The Lowest Believer More Dignified Than the Greatest Angel

"(Christ) is the head of the angels as well as the saints, but in different respects. To angels he is a head of dominion and government, but to saints he is both a head of dominion and of a vital influence - they are his chief and most honorable subjects, but not his mystical members; they are as the barons and nobles in his kingdom, but the saints as the dear spouse and wife of his bosom. This dignifies the believer above the greatest angel."
- John Flavel, The Method of Grace, p. 43


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Borrowed Excellencies

"What intolerable insolence and vanity would it be for a man that wears the rich and costly robe of Christ's righteousness, in which there is not one thread of his own spinning, to pride himself as if he had made it, and were beholden to none for it. O man, thine excellencies, whatever they are, are borrowed from Christ; they oblige thee to him, but he can be no more obliged to thee who wearest them, than the sun is obliged to him who borrows its light, or the fountain to him that draws its water for his use and benefit."
-John Flavel (1630-1691), The Method of Grace, pp. 23-24


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An Authentic Narrative - John Newton's Life

I preached a biographical sermon on the amazing work of God in the life of John Newton. You can download his "Authentic Narrative" here.

“If the question is only concerning the patience and long-suffering of God, the wonderful interposition of his providence in favor of an unworthy sinner, the power of his grace in softening the hardest heart, and the riches of his mercy in pardoning the most enormous and aggravated transgressions; in these respects I know of no case more extraordinary than my own.”

A True Gem by Isaac Watts

How sad our state by nature is!
Our sin how deep it stains!
And Satan binds our captive minds
Fast in his slavish chains.

But there's a voice of sovereign grace
Sounds from the sacred word;
Ho! ye despairing sinners, come,
And trust upon the Lord.

My soul obeys th' almighty call,
And runs to this relief;
I would believe thy promise, Lord;
O! help my unbelief.

To the dear fountain of thy blood,
Incarnate God! I fly;
Here let me wash my spotted soul
From crimes of deepest dye.

Stretch out thine arm, victorious King
My reigning sins subdue;
Drive the old dragon from his seat,
With all his hellish crew.]

A guilty, weak, and helpless worm,
On thy kind arms I fall;
Be thou my strength and righteousness,
My Jesus, and my all.

Isaac Watts, 1791

How the Gospel Means We Fight Sin (A Rumination)

Remember what the Gospel means. The Gospel means self-abandonment. When you came to Christ, did you come wanting to remain in sin, but with a guarantee of heaven at the end? Were you interested in Christ as a friend or as fire insurance or something else? Is He not a Savior? A savior from what? Sin (cp. Col. 1:13-14)! Is He not a Lord? Does He not have divine right over your life? Over your mind, heart, and body (1 Cor. 6:17-20)? Was not your life united to His at your conversion (cp. 2:11-14)? Have you not already turned your back on sin forever (v. 7, 9-10; cp. Gal. 5:24)? Why do you then return to your old crucified self and linger? Why do you halt? Remember Lot’s wife (Luke 17:32, 33).

If you are losing in the battle with sin over and over again – if you don’t know what victory is – then you may be tempted to say, “This Christianity thing doesn’t work! I cannot break free from sin’s grip on me. I have no power. I have tried and failed to change.” The reality for you is that you may not be truly converted – truly born again. I say this in love. The Scriptures tell us that at our salvation, we repented from our life without Christ and embraced His life. We exchanged lives. There are half-Gospels out there – false Gospels, that is – which tell folks that “getting saved” is about a prayer they pray, an emotion they feel, a creed they confess, a series of propositional statements they believe, a rite they perform. They tell folks that salvation is adding Christ to your life. “God is your co-pilot”, they say. What a great benefit! Why not add Christ to your life? Then you can continue to run your life your way and have Christ on the side – filling out your spiritual needs. And when you get in a pinch, why then, here He is coming to the rescue to get you out of your spot of trouble so you can resume command at the helm of your life.

This is a false Gospel, people! On account of it thousands, millions, will go on their merry way to hell!

The true message of salvation includes a call to repentance and faith. It means that you realize that you at the helm of your life is a disaster of eternal significance. It means that you are not the center of the universe. It means that you do not want to stay in charge or in sin anymore. You abandon the helm. You abandon the throne of your life. You abandon your life for His life. He becomes Master and Commander of your life, your world, your relationships, your thoughts, dreams, goals, ambitions, hobbies – every square inch of your life comes under His rule!

Will you then be sinless? Of course not! Else why would we get the injunctions we get here? No, we are freed from sin’s power over us and sin’s penalty of separation from God. But we still have sin’s pollution as long as we are in these unchanged mortal bodies. Something new has begun inside of us (2 Cor. 5:17; Col. 3:3) and one day the new on the inside will be matched with the new on the outside. But until then, we are at war. We have taken sides. We have seen the enemy – and the enemy is our old sin nature. We must wage war with it for that is now our identity – Christ in us, the Warrior of Righteousness and Obliterator of All Things that Contest God’s Sovereign Claim – He is at war with sin and we have already chosen sides. Now, will we go AWOL? Will we play the deserter? Or will we take up arms and finish the fight?

When God Seems Hidden

"It is not the distance of the earth from the sun, nor the sun's withdrawing itself, that makes a dark and gloomy day; but the interposition of clouds and vaporous exhalations. Neither is thy soul beyond the reach of the promise, nor does God withdraw Himself; but the vapours of thy carnal, unbelieving heart do cloud thee."

John Owen

Investigating the Evidence for Christ's Resurrection

In this past Easter Sunday's sermon, I invited folks to examine evidences and proofs for the veracity of the resurrection of Christ by examining the evidence. Below are several links to articles from trustworthy Christian thinkers which outline and explain a few reasons for why the biblical record for Christ's resurrection is reliable:

The Resurrection of Christ
J. Gresham Machen

The Resurrection of Christ: A Historical Fact
B.B. Warfield

Verifying The Resurrection: Six Evidences
James Montgomery Boice

Do the Resurrection Accounts Hopelessly Contradict One Another? 
Glenn Miller

Could the Resurrection Appearances be a Case of Group Hallucination? 
Glenn Miller

Evidence for the Resurrection
Josh McDowell

The Resurrection: Fact or Fiction?
Pat Zukeran

Evidence for the Resurrection
Matt Perman

The Historical Veracity of the Resurrection Narratives
Greg Herrick

The Historical Basis of the Christian Faith: The Resurrection of Jesus
James Denney