Sunday Leftovers (6/29/08)

It’s easy and tempting to read the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector and presume that I am safe from self-righteousness and that the account is given for someone unlike me. In truth, all men tend towards self-righteousness (it’s called “pride,” in its most basic form). And that tendency is dangerous. Self-righteous people […]

Sunday Leftovers (6/22/08)

It is not unusual for me to leave out things from a sermon that I had originally intended to say. It is unusual that I intentionally leave out as much as I did Sunday. I not only left out a complete point, accounting for a full page of notes (out of about 3-1/2 pages total), […]

Sunday Leftovers (6/8/08)

Why is substitutionary atonement so important? Two reasons — one theological and one applicational. For the first, J. I. Packer offers a summary definition of the atonement in his article, “Sola Fide: the Reformed Doctrine of Justification”: This is the characteristic doctrine of the Reformation concerning the death of Christ. It was an act of […]

Sunday Leftovers (5/25/08)

Sunday afternoon I began reading a book I bought about a month ago — Jesus Made in America: A Cultural History from the Puritans to the Passion of the Christ. The author, Stephen Nichols, is attempting to trace the history of American thought towards Jesus Christ and how that thinking was heavily influenced by contemporary […]

Sunday Leftovers (5/18/08)

What does it mean that God is a righteous judge? John Piper offers this explanation: God’s righteousness is essentially his unswerving allegiance to his own name and his own glory. God is righteous to the degree that he upholds and displays the honor of his name. He is righteous when he values most what is […]

Sunday Leftovers (5/11/08)

A few thoughts about various items in Sunday’s sermon — Ransom is release from sin. And I need release from sin (though you and I are both want to admit it). In a recent blog post on Desiring God, Abraham Piper helped me think clearly about this issue. We usually think ourselves to be more […]

A few verses on the sacrifice of Christ

Here is the list of verses that I came up with from the Gospels that either directly stated or implied the sacrificial work of Christ (these are the verses that were the foundation for yesterday’s message): Matthew 16:21ff Matthew 17:9-12 Matthew 26:26-29 Luke 2:34-35 Luke 17:31 Luke 22:37 Luke 23:15 Luke 23:28 Luke 24:6ff, 26ff […]

Audio on the cross

I have recently come across several audio sermons that deal with themes related to the cross that I have found exceedingly helpful and encouraging. At the recent Together for the Gospel conference, virtually all the speakers dealt with topics related to the cross and the atonement; I found particularly helpful the messages by Al Mohler, […]

Sunday Leftovers (5/4/08)

Since I didn’t quite finish my sermon, here are a couple of thoughts that remain in my mind from this great passage: What is interesting to note is that not only does the NT picture Christ as the lamb sacrificed, but also as the priest who offers Himself as that sacrifice (Heb. 9:10ff). It is […]

Sunday Leftovers (4/27/08)

As I mentioned in my message, I have long been struck by the repeated emphasis on the necessity of Christ’s death. He had to go to the cross. It was not optional. Why is it important to stress the necessity of the cross? Because there is a connection between what we believe about the cross […]

Sunday Leftovers (4/20/08)

Since Sunday morning, I’ve been thinking more about my message and the implications of sin and salvation on our spiritual life. I’ve even listened to the sermon again myself. Did I say what I wanted to say, the way I wanted to say it? I was intentional in attempting to front-load the sermon with a […]

Book Review: The Cross He Bore

I regularly look for and purchase and read books about Jesus Christ — and particularly Christ and the cross. The cross is of first importance for the believer. We cannot think about it too much. We often think about it too little. So when I read an encouragement by Tim Challies to purchase The Cross […]

Books on the cross

C. J. Mahaney, who himself has written a book or two about the cross (The Cross-Centered Life and Living the Cross Centered Life) today posted his list of favored books on the cross. I concur with his choice of Stott’s book, and am looking forward to beginning to read this weekend Pierced for Our Transgressions […]

The cross and preaching

God did not ordain the cross of Christ or create the lake of fire in order to communicate the insignificance of belittling his glory. The death of the Son of God and the damnation of unrepentant human beings are the loudest shouts under heaven that God is infinitely holy, and sin is infinitely offensive, and […]

Sunday Leftovers (1/13/08)

When the request “We’d like to see Jesus” came, His response was that the hour had finally come for the Son of Man to be glorified. He would be revealed and seen like no time previously. For 33 years, Mary had contemplated and treasured the activities concerning Christ and done by Christ. For three years, […]