This parable at first glance can seem a bit perplexing as we try to understand what it is that Jesus is telling His disciples. But as we dig deeper it is quite an amazing teaching because in one short story Jesus shows that works are completely useless for earning salvation and completely necessary in another sense.
The imputed righteousness of Christ will answer all of the fears, doubts, and objections of your soul. How shall I look up to God?--In the righteousness of Christ. How shall I have communion with a holy God?--In the righteousness of Christ? How shall I find acceptance with God?--In the righteousness of Christ. How shall I … Continue reading Where Justice and Mercy Kiss – Thomas Brooks
"And He said unto them, This is My blood of the new testament, shed for many." -Mark 14:24 Never did those lips, upon which grace shed its divinest, sweetest fragrance, utter words so precious as these. The language is figurative, but the truth is literal. "This is My blood," or, this cup is the 'emblem' … Continue reading It is the Blood that Saves
This morning I had the privilege of preaching at Bethel Grace Baptist Church. The sermon is one that was heavy, but I pray, in the end, lifts you up. We serve a sovereign God, and any suffering you experience in this life will not be wasted. Often, it is in that valley that you hear … Continue reading The Valley of Achor (Hosea 2:6-15)
Our sin is staggeringly heinous! We are finite beings who have sinned against an infinite God. This means each of our transgressions, and we have many, are worthy of infinite wrath. We are prone to wander, and even as believers, we have defiled ourselves more recently than we would like to admit. John Owen once … Continue reading Lay Your Sin-Soiled Hands on the Head of Jesus
"I will heal your backslidings." —Hosea 14:4 Wandering again! And has He not left me to perish? Stumbling and straying on the dark mountains, away from the Shepherd's eye and the Shepherd's fold, shall He not leave the erring wanderer to the fruit of his own ways, and his truant heart to go hopelessly onward … Continue reading I Will Heal Your Backslidings
No matter how we try to read the story of Samson, from a literary perspective, it is a tragedy, and like all tragedies, we must take heed.
"Do you love Me?" - John 21:17 Does not Jesus in thus appealing to me, in effect say: For you, I left the realms of glory, and the adoration of ten thousand times ten thousand holy ones! For you, I became incarnate, took on the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness … Continue reading 12 Things God Does for the Believer
"Yet return again to Me, says the Lord."--Jeremiah. 3:1 Could there be a more touching "Thus says the Lord" than this? The voice of Jesus, as it echoed over the mountains and along the valleys of our unregenerate distance from God, seeking and finding and bringing us home, was inexpressibly sweet and irresistibly gracious. But, … Continue reading Wayward Christian: The Lord Wants you to Come Home
"There brake He the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle." --Psalm 76:3 Our Redeemer's glorious cry of "It is finished," was the death-knell of all the adversaries of His people, the breaking of "the bow and the battle." Behold the hero of Golgotha using His cross as an anvil, … Continue reading Jesus: The Mighty Breaker
The Fight of Faith 