Posts from 2012 (Page 2)

Today we consider Jesus’ teaching on Mark 10:35-45, where Jesus says “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” An Old Testament passage that will help us understand the idea of ransom which forms this climax of our passage is Exodus 21:1-6. Here we have a description of how slaves were to be treated in…

In the Reformed tradition, the authors and composers of our original church songbooks often included example prayers to instruct the people. For instance, when the preacher and churchman Petrus Dathenus (1531–1588) put together the first complete church songbook for Dutch Reformed Christians in 1566, behind all the songs he included sample prayers that Christians could…

“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”  Matthew 18:20 I want to celebrate something with you.  Let’s celebrate something that deserves to be celebrated but rarely is.  Let’s celebrate the Church.  Celebrate the Church? It might seem like bragging about a car that looked great in design, on paper, but it turned out to be a lemon.  But…

A Summary of the Gospel by Jeremiah Burroughs The gospel of Christ is the good tidings that God has revealed concerning Christ. As all mankind was lost in Adam and became the children of wrath, put under the sentence of death, God, though He left His fallen angels and has reserved them in the chains of eternal darkness, yet He has thought upon the children of men and has…

Outward practical holiness is a very precious mark of grace. It is to be feared that many professors have perverted the doctrine of justification by faith in such a way as to treat good works with contempt; if so, they will receive everlasting contempt at the last great day. If our hands are not clean, let us wash them in Jesus’ precious blood, and so let us lift up pure…

“Marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure”. Heb 13:4–6   Not all here today are married. Some of you are single by choice, and some of you are not.  Some of you are not yet of an age to even consider marriage. Yet marriage should be of interest to us all, and held in honour by us all – implying even by those who are not married.   Why?…

“To him be glory both now and forever.” — 2 Peter 3:18   Heaven will be full of the ceaseless praises of Jesus. Eternity! your unnumbered years shall speed their everlasting course, but forever and for ever, “to him be glory.” Is he not a “Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek”? “To him be glory.” Is he not king for ever?—King of kings and Lord of lords, the…

So far we looked at the four Life Goals God has for His children, then last week we saw three Life Assurances God gives us as we face the complexity of trials in our Christian lives, which range from those that God uses to test or prove and also improve our faith through to Satan’s temptations either in those trials or more directly. What great encouragement we received…

He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young. [Isaiah 40:11] Who is He of whom such gracious words are spoken? He is the Good Shepherd. Why does He carry the lambs in His bosom? Because He has a tender heart, and any weakness at once melts His heart. The sighs, the…

The clear desire of all Christian parents is the spiritual wellbeing of their children. We want our children to be saved, to be part of the company of the redeemed. We yearn for the blessing of God’s covenant grace to be on our children. While we recognize God’s sovereignty in salvation, this longing to see one generation follow another in knowing God motivates the…