Sermon: The Sinning Believer and His Sin

“The Sinning Believer and His Sin” Psalm 130 April 12, 2015 Arthur Lampitt was driving his tan Ford Thunderbird to work one July morning in 1963 when he was involved in a car accident so bad that he was reported as dead on the local radio station. It had been raining and his car tires […]

I confess

I confess I find confession hard. Don’t we all? There is nothing easy about admitting one is wrong. And compounding the difficulty of confession is the further requirement to ask for forgiveness from the one to whom we are confessing. And when we confess to the Lord, it additionally requires a desire to change — […]

Sermon: I Will Confess

I Will Confess Psalm 32 February 22, 2015 At least according to some researchers, a famous line from the 1970 film, “Love Story” really is true. In the movie, the character played by Ali MacGraw tells the character played by Ryan O’Neal, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” As a side note, it […]

Sermon: Joy Comes in the Morning

Joy Comes in the Morning: Giving Thanks After Discipline Psalm 30 February 15, 2015 Hebrews 12 contains the most well-known passage related to God’s spiritual discipline of His children (vv. 5-11). Did you notice all the things that the writer of Hebrews says about God and discipline in that passage? God will reprove His people […]

The danger of not repenting

When the heart is grown hard and stiff in wickedness, it is hard to tune the penitential string. A tender plant is easily removed, but it is hard to pluck up an old tree that is rooted. An old sinner who has been a long time rooting in sin is hardly plucked out of his […]

Grab bag

Some helpful articles from around the internet: Jon Bloom offers “Seven Ways to Pray for Your Heart.” David Murray reminds us, “All things for good.” Sin too? All sin is evil. No sin is worth it. It’s always better that we not sin. However, sin is also part of the “all things” that God works together […]

Sunday Leftovers: marks of repentance

The believer is to forgive anyone who comes to him for forgiveness — and whenever he comes to him for forgiveness (Lk. 17:3). Yet it is always easier to forgive someone who is repentant and broken for their sin. But what does repentance look like? The apostle Paul commends the Corinthians for their repentance and […]

Sunday Leftovers: more on confession and 1 John 1:9

In 1 John 1:9, the beloved disciple reminds believers that “If (when) we confess our sins, God is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Most believers are quite familiar with this verse, but what does it really mean to confess our sins? What is confession? What should […]

It happens every day

It happened every fall. I worked as a pool cleaner while in seminary and as soon as the weather got too cool to swim, to save a couple of dollars, a few customers would request to have their pools covered and winterized and their service discontinued until the spring. We would show up to do […]

Why God is patient

Scripture speaks often about the importance and wisdom of being patient. (Consider Prov. 14:29; 15:18; 16:32; 19:11; 20:22; Col. 3:12; Js. 5:10; 1 Pt. 2:20ff as just a few examples). Scripture also speaks of the patience of God. God waits. One of the common New Testament words for patience is to be long-suffering (see Rom. […]

Gospel consequences

What happens when people believe the gospel? Many times I’ve prayed with people who expressed an interest in trusting in Christ and after the prayer, they look up and say something like, “I don’t feel any different.” Perhaps they are expecting a warm and happy feeling like seeing a cuddly puppy or cute baby. That […]

Meditate on sin…and forgiveness

Reading Psalm 51 this morning is a reminder of the power and pervasiveness of sin. And of the grace of forgiveness. We do well to meditate on both, as Thomas Watson exhorted in The Christian on the Mount: Meditate upon the FILTH of sin. Not only is the guilt of Adam’s sin imputed, but the […]

Grab bag

There has been much discussion lately in the Christian blogosphere about Hell and its duration (more comments coming at a later date). As Desiring God noted this morning, this is not a new discussion. And it predates DG’s conference in 1990 by many centuries as well! Paul Tripp continues his thoughts about the grace of […]

Grab bag

Items of interest with biblical implications from around the internet in the past week: Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the death of Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Justin Taylor has compiled short biographical videos and a number of other resources of interest concerning the great preacher’s life. Paul Tripp talks about the grace of confession — “no […]

What do you think of sin?

It is a temptation to think lightly of sin — to ignore it, overlook it, and dismiss it. The temptation is to consider its consequences as insignificant and unimportant. Those who are broken, penitent, contrite, and grieved are considered to be over-reacting and morose. “It’s just not that bad,” too many think. Yet there is […]