God only has to speak and everything happens! Right down to the cold needed to create snow, frost and crystals of ice. And then the Lord is also the one who melts them using his wind or breath. But he is not finished there. The psalmist ends his praise in stunning fashion: He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and rules to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his rules. Praise the LORD! Psalm 147:19,20 ESV. God spoke life into being at creation. He speaks every day in order to sustain the life that he created. But now he also chooses to declare his word to his children. Unbeknown to the psalmist God does this most gloriously in the man who was the word incarnate.

What do believers mean by the sovereignty of God? Some Christians deny it is a characteristic of God at all. Wikipedia, of all places, defines this Christian teaching this way:
… God is the supreme authority and all things are under His control. God is the “sovereign Lord of all by an incontestable right [as the] creator . . . owner and possessor of heaven and earth”. Sovereignty of God in Christianity
Many who believe in this will argue that, even though the word does not appear in Scripture, you can find evidence of it on almost every page of our Bibles. There is not enough time or space in this article to prove that. But the psalmist who wrote Psalm 147 demonstrated his settled belief in the sovereignty of God.
On display in his psalm is the Lord’s greatness, his power, his infinite understanding. Basically on display is his sovereignty. The psalmist divides his understanding of the sovereignty of God into three themed lists. And the items are overwhelmingly impressive. To do justice to his thoughts we need to look at each list in isolation.
Sovereignty of God Over His People
The psalmist starts his themed list exhibiting God’s sovereignty over his people:
The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. The Lord lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground. Psalm 147:2-6 ESV
Regardless of where we are and what we are going through and who is oppressing us, he knows. The Lord understands. He is powerful enough to change circumstances. Our God is great enough to achieve the intentions of his will and never to be thwarted – “The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel”.
The apostles were quick to reinterpret Jerusalem, in the light of Jesus, as a new city coming down out of heaven from God:
I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Revelation 21:2 ESV
Read More

Yes, our God and Father has destined us for sonship and nothing can change that. It was done “in love,” which means, though we’ve sinned in more ways than we can count, He won’t banish us to eke out the Christian life in the servant’s quarters until we can get our act together. No, we always have a place at the family dinner table. Ours is the seat in between our doting Father (Ps. 18:19) and Jesus our loving elder Brother (Heb. 2:11-12). God’s predestining love has guaranteed that seat for us now and forever.

In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ.  (Ephesians 1:4-5)
The Not-So-Whole Story
We’re all familiar with the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). It’s the one Jesus told about the fellow who couldn’t wait to get out on his own. So he decides to ask his father for an advance on his inheritance, which is basically another way of saying, “Listen, Dad, I can’t sit around forever and wait for you to die so I can get what’s coming to me. I want it now.” Despite the unthinkably dishonoring nature of this request, the father grants it. And the son takes off, putting as much distance between himself and his father as he possibly can.
With moneybags in tow, the son wanders to a faraway city to live out his own version of the good life. He arrives ready to spend his inheritance on any and every decadent activity he can think of. But the thing is, such a lifestyle can only last for so long. Eventually, the money runs out.
With nothing in the bank and nowhere left to turn, the son gets the only job he can find: taking care of pigs. In the minds of the first-century Jewish audience to which this story was being told, the very idea of a Hebrew taking care of pigs would have been offensive. After all, swine were unclean according to the law (Lev. 11:7). But remember, the offensiveness of this detail had a very specific purpose. Jesus was wanting to convey just how far this son had fallen. In fact, He includes one more detail to make matters even worse: the son is so poor and so hungry that he seriously begins to consider eating pig slop. Pig slop! This would have been more than enough to get any self-respecting Israelite thinking, “Okay, now this guy is officially scum.”
But here’s where the parable takes a turn. As the son entertains the thought of taking a bite of the slop, a lightbulb suddenly comes on. He gets to thinking, “Hey, I’ll go back home and see if Dad will hire me. I mean, his servants eat pretty well and have a decent place to live. Surely, he won’t want me for his son anymore, but maybe he’ll give me a job.”
Read More

