Four years ago today, two airliners flew into the World Trade Towers in New York City. A third plane crashed into the Pentagon. Another plane, perhaps intended for the White House or Capitol, was heroically crashed in Pennsylvania by the passengers instead. At the time, we declared that all this was a portent of God’s …
Identified Through the Bread
One of the reasons the Table of the Lord has been controversial among Christians from the very beginning is the fact that the Table, faithfully observed, reveals the secrets of men. Not only does the faithful observance of the Supper nourish and strengthen the faithful, it also reveals and identifies Judas. Judas identified Jesus with …
Fellowship and Laughter
Father of all mercies, we thank You for the great salvation You have lavished upon us in Christ Jesus our Lord. We thank You that peace with You is not purchased by our own works, but rather by Your great grace and love. We thank You for this emblem of grace, our Sabbath meal, knowing …
The Bread and Wine of Grace
As the Lord Jesus taught His disciples on the Emmaus road, He showed them many glorious things out of the Scriptures. But before He did this, He rebuked them with the words “fools and slow of heart to believe.” He then went on to show that the entire Old Testament was talking about Him. This …
A Steep Staircase
The staircase down to Hell is steep enough as it is, but many insist on going even faster, lunging and clattering down as rapidly as they can. They industriously work at damning themselves, and what they receive at the end of their efforts is simply and solely a wage. They arrive at their destination by …
But Now We See
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Father of deliverance, Father of all salvation, we worship You now through the great name of Jesus Christ. When we were blind in our sin, You loved us. When we lived in a way that despised Your ongoing kindness, You showed mercy …
Also An Act of God
When disaster befalls a city, the prophet Amos tells us, the Lord is the one who has done it. What has happened to New Orleans this past week is not something that slipped past God, or somehow got away from Him. He is the divine author of all things, and this truly was an act …
What Faith Does
The Table of the Lord humbles the honest, comforts the distraught, forgives the repentant, nourishes the hungry, establishes the church, preaches the gospel, summons the world, and overwhelms the devil. And of course the Table as a mere set of physical objects does none of those things—any more than the Word of God, considered simply …
Our Priest, King and Prophet
Our Father, great God of heaven, we glorify You through Jesus Christ our Priest, King and Prophet. He is our Lord, and on this day He rose from the dead, making all things new. Because He remade the heavens and the earth, because He is the Lord of the new creation, it was only fitting …
Marriage As Manifest Glory XXXI
INTRODUCTION: We now come to look at what submission actually is. We have been careful to avoid distortions of this teaching because in our generation it is both embraced and rejected wrongly. THE TEXT: “For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but …