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Saying “amen” at the end of a prayer or song can be a mindless ceremony that we do not think about. But the word has content, and if it is not to be a “vain repetition” which Jesus forbids, then we need to know and think about that content. “Amen” means “truly” or “surely”. It was originally a Hebrew word which also appears in the Greek New Testament. When Jesus says “Verily, verily” in the old King James (in John 3, for example, translated “most assuredly” in the New King James), he is literally saying, “Amen, amen, I say unto you…” The word “amen” isRead More →

If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared. (Psa 130:3-4 NKJ) All the other attributes of God make God worthy of our praise. Only the mercy of God, however, makes it possible for us to truly praise Him. Without God’s mercy, every other truth about God would make Him a terror to me. If someone is my enemy, then it is no comfort or joy to me to think about how great he is. Without God’s mercy, His justice makes Him our enemy. But He is merciful. He is longsuffering andRead More →

“Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” (Act 14:17 NKJ) In Acts 14, Paul is telling the Gentiles in Lystra how God in the past had not revealed Himself to the Gentiles, but now was calling them to repent and believe in Jesus. He says, in verse 17, that despite that fact, God had still shown the Gentiles before the coming of Christ that He is a good God, so that they always had a witness to Him. He gave them many good thingsRead More →

In a certain improper sense, I know what is meant by such a statement. I am sinful, and Jesus suffered the death of the cross to pay for my sins. Nonetheless, the statement that my sins nailed Jesus to the cross is not really accurate, and in an important way. The Gospels never present Jesus as a helpless victim. Quite to the contrary, at every step of the process, Jesus is presented as clearly in control of the situation. He could have called down legions of angels to defend Himself, and yet forbade even His disciples from any attempt to save Him. He knew JudasRead More →

Man needs justice, right down in his bones. If there is no obvious source of justice, he will invent it. If a man lies and cheats to get ahead, others will mutter about karma, “what goes around comes around.” The idea that a wicked man can be wicked and prosper from it and never be held accountable offends us at the core of our beings. Even when a man knowingly does evil he will justify it to himself, saying that it’s not as bad as others, circumstances forced him to it, or the person he is wronging deserved it somehow, or his evil actions areRead More →

I love the LORD, because He has heard My voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live. (Psa 116:1-2 NKJ) The Bible everywhere proclaims the truth that God is omniscient, meaning that He knows everything. He knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). He knows the number of hairs on your head (Luke 12:7). He sees you whether you are in heaven, hell, or the bottom of the sea (Psalm 139). This leads to worship from a number of different angles. First, of course, there is fear. There isRead More →

“36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. (Rom 11:36 NKJ)” For of Him: The preposition which is translated “of” or “from” indicates source or origin. The object of the preposition is the source or the origin of whatever the writer is talking about. What is the prepositional phrase describing or modifying? The antecedent is “all things.” So the author, Paul, is telling us that “all things” originate with God. In what sense is that true? Jesus tells us that not a sparrow falls apart from the Father. Isaiah 46:10 tells us that GodRead More →

“9 Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying,`My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’ (Isa 46:9-10 NKJ)” God is worthy of our praise because God is powerful. Isaiah constantly contrasts the very real power of God with the fake power of the idols that the people worshiped. They had eyes but they could not see and they had ears but they could not hear. God, byRead More →

“We walk by faith, not by sight.” – 2 Corinthians 5:7 Economists describe the cost of any choice we make as “opportunity cost”, or the loss of an opportunity to do something different with whatever time or resources we committed to a particular choice. If I spend a dollar on a candy bar, the cost of the candy bar is whatever else I could have spent the dollar on. If I spend an hour watching television, even if it is free there is still a cost- namely, whatever else I could have spent the hour on. Coming to worship always incurs a cost- the costRead More →

We in the Reformed Church believe that one of the key ways that God converts people to the truth of Jesus Christ is through the preaching of the word. That can happen in different environments, both public and private. In James 1:18 we read, “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.” (Jam 1:18 NKJ) Every sermon that is preached ought to be preached with a mind toward those who do not believe. There ought to be in any sermon a call to repent of sin and trust inRead More →