Tom approaches the doors with caution this week. It has been a discouraging past few days for him. He was not expecting the doctor to call with that diagnosis. The weariness has spread from the physical to the emotional. He doesn’t want to answer the question so often asked in passing: “How are you?” The thought of standing up to sing songs of praise isn’t exactly thrilling. And yet, here he comes, walking in.
Beth is beaming as she anxiously hangs around the entryway. She is waiting for a friend that has finally taken Beth up on her offer to come visit one week. Many times, her name has been spoken at the altar. Beth can’t wait for the conversation she will get to share with her pastor when she gets to introduce her to him. Here she comes, walking in.
Cindy is only here because she is, quite literally, living on a prayer. Her world has fallen apart, her hope has vanished, and she does not know where else to go. She knows, deep down, that there is no where else to go. She doesn’t know, however, what to expect. What are Christians like? What is God like? It’s been years since she was in a church. She’s a little afraid, but she is holding out hope that someone in this building will know how to help her. She walks in.
Every person who walks in every local church on every Sunday morning has a reason for doing so. No two Sundays look the same for the sheep as a whole. There is a mosaic of motivations that compels men and women like Tom, Beth, and Cindy through the doors. But there are two certainties each can cling to as they prepare to enter: through the door they will find pasture, and they will find shepherds.

Written by Andrew W. Coy |
Saturday, September 25, 2021
If the virus is to find us, let it find us being Americans and not trolls of a dystopian authoritative regime.  Let it find us singing in the church choir, going to Sunday school, or sitting in our normal pew at church.  Let it find us at the kids’ ballgames, attending the school spelling bee, at cheerleading practice, filling up the tank with gas, or having the grandchildren spending the night.  Let it find us.

It is becoming so painfully clear that those in charge of our lives either do not know what they are doing or are lying to us when it comes to COVID.  There is really no question that those in authority are just lying to us or are simply guessing when it comes to masking, social distancing, the vaccine, and the variances to come.  It is scary, almost dystopian, that those we have allowed to have authority over our health lives have been so wrong or so dishonest when it comes to the effectiveness of the vaccine.  Big Tech along with major corporate companies have aligned with Biden, Fauci, the CDC, and the Deep State in acting as if they know, but in reality, they are very wrong or very untruthful when it comes to the China virus.  They won’t even admit that it probably came from China.  Wonder why?
Whether because we are being lied to or those in power are inept, Americans are increasingly filled with COVID dread.  When we have first-graders wearing masks, motorcycle riders without helmets but wearing masks — when people driving by themselves in a car are wearing a mask, when family members refuse to invite other family members to family picnics because of vaccination demands — we are not living right.  When major companies demand higher premiums from their employees for health insurance because they have refused a questionable vaccine, this is not who America is or what it stands for.
Concerns are legitimate, but we must stop living in fear.  Being careful is appropriate, but we should no longer allow this virus to determine our every move or dominate our thoughts.  We must claim our lives back.
The great C.S. Lewis wrote about living our lives in 1948.  Although Lewis was writing about the Atomic Bomb Age and London, the events and fears are similar.  Lewis encouraged the British to live their lives fully, even under the threat of nuclear annihilation.  We in America must do the same today with regard to the virus.
Let it find us.  If the virus finds us, let it find us living our lives.  Let it find us raising our children.  Let it find us working hard and playing harder.  Let it find us living and not cowering.  Let it find us shouting from the rooftops, not cowering in the corner.  Let it find us at a fully attended family reunion.  
Read More

In Lessons from the Upper Room, he serves as a kind of tour guide who describes what has happened in this room, what it meant at the time, and what it continues to mean today. He offers a guided tour of one of the most significant evenings in human history and tells how and why it matters to you and to me and to the course of events in this world. It’s my strong recommendation that you take the tour.

If you could go back in time and insert yourself into any point in history, even if only to be a proverbial fly on the wall, what would you choose? What moment would you wish to observe, or what event would you wish to witness? Would you want to watch God create the world? Would you want to see Elijah perform miracles, David compose psalms, shepherds hear tidings of great joy? As for me, I would have to think long and hard, but in the end I might just choose to observe Jesus and his disciples in the upper room.
It was in the upper room that Jesus celebrated his final Passover, that he washed the feet of his disciples, that he predicted his betrayal, that he gave his new commandment, that he foretold Peter’s denial, that he declared himself the way, the truth, and the life, that he promised the coming of the Holy Spirit, that he prayed a long intercessory prayer for his disciples and for his followers through the ages. Each of these was a sacred moment, each packed with the utmost significance. And each took place in one little room and in one short period of time.
Jesus’ time in the upper room has become known as his Farewell Discourse and it is the subject of Sinclair Ferguson’s new book Lessons from the Upper Room. The book’s subtitle, “The Heart of the Savior,” is significant, for it is in this address that Jesus so wonderfully and clearly reveals his heart.
Read More

Written by Scott R. Swain |
Saturday, September 25, 2021
We will behold God’s glory, not by means of his created, intermediary luminaries, but in the unveiled purity of God’s own transcendent light (Rev 21:23; 22:4-5). Those who have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, who are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit for a holiness without which no one will see the Lord (Heