How Jesus Trains Husbands
Our love for our wives must be sacrificial.
It is far more difficult to daily sacrifice our pride, our reputation, our selfishness, our perceived “rights,” or our desires to be served than it is to sacrifice our lives. And yet, these daily sacrifices are part and parcel of what it means to love our wives sacrificially. I have never met a husband who... Continue Reading
The Bitter Fruit of the Self-Focused Life
The ultimate cause of any misery or lack of joy is separation from God.
All moments of unhappiness in life are ultimately due to the separation. A person who is in real communion with God and with the Lord Jesus Christ is happy. It does not matter whether he is in a dungeon, or whether he has his feet fast in the stocks, or whether he is burning at... Continue Reading
How Did He Know?
It was with full knowledge as God and also with full faith as God-Man.
Jesus, in faith, was persuaded that this prophetic zecharianic text was written of Him – and was now literally being fulfilled, as J.C. Ryle, in Matthew, 213-214, points out. Christ believed with all his heart that His disciples would find the foretold colt – the Word of His Father could never disappoint. He sends them out trusting... Continue Reading
3 Things Our Desire for Revenge Reveals About Our Faith
What someone has done to us pales in comparison to what we have done against God.
According to Paul, we should not take matters into our own hands. It’s not that there’s not justice to be served; there very well might be. But it’s not for you or I to administer it because we aren’t capable of doing so in a true and good and noble way. This belongs to the... Continue Reading
The Natural State of the Fool Is Unbelief
How does a man get to be such a self-deluded, allegedly autonomous, fool?
A fool is one who does not make God and His revelation the starting point (the presupposition) of his thinking. Fools despise the preaching of the cross, refuse to know God, and cannot receive God’s Word (1 Corinthians 1-2). Those who are self-proclaimed, autonomous people, or unbelievers, will not submit to the word of God... Continue Reading
Understanding the Sovereignty of God
As Christians our ultimate hope is not in the rulers of this age, nor in the state of our economy, but in the sovereign Creator of the universe.
The truth that God is indeed sovereign should be of immense comfort and a source of strength for us. What does God’s sovereignty actually mean? In short – God is in charge, he is in control. Let’s look at four points the Bible makes concerning the sovereignty of God. We are living in deeply... Continue Reading
Governor Northam, Pharaoh, and the Incredible Patience of God
A friend was recently preaching from Exodus chapter 1, and it really struck me just how patient God was with Egypt.
Egypt is committing copious amounts of unconscionable evils that would make American history blush. They are enslaving thousands of people and making them work. Then, out of fear of their slaves fighting back, they are taking their children between the ages of 0-2 and drowning them in the Nile. They are outrageously evil. And while... Continue Reading
A Manual for Creating Atheists Who Create Straw Men
A view can only be properly assessed after it is properly understood.
When we—wittingly or unwittingly—misunderstand an opposing view, it’s easy to erect a straw man. A straw man argument is when you misrepresent a view in order to refute it. A straw man is a lot easier to knock over than a real man. In the same way, a straw man argument is a lot easier to... Continue Reading
How Should We Understand “Shall Rule Over You” in Genesis 3:16b? (Part 2)
Coming from man, the woman will desire to return to him to seek oneness just as man desires to return to God in oneness because he came from God.
This desire and longing is the natural longing instilled at Creation by virtue of God having created woman from man (Genesis 2:21-22). This means that woman will naturally long to return to man, just as man longs to be one with his Creator. This Creation Longing is now to become the source of her frustration,... Continue Reading
Five Truths About the Holy Spirit
Jesus also spoke of the Spirit as the Helper in John 14 and introduced Him as “the Spirit of truth.”
We need to notice that the Holy Spirit is a unique person and not simply a power or an influence. He is spoken of as “He,” not as “it.” This is a matter of import because if you listen carefully to people speaking, even within your own congregations you may hear the Holy Spirit referenced in... Continue Reading
