah says that though our sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. And David prays this way — “pardon my iniquity, for …
So Come, and Welcome, to Jesus Christ
I want to explain something that I usually say at the conclusion of these little exhortations, and that is, “Come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.” What do I mean by that? First, the Scriptures teach us that when we partake of the bread and wine we are partakers of the Table of the Lord Jesus …
The Supper As Rainbow
The world has sinned since the time of Noah, and there have been times when the world has sinned most grievously. But though the world has sinned, the Lord has nevertheless promised that this sinful world will never again be under water. In an analogous way, the saints of God have sinned since their conversion—and …
Table Choices
We are the people of God, and so of course He promises to feed us. We are the sheep of His pasture, and He also promises to feed us in the presence of our enemies (Ps. 23:5). And while we are being fed, our enemies are not silent about it. While we are being fed …