Following Elijah’s stunning victory over the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18, he turns his attention to drought that continued to linger over the land. Back in 1 Kings 17, Elijah had announced a drought on the land because of the apostasy of the people. They had backed into Baalism and paganism. And their failure to remain faithful to the Lord carried the judgment of God removing his word from the people, signified by the lack of rain or dew. This was also a polemic against Baal, the storm god. The Baal cycle would be broken and the LORD would show himself to be God.
Columns
"With which person in the Bible do you most identify?" This is a question I have often asked others in the church over the years. Most of us lack even enough self-awareness to able to answer the question. Others among us have a propensity to appeal to the best characters in Scripture.
For the previous post in this four-part series, p
The sermon was the minister’s attempt through reason to encourage faith as it affected this life and the next. They were committed to a style that was plain but not dull. Each minister was pledged by his own creed to use a balance of doctrine and practice, faithfully devoted to the exposition of the Word of Scripture, and understood by all. Every Puritan sermon began with a definite Biblical text. Once a text was selected, the preacher’s immediate duty was to clarify it in all possible ways. Thus the lengthy Puritan sermon had a structure of its own.
How many times this week has someone told you, You’ve got this, after confiding in them about a difficult situation, work assignment, final exam, or important conversation that lay ahead of you? How many messages have you heard through advertisements, songs, or social media that have told you, You can do it? While the world around us and our own flesh tempt us to believe we’ve got the power to be good and to do good, the Bible tells us otherwise.
Do you remember show and tell when you were in school? I don’t recall what I took to show my classmates, but I remember that my classmates and I could bring in items that were meaningful to us in one way or another. We didn’t bring things that we didn’t like, or things that weren’t important to us. That would have missed the point. Instead, we brought in what we treasured. Psalm 96 is like show and tell, except it’s better described as sing and tell. It celebrates the Lord as Creator, Redeemer, King and Righteous Judge. As believers the words of Psalm 96 should often be on our lips.
Hannah Allen – Rescued from Serious Mental Struggles
One of the most moving, honest, and encouraging stories of a battle with mental disturbances comes from a 17th-century English Puritan, Hannah Allen, born around 1638 to pious parents. Her father, John Archer, a merchant, died when she was still young and her mother decided to send her to London to attend school. There, she lived with a paternal aunt until she was 12.
Marianna Slocum – Bringing the Good Seed to Mexican Tribes.
Marianna Slocum was excited about her upcoming wedding to Bill Bentley, a missionary she had met two years earlier. The big date was only six days away. They had just returned to her home after Bill’s speaking engagement in New Jersey and an enjoyable sight-seeing in New York.
Romance
Last January, a new professor wrote with a little conundrum. A student scored a 27% on his final, realized that he might fail the course as a result, and called the professor three weeks later to plead for mercy - a second chance - so he could pass the course.
In Matthew 12, Jesus and the disciples experienced events that had to be bitterly disappointing. Jesus healed a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute and the Pharisees said “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons” (12:24). A little later, they came to him and said “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you” (12:38). But they had just seen a sign; what could possibly satisfy them?
Martin Luther’s Table Talk is arguably the most entertaining of his works. The Weimar Edition contains six volumes under this head alone! Thus, volume 54 in the American Edition represents about one-tenth of the total bulk of what we know as Table Talk. However, as the American Edition explains there are good reasons for editing the work. For example, there are less trustworthy sayings and there are sayings that have been elaborated on by his students. All of this is to say that the American Edition removes the dross.
I was recently struck anew by reading Genesis 26. It’s the story of Isaac dwelling in Gerar. The story is familiar. We might read it in “like father, like son” fashion. As Abraham told Abimelech that Sarah was his sister, Isaac did the same. Yes, we sometimes learn from our parents. Even the patriarchs passed on what was not good. But that’s not what struck me.
It is often the case that a minister only begins to really appreciate the value of his books when the time comes for him to part with them. Sometimes it happens when he runs out of space on his shelves and he is forced to thin them out. Or it may be when it comes to his retirement and he is downsizing his house and there simply isn’t the same amount of space in his new accommodation. Either way, he finds himself struggling to decide which ones to keep and which to let go. It begins to dawn on him that these volumes mean more to him than he may have previously realised.
The first question and answer of the Heidelberg Catechism has resonated with generations of people familiar with it.
Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?
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Where is Christ most glorified?
As hard as it is for many to believe, the Son of God was never more glorified than as he hung on the cross of Calvary, absorbing the righteous wrath of a holy God as a substitute for sinners. The slate of our sins was wiped clean, and the record of debt that our transgressions demanded was nailed to the cross and marked “Paid in full.” This is the message Paul wants to convey to God’s people in his letter to the Colossians—Christ’s glory and the cross go hand-in-hand.
Before I had come to truly embrace the doctrines of grace, I remember being incredibly hung up on the idea of the perseverance of the saints. I simply could not understand how it was remotely possible that a Christian could be saved and then would never need to fear losing their salvation. After all, if a Christian was secure in their salvation, then was it not also true that the Law simply did not matter to the Christian? The Christian, once saved, could simply live like a Pagan and be fine, right? And, if that was the case, then it was clear that Calvinism was wrong.
The three uses of the law—restraining sin, convicting sinners, and guiding believers in holy living—reflect its multifaceted role in God’s moral order. While the third use promotes societal order and the second provides a blueprint for Christian living, it is the first use that acts as a catalyst for evangelism. The first use, often called the pedagogical use, reveals sin and drives sinners to Christ for mercy and forgiveness. It holds up a mirror to humanity’s unrighteousness, convicting the heart and exposing the need for salvation.
Having laid a foundation for the nature and authority of the Holy Scriptures as the Word of God in the three opening articles, the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy proceeds to define and defend mankind’s capacity to receive God’s Word. The framers of the Statement make the following affirmation in its fourth article:
We affirm that God who made mankind in His image has used language as a means of revelation.
Taken from forthcoming book, Daily Doctrine by Kevin DeYoung, Copyright © 2024. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org.
