Category Archives: The Lord’s Supper

When You Pray

Let us then be faithful to pray as our Lord taught us, following the pattern and petitions he has given. Consider that our Lord Jesus has given us a prayer, which contains, as Calvin says, “all that he allows us to seek of him, all that is of benefit to us, all that we need ask.[14] Such is the kindness and mercy of God, who has given the prayer he desires to hear from us.

The Veil of Unbelief

It is not your heritage, your family, your works, or your best intentions that will make you right with God. We are saved only by God’s grace alone through faith alone. According to his sovereign election, he first brings us to life by the power of his Holy Spirit. Then leads us to repentance and gives us the faith to believe. And it is by faith alone that we become children of God, adopted heirs of the kingdom, to the glory of God alone.

Post Tenebras Lux

Of Judah’s kings, there were the good, the bad, and the ugly. Perhaps there was a bit of ugly in all of them, but Hezekiah was one of the good ones. During his reign, he cleansed the temple of idols, restored right and regular worship, including reinstating Passover. He trusted the Lord for victory over the Assyrians and for personal healing of a life-threatening disease. But for the good reign he enjoyed, he personally did not finish well, falling prey to pride in his possessions and an ugly selfishness that characterized his last recorded words.

Thy Kingdom Come

“In these days,” that is, when Jesus was still preaching and ministering throughout the Judean region, “he went out to the mountain to pray.” Luke’s succinct statement is easily read over, but its brevity does not negate its significance. This was one of those times when and one of those places where Jesus would get away to pray. But on this occasion, Luke tells us that “all night he continued in prayer to God.” Out of the four Gospels, Luke is the only one to record this detail, a glimpse into the devotional life of the Son of Man.

All for Jesus

Upon this seashore, Luke tells us, “the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God.” But it’s not the place or the people I want to draw your attention to. It’s this little phrase: “to hear the word of God.”

Tempted As We Are

As we proceed from the third chapter of Genesis through the rest of the Old Testament, we see evidence of God’s sovereign preservation of individuals, such as Seth, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and then a people, Israel, chosen by God with prophetic purpose to fulfill his promise. But we also see Satan’s sinister attempts to unravel the mystery, to destroy the woman’s offspring, to thwart God’s plan.

Pointing to Christ

For those who had ears to hear, John called to repentance, but for those who would not, he promised judgement. To some the seismic message of the gospel was indeed good news, evidenced by the multitude of people who were repenting of their sins and being baptized. But others were merely present, not repenting but observing, neither hearing nor believing.

Fallen yet Faithful Servants of God

Congruent with his righteousness and devotion, we are told that Simeon was “waiting for the consolation of Israel,” which implies a patient trust in the providence of God. A Christian who lives a righteous and devout life doesn’t get entangled with the worldly worries of the age but patiently waits upon the Lord. In Simeon’s case, he had received God’s special revelation telling him that “he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (26), so his patient trust was also an expectant one.

Providentially Perfect

The story is a familiar one: Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem where Jesus is born. Though familiar, it is glorious, for in it we read the second Person of the Trinity, the Son of God “was manifested in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16). He was not only born in humble conditions but humbled himself, as the apostle Paul describes it, “he [who] was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:6-7). And such a glorious act of God’s love did not happen by accident but according to the providence of God.