Are You Growing in Grace?
My “Principles of Sanctification” class at RTS Jackson reads J.C. Ryle’s classic, Holiness. Ryle always aims to reach the heart of his reader. Among the marks of growing in grace, he writes, is increase in love. The man whose soul is ‘growing’ is more full of love every year – of love to all men, but especially love toward the brethren. His love will show itself actively in a growing disposition to do kindness, to take trouble for others, to be good-natured to everybody, to be generous, sympathizing, thoughtful, tender-hearted, and considerate. It will show itself passively in a growing disposition to be meek and patient toward all men, to put up with provocation and not stand upon rights, to bear…
Read MoreI love to read and many of the books I enjoy were recommended to me in conversations with friends. In that spirit, I list below the books I completed in 2015. Several stand out: My favorite read this year was Donald Macleod’s Christ Crucified. Christian ministers who “preach Christ crucified” (1 Corinthians 1:23) will do so with renewed conviction as they take to heart this splendid exposition of the doctrine of the atonement. Archibald Alexander advised his students to read annually The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded. My return to Owen’s classic proved a blessing to my soul, and I need to read it more often, if not once a year. Bruce Gordon’s Calvin is a masterpiece, and…
Read More“ALMIGHTY God, who hast given us thy only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure Virgin; Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.” –1662 Book of Common Prayer MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE WINGARDS!
Read More“In the New Testament, the incarnation of Jesus Christ is a profound testimony to God’s affirmation of the sanctity of prenatal life . . . The personal history of the Son of God on earth begins not when he was ‘born of the Virgin Mary,’ but when he was ‘conceived by the Holy Spirit.’ His human history, like ours, began at conception.” – John Jefferson Davis, Evangelical Ethics: Issues Facing the Church Today (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2015), 152.
Read MoreOn Sunday morning, Lord willing, I shall complete a three month series in 1 Thessalonians. Like many other preachers, my favorite book of the Bible is the one I am preaching. This letter of Paul is no exception. Calvin, Simeon, and Stott were particularly helpful advisors as I worked through the text, and I put their books back on my shelves with thanksgiving for each man’s piety, skill, and wisdom. When in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, the apostle writes: “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” we obtain insight into how Paul the pastor prayed for his congregation.…
Read MoreLast night I spent a memorable evening listening to photographer and author Alysia Burton Steele, who traveled 6,000 miles throughout the Mississippi Delta to interview 54 African-American women who grew up, married, and raised children during the Jim Crow era. Her Delta Jewels: In Search of My Grandmother’s Wisdom shares their stories. One of the grandmothers is Mrs. Velma T. Moore of Benoit. Married for 49 years when widowed, 15 children, 145 grandchildren, 33 great-grands, 26 great-great grands, and 14 great-great-great grands. Her testimony: “I always said, “Lord, I want one husband. I want all of my childen to be by that one man.’ And God fixed it so . . . I’m still Mrs. Moore. I be Mrs. Moore until…
Read MoreOn Psalm 6 William Plumer comments: “With believers when things get to the worst then they get better. To them darkness is the harbinger of light; grief, of gladness; humility, of exaltation; death, of life. The whole Psalm teaches thus . . . The pious man has a friend in heaven, and on that account has no reason to be violently overcome by his sorrow.” And Matthew Henry on Psalm 4:6: “It has often been the the lot of the best of men to be men of sorrows; our Lord Jesus himself was so.” ______ – William S. Plumer, Psalms: A Critical and Expository Commentary with Doctrinal and Practical Remarks. 1867 (Carlise, PA: Banner of Truth, 1990), 101. – Matthew Henry,…
Read More“GRANT, we beseech thee, merciful Lord, to thy faithful people pardon and peace, that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” – 1928 Book of Common Prayer
Read More“All the saints [that is, believers] come to the throne of grace on the same errand, and in this they are one, they all desire God’s favor as their chief good. We should beg it for others as well as for ourselves, for in God’ s favor there is enough for us all and we shall have never the less for sharing in what we have.” – Matthew Henry on Psalm 4:6
Read More“Most worthy art thou, O GOOD AND GRACIOUS GOD, of all praises, even for thine own sake, surpassing all things in holiness. By thee alone are we made holy and sanctified. We praise thee for our glorious redemption, purchased for us in thy dearly beloved Son, Christ Jesus, as our duty continually bids us. Give us thy Holy Spirit to govern us. And grant that all things which breathe with life may praise thee as the true life of all creatures, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. AMEN.” – Prayers on the Psalms from the Scottish Psalter of 1595 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2010), 149.
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