That Isn’t a Toy!
The story of God’s battle with Pharaoh in the book of Exodus is the story of the consequences of a hardened heart. It’s the story of someone who thought they could toy with God and with their heart. We cannot.
Here is a sobering thought that ought to humble us: God will receive glory either through our soft hearts or our hard hearts. Again and again in the Exodus narrative, God reminds Israel and Egypt that he is sovereign over the events and even Pharaoh’s heart, and it is all for his glory. Before the... Continue Reading
Let God Decide What Mothering is Worth
The life of faithful mothering, it turns out, must actually be full of faith.
What we need more than anything is to marinate more deeply in the truth of God’s word, to let those unbelieving thoughts be driven out by reality. Because what God says is reality, and we cannot and should not want to opt out of it. God says, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,... Continue Reading
Christians and Honesty
"You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord." Matthew 5:33 (NASB)
Our Lord is forbidding here the flippant, profane, or careless use of oaths in everyday speech in that culture, such oaths were often employed for deceptive purposes. Those doing that would swear by “heaven,” “earth,” “Jerusalem,” or their own “heads” (vv. 34-36), not by God. In this they hoped to avoid divine judgment for their... Continue Reading
Spiritual Scoliosis
Until we come to the Lord Jesus Christ, our back will be bent under the heavy burden of our sin, and nothing we do, say, or think can change that.
We were dead (not just sick, not just dying) in our sins. We were helpless apart from the saving work of Christ. He came not to save the righteous, but to save sinners – even the chief of sinners. So why do we bristle so much at this notion? The short answer is that we probably... Continue Reading
A Jesus Misjudged?
Sometimes we see things that are not there and we misinterpret what Christ is doing among us.
It seems almost weekly that discouraging news of comes from various corners of Christ’s Church. Apostasy, discipline, closures, resignations, and divisions all cause much suffering in the heart and mind of the one who loves Christ. Has God cast off forever? Has he forgotten grace? Has his mercy been undone? Let that not cause you... Continue Reading
The Deacon’s Merciful Service
They help exposit the kindness of God, strengthen the communion of the saints, and preserve the fiscal integrity of the church.
The duties we have to the deacons are greatly outweighed by the benefits of their ministry. Through the deacons Christ continues his priestly work. The deacons are perpetual illustrations of God’s love for our bodies and our souls. They remind us that God cares for our cares. He overflows with compassion for us. How... Continue Reading
3 Reasons Why It’s Actually Good News That Hell is Real
The badness of hell reflects the goodness of God.
Let us not be the kind of people who pick and choose the parts of faith that taste the best to us, as if Christianity is like some kind of cafeteria line. Instead, let us believe in what God has told us is real. And may that belief draw us into a greater appreciation of... Continue Reading
Law and Gospel in Redemptive History and Christian Experience
When considering the doctrine of salvation, law and gospel stand in contrast to one another.
When we begin to understand the important relationship between the law of God and the gospel, we will guard against allowing any perversions of it in our presentation of the biblical teaching about justification and sanctification. We will carefully note the contexts in which these two means of revelation are contrasted in Scripture; and, we... Continue Reading
Retrieving John Calvin on Job
For the first time, Calvin’s 159 sermons on this enigmatic work of wisdom literature are available in modern English for the first time in a new edition published by Banner of Truth.
Calvin repeatedly reminds his hearers that the aspiration of believers is both to fear (for the sake of discipline) and to love (for the sake of emulation) God’s revealed majesty by living out, with the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, his character and actions as demonstrated in the Lord Jesus. By contrast, the grave... Continue Reading
The Dark Side of Equality
The spirit of our age feuds against God’s authorities because it feuds against God.
Shapeless homes and interchangeable churches lower the drawbridge for Korah to invade. The likes of feminism, socialism, LGBTQ+, and smooth-sounding egalitarianism might tell us how special we all are, even co-opting the imago dei. But the plain instruction given to Christian husbands and wives, fathers and children, kings and citizens, masters and servants, shepherds and... Continue Reading
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