When we sin in terrible ways

I did not know Ravi Zacharias. I certainly knew of him and I have a couple of his books on apologetics, though I never read them. I never attended a conference where he spoke, though I have had conversations with several people who were helped by his ministry of speaking and writing. I heard of […]

A godly man weeps over his sin

Wednesdays with Watson is a weekly reading taken from my favorite Puritan writer, Thomas Watson. This week’s selection is taken from The Godly Man’s Picture. How far from being godly are those who scarcely ever shed a tear for sin! If they lose a near relation, they weep; but though they are in danger of […]

Godly repentance is a great sorrow

Wednesdays with Watson is a weekly reading taken from my favorite Puritan writer, Thomas Watson. This week’s selection is taken from The Doctrine of Repentance. ‘In that day there shall be a great mourning, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon’ (Zech. 12.1 1). Two suns did set that day when Josiah died, and there was a […]

Godly repentance is ingenuous

Wednesdays with Watson is a weekly reading taken from my favorite Puritan writer, Thomas Watson. This week’s selection is taken from The Doctrine of Repentance. [Godly repentance] is a sorrow for the offense rather than for the punishment. God’s law has been infringed, his love abused. This melts the soul in tears. A man may […]

True repentance is sorrow for sin

Wednesdays with Watson is a weekly reading taken from my favorite Puritan writer, Thomas Watson. This week’s selection is taken from The Doctrine of Repentance. Ingredient 2: Sorrow for Sin I will be sorry for my sin (Psalm 38.18) Ambrose calls sorrow the embittering of the soul. The Hebrew word ‘to be sorrowful’ signifies ‘to […]

True repentance is seeing sin

Wednesdays with Watson is a weekly reading taken from my favorite Puritan writer, Thomas Watson. This week’s selection is taken from The Doctrine of Repentance. Repentance is a grace of God’s Spirit whereby a sinner is inwardly humbled and visibly reformed. For a further amplification, know that repentance is a spiritual medicine made up of […]

Counterfeit Repentance

Wednesdays with Watson is a weekly reading taken from my favorite Puritan writer, Thomas Watson. This week’s selection is taken from The Doctrine of Repentance. To discover what true repentance is, I shall first show what it is not. There are several deceits of repentance which might occasion that saying of Augustine that ‘repentance damns […]

Repentance is never out of season

Wednesdays with Watson is a weekly reading taken from my favorite Puritan writer, Thomas Watson. This week’s selection is taken from The Doctrine of Repentance. The two great graces essential to a saint in this life are faith and repentance. These are the two wings by which he flies to heaven. Faith and repentance preserve […]

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 repentant are sin-haters

Wednesdays with Watson is a weekly reading taken from my favorite Puritan writer, Thomas Watson. This week’s selection is from The Doctrine of Repentance, chapter 4: “The Nature of True Repentance.” The fifth ingredient in repentance is hatred of sin. The Schoolmen distinguished a two-fold hatred: hatred of abominations, and hatred of enmity. Firstly, there […]

That’s not repentance

Wednesdays with Watson is a weekly reading taken from my favorite Puritan writer, Thomas Watson. This week’s selection is taken from The Doctrine of Repentance, chapter 2: “Counterfeit Repentance.” To discover what true repentance is, I shall first show what it is not. There are several counterfeits of repentance, which might occasion that saying of […]

Repentance and regret

There is an eternal difference between regret and repentance. Regret feels bad about past sins. Repentance turns away from past sins. Regret looks to our own circumstances. Repentance looks to God. Most of us are content with regret. We just want to feel bad for a while, have a good cry, enjoy the cathartic experience, […]

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 […]