Introduction: The image for wisdom in Proverbs is overwhelmingly feminine—but so is folly. The book of Proverbs is dedicated to teaching young men to walk up rightly, and this means taking women into account, women of both kinds. Women must learn from the book of Proverbs also, but need to do it in reverse. Don’t …
Wisdom and the Wise: Themes in Proverbs 1
Introduction: As we begin a short series of messages on “themes in Proverbs,” we begin with the topic of wisdom—wisdom and the wise. This book is part of what is called the Wisdom Literature of Scripture, and so in one sense everything the book teaches falls under the heading of wisdom. But I want to …
Aeneas, Anarchy, and America #3
Introduction: As we read Scripture carefully, we should note that there are many differences between the status of the Jews in Isaiah’s day, for example, and our condition. At the same time, we have to realize that God gave the Scriptures to us for an example, so that we would be able to learn from …
Aeneas, Anarchy, and America #2
Introduction: In a world gone mad, sanity is always thought to be some form of extremism. When people are wound tight in their scruples, the preaching of free grace is thought to be antinomian license (Rom. 6:1ff). When the early Christians refused to acknowledge the pantheon of gods, they were not accused of monotheism, but …
Aeneas, Anarchy, and America #1
Introduction: This short series of messages can be considered as what used to be called “artillery sermons.” The custom (and the name) began in England in the first half of the 17th century, where military groups invited ministers to come and preach to them. In our colonial period, ministers used to preach such sermons prior …
And Gave Gifts to Men
Introduction: As our congregation has grown and developed, our form of government has grown more defined along with it. To a certain extent, once we get used to it, we just function the way we function. But whenever we alter something, it generates questions that should always be answered from the Scriptures. Or other times …
Cremation and Burial
Introduction: Part of living together is learning to deal with the fact of death. In the early years of our congregation, we had almost no funerals. The reason we had few funerals in the early days of the church is that we were all babies. Now we have had a number of funerals, and given …
Liturgical Confession
Introduction: As part of our emphasis on practical Christian living, we have emphasized the importance of confession of sin for many years. We have taught (and continue to teach) that confession is nothing less than full honesty before God, and that such honesty is always to be ongoing and immediate. But something else we do …
Authority and Power
Introduction: We always mark and commemorate what we believe to be important. From birthdays to anniversaries, from independence days to holidays, we will take note. The issue, therefore, is what we find to be important. Attempts to banish this reality will only have the effect of selecting the wrong things to commemorate. The Text: When …
Garments and Salvation
Introduction: The imagery of clothes in the Bible can scarcely be overestimated. This strikes us as alien on two counts. First, our clothing styles are very different from other cultures (which is nothing new), but secondly, we have adopted a notion of clothing which is entirely unscriptural and unnatural. Our problem is not that our …