Called to Suffer
We are not to be surprised by suffering but expectant of it and prepared for it.
Jesus is the epitome of suffering unjustly. He neither acted with sin nor reacted in sin. Peter tells us: He “committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten” (1 Pet. 2:22-23). What do we do when we... Continue Reading
Why Does the Bible Seem Unclear? The Clarity of Scripture Part 3
God has spoken clearly, but that doesn’t mean that we will always listen clearly.
The Bible can seem so unclear to us because we have rejected the ground of clarity in the goodness of God. Of course, that struggle is even more painful because of our own natural finitude and the cultural distance between us and the authors, but the start of it all was a human refusal to... Continue Reading
Weakness: Our Unlikely Ally
It is in our weaknesses that God’s strength is most clearly seen.
Jacob limped the rest of his life after wrestling with God at the Jabbock, and that limp signified the power of God for generations to come. Therefore, I will boast of my weaknesses because God makes no mistakes in His providences. Countless Christians speak life into the souls of hurting people because they, too, have... Continue Reading
How the Word of God Gives Us Words for God
We Cannot Worship God Without Knowing Accurately Who He Is
The Lord speaks to us in the Scripture of Himself in terms of His face, His right hand and arm, His throne, His sceptre, His back parts, His anger, His fury, His repentance, His grief and sorrow. None of these are properly in His spiritual, immortal and unchangeable nature. He speaks in this way because... Continue Reading
What is Greed?
The sin of greed destroys the self insofar as it disorders our affections.
Each of us must ask ourselves, “Do I despise God’s daily bread by grasping greedily [and often anxiously] for something more?” Of course, this doesn’t mean earthly riches are inherently sinful (see 1 Tim. 6:17–19). We must, however, recognize that the manic pursuit of them is symptomatic of a deeper discontentment with our divine lot. We... Continue Reading
The Glory of the King and His Bride: Part 4
Three Promises to the King (Psalm 45:16-17)
Christianity deals in spirituality, yes, but spirituality is not to be dissociated from reality. Christ was promised, and He came, and He was just as He had been described. He did what it was foretold He would do. The knowledge of Christ spread throughout the earth, just as God said it would in Psalm 45... Continue Reading
Can God’s Comfort Compare to the Pleasures of Sin?
Receiving God’s comfort requires a heart willing to submit to his ways rather than grasping for control.
Sinful comfort feels immediately satisfying, but it’s an illusion. It will only draw you deeper into loneliness and despair. God’s comfort sustains, protects, and nourishes your soul. Pray honestly and ask, “Lord, teach me to receive the comfort only you can provide.” The Lord longs to answer when you call out to him. In... Continue Reading
How to Keep “Short Accounts” When Confessing Sin
What do short accounts look like in the Christian life?
We must continually go to God and men in confession and contrition. We must resist the temptation to give into sin and stop confessing it. Confessing and seeking to forsake sin is one of the means of Christian growth in grace. When we stop doing so, we have begun the first step toward backsliding or... Continue Reading
Book Review: The Holy Spirit
The Spirit, together with the Father and the Son, is fully engaged in creation, providence and redemption.
The book has the following outline. The first section is a historical survey of discussion in the church. The focus here is that the Trinity is indivisible and so the works of the Spirit are inseparable from those of the Father and the Son. So when we consider the Spirit, we must not think of... Continue Reading
Anything you can do….
We are often tempted at critical points, when the work and witness of the Gospel is at stake, to act dubiously, pragmatically, carnally or sensually.
Let us never forget key lessons we should have already learnt: to vacate solid granite of Scripture for shifting sands of feelings, impressions, hunches, emotions, sense, reason, circumstances, providences and signs, always results in a knot that is only untangled by grace. We are called to walk by faith, through which we are also... Continue Reading
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