You are familiar with the exhortation that music in worship is summoned to be skilful music (Ps. 33:3). We are not permitted to just throw anything together and call it good. But skill is not the only characteristic we are told to cultivate. “Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise” …
Deference of Death
In Matthew 20, the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus and asked if her two sons could sit on Christ’s right hand and left in the kingdom. He asked if they could participate in His baptism, and if they could drink the cup that He would drink. He replied that they would …
No Salvation Without a Savior
Our Father and God, You have established Your Church as a royal priesthood in this world, and so we intercede for the nations of men now, confessing on their behalf so that the grace of Your forgiveness will soon be extended to them all. Father over all, we confess that as a nation, rottenness has …
New Covenant Instruments in the Old
Last week we noted that Paul assumes the use of musical instruments in worship—we are to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with all our hearts, and we are to make melody as we do by means of instruments. Because this has been controversial in the church over the centuries, perhaps we should say a …
Sin Crushed As Well As Broken
Last week we saw that God breaks the idols, and He breaks all sin, and He breaks it for our salvation in the body of Christ. And so we, as that body, are enabled by God’s grace to partake of His forgiveness. The wine is made by crushing the grapes. This kind of crushing is …
Unforgiving and Unforgiven
Our Father and God, You have established Your Church as a royal priesthood in this world, and so we intercede for the nations of men now, confessing on their behalf so that the grace of Your forgiveness will soon be extended to them all. Father in heaven, we confess to You that our nation is …
Instruments in Worship
In Ephesians 5, the apostle Paul requires musical instrumentation in worship. He says there that we are to be “speaking to [one another] in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in [our] heart to the Lord” (Eph. 5:19). The translation in the heart would better be rendered as with the heart. …
Breaking Bread, Breaking Sin
This bread is the sacrament of the body of the Lord, as He put it. And when He picked it up in the institution of this meal, He took the bread that represented His own body, and He gave thanks, and He broke it. The remarkable grace and love that we see here is striking, …
Receiving Grace
Our Father and God, You have established Your Church as a royal priesthood in this world, and so we intercede for the nations of men now, confessing on their behalf so that the grace of Your forgiveness will soon be extended to them all. Father and God, You are the God of all grace, and …
Buncha Fun
HT: Randy Booth