Judgment is coming

It was Spring of my sophomore year in college and I had a bad case of spring fever. A group of friends was headed to the beach on one particular day, and I had a dilemma — “beach or class?” Sand and surf won out over desk and discourse. The next week I walked back […]

Sunday Leftovers — The Supremacy of Christ

Christ is supreme over all things. He always has been. When creation began, He was already in existence, co-eternal with God the Father. He was, in fact, the One who created all things. And one week after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, He demonstrated that supremacy for all men to see with His resurrection. That […]

When Christ returns

When Christ returns (see Luke 21:25-38), He will come “with power and great glory” (v. 27). He is the Son of Man — a title that emphasizes His humanity, but also is a reference to His Messianic authority — I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like […]

God, our refuge

While redeemed from sin, no believer in Christ lives perfectly. Every believer knows the daily (hourly? minute-by-minute?) battle with the flesh. Paul knew it (see Romans 7:14-25) and so do we. How can a believer stand more effectively? What will transform our hearts and change the way we live so that we are more like the […]

He is risen!

Charles Spurgeon: If you ask where God’s glory is most seen, I will not point to creation, nor to providence, but to the raising of Jesus from the dead. [“Christ’s Resurrection and Our Newness of Life”]

“Not My will…”

Last night as we read the account of Christ’s betrayal, crucifixion, and death at our Good Friday service, I was particularly struck by Christ’s willing submission to the will of the Father — a will that decreed that the Holy One take on sin and the attendant cup of God’s wrath. “My Father, if it […]

Unless the Lord had shortened the days…

Psalm 1 says it about as simply and clearly as it can be said: “the wicked will not stand in the judgment” (v. 5). But few believe it. Ask an unbeliever about hell and the judgment of God and he will characterize them as a debauched party with friends or something severe, but manageable — […]

The Olivet Discourse

Matthew 24-25, commonly called “The Olivet Discourse,” relates to Israel at the end of the age; it has nothing to do with the church, which will have already been raptured out of the world when these events happen. What follows is a brief outline of the events of Matthew 24: The first half of the […]

The sins of hypocrisy

Hypocrisy. Say the word and undoubtedly some past experience, activity, or person comes to mind. When we hear that word, we remember the hypocrisy and inconsistencies of others. We remember their failures and how they sinned against us while purporting to have attained a level of righteousness. We think of their lives and we look […]

You can reject Christ

Paul tells Timothy to “remember Jesus Christ” (2 Tim. 2:8). Specifically, Timothy is told to remember the resurrection of Christ and the Messianic fulfillment of Christ. In keeping with that command, this week is the great remembrance of Christ and His work. There is nothing that Jesus did or does that surpasses what was accomplished […]

What belongs to God?

In the final days of Jesus, His opponents used various means to attempt to discredit His teaching and malign His character. The questions they asked were not genuine desires to learn from Him or to clarify their understanding; the queries were not-so-cleverly disguised attempts to trap Him into saying something unintended that would make Him […]

Hope in God

Three times the Psalmist says in Psalms 42-43 that he should hope in God. He says this as a reminder to himself because he is in despair. He is discouraged and distraught — even brought to tears (Ps. 42:5) by a variety of pressures and burdens: attacks from critics who deny the reality of God […]

Jesus, taxes and the government

Ask most people what topics are the most controversial and should be avoided if interpersonal conflict is also to be avoided and most people will reply with the paired answer, “politics and faith.” And yet Jesus very willfully and intentionally injected Himself into that very discussion in Matthew 22: when the debate about whether or […]

Why study prophecy?

Over the 20 years of my pastorate, I’ve been asked numerous times to teach or preach on the book of Revelation or the topic of eschatology. Most often, it has seemed, the interest was because world events indicated that, “the return of Christ must be soon!” and there was a corresponding curiosity to determine if […]

What happened when Jesus died

Jesus made His way into Jerusalem with the praise and adulation of the crowds on Palm Sunday. And when it was over, the people went home and the Pharisees said to each other, “You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him” (Jn. 12:19). They were wrong and […]