Jonah teaches us about the heart of God—a heart of mercy and grace for sinners. Jesus fulfills that lesson fully. The question for you is the same one that faced the Ninevites and the Pharisees: How will you respond?   Two summers ago, I preached through the book of Jonah. It remains one of the... Continue Reading

Jesus’ reign is unlike any other. It is marked by justice, peace, and sacrificial love. His dominion spans all nations and endures forever, firmly established by the zeal of the Lord of hosts. Rejoice Christian!   Isaiah 9:7 declares: Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of... Continue Reading

The Larger Catechism lists examples like “patient bearing of the hand of God,” “quietness of mind,” “charitable thoughts,” and the characteristics of love, compassion, and the forgiving of injuries. This gets at Jesus’ application of the heart (with reference to the Sixth Commandment) in Matthew 5:21–26 and Paul’s instruction in Romans 13:9, 10. True obedience... Continue Reading

It is not the number of days  lived in this world that signals holy wisdom, but the days, and even the moments of eternal consequence, spent in humble, adoring, obedient, active faith in the living God – time that is saturated with Scripture and filled with ongoing prayer or prayerfulness.  These moments, infused with eternity,... Continue Reading

Jesus, in the incarnation, took a human nature upon the deity, but without mingling or mixing the two. It brought no change upon who He is as God. The human nature did not change the God nature, and the God nature did not change the human nature. Yet, at the same time, these two natures... Continue Reading

It’s not always people who appear good, beautiful, and powerful by worldly standards who truly know God. (After all, Jesus didn’t look glorious on the cross.) “One deserves to be called a [true] theologian,” Martin wrote, “who sees God even in suffering.” The Bible says that even broken and weak sinners can know God if... Continue Reading

We must guard ourselves against looking to the Bible for confirmation of our longings rather than looking to the Bible for truth that may contradict our longings. Elisabeth Elliot’s admonition is an appropriate one: “We must quit bending the Word to suit our situation. It is we who must be bent to that Word, our... Continue Reading

When God’s Anointed King appears, He will not accomplish salvation by divine fiat, nor will He conquer the world with a battlecry and simply declare the deliverance of His people. Rather, His appearing will be subtle, almost obscure, like the slow growth of a young plant or a root out of dry ground (Isa. 53:2).... Continue Reading

Fulfilled prophecies and testimonies, not beliefs “governed by passion,” are the proofs that ground Christian conviction. Justin also goes on to cite, almost in its entirety, the amazing prophecy of the Suffering Servant from chapters 52 and 53 of Isaiah. “[H]ear what was…said by Isaiah,” Justin writes, “‘Because they delivered His soul to death, and... Continue Reading

 While one might think of the Christian life as a journey, what is important is that one makes certain the path on which the journey takes place is the right path—the straight and narrow according to Jesus. However, as the extract of Douglas A. Sweeney’s The Essential Evangelicalism Dialectic shows: “In the fifty years since... Continue Reading