What truth is and does

Almost two centuries ago Daniel Webster wrote, “There is nothing as powerful as truth and often nothing as strange.” In the intervening years, very little has changed — truth is still powerful and in our culture truth is still strange, and undoubtedly increasingly so. What matters to most individuals now is not truth, but “my […]

The danger of pride

Paul says that humility is an inner attitude that will yield the peaceful fruit of unity in the church body. Echoing the same truth by denoting the danger of a lack of humility, Thomas Watson wrote, How many by the wind of popular breath have been blown to hell! Whom the devil cannot destroy by […]

Do not lose heart in doing good

Paul says, “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary” (Gal. 6:9). In the context, he is talking about doing the good of restoring a sinning brother to Christ (v. 1) — of carrying the heavy load of reconciliation (v. 2). He’s […]

Let the congregation sing!

Not only was the book of Psalms the song book for Israel; it also included many admonitions to sing. As a very small sample, consider Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, And give thanks to His holy name. (Ps. 30:4) Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of […]

Made to glorify God

Thomas Watson applies the truth of the glory of God and meditates on what it means that we are made for His glory: There is no one here present but God has put in some capacity of glorifying him; the health he has given you, the parts, estate, seasons of grace, all are opportunities put […]

The accessible God

It is commonly presumed in our Western, self-reliant culture, that not only is God accessible to us (believer or unbeliever), but that it is something of a birth-right (if you’re born, you have the right!) to have access to God. In this way, it is believed, God is our servant. Well, He is accessible. But […]

God is holy

In the vision of Isaiah 6, the prophet saw the angels around the throne of God repeatedly declaring, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts.” We ourselves often speak and sing of this truth. But what does it mean that God is holy? It means that He is set apart and distinct. He is […]

The cost of discipleship

The benefits of salvation are great and wondrous and are and should be spoken of in glowing and rich terms. The privileges accrued through the cross ought to be of our greatest happiness. Yet there is also a corresponding truth that since by the gospel God means to change our lives from fleshly and earthly-minded […]

What God cannot do

The apocryphal story is told of a Sunday School teacher who asked his class, “If you tell me something God can do, I’ll give you an apple.” To which a wise little girl responded, “If you tell me something God can’t do, I’ll give you a case of apples!” Well, in actuality, there are things […]

An implication of loving darkness

Jesus said, “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed” (John 3:19-20). To which […]

God as our friend

Thinking more about yesterday’s topic of friendship: since it is true that the greatest friend is the One who is the friend to sinners, then what ought our response be to Him, and what kind of friend is He? The puritan James Janeway answers both those questions: It is the duty of man to acquaint […]

The gospel for today

For many believers, the gospel is something they needed once and believed and likewise something that they have moved beyond. The gospel is for unbelievers, the weak, and the immature. The gospel is in the past, not the present or the future. But the gospel is, in fact, for every day. It is the means […]

Sovereignty and responsibility

The question about how the sovereignty of God relates to the responsibility of man is an old one. In His book, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, J. I. Packer addresses how God’s sovereignty relates to our responsibility in proclaiming the gospel to unbelievers. There is abroad today a widespread suspicion that a robust faith […]

Why should we glorify God?

Why should we glorify God? Glorifying Him does not add to His character or worth — our glorying in Him does nothing to increase His preeminence. So why glorify Him? Why should we glory in His name? Because God has made all things for his own glory.…especially has he made the godly for his glory; […]

The glory of God and prayer

In anticipation of tomorrow morning’s sermon (on Paul’s doxology in Eph. 3), I was reading again in A. W. Pink’s work, Gleanings from Paul: the Prayers of the Apostle. He makes several helpful statements about the glory of God and its implications for prayer: …we should be deeply concerned with the glory of God, that […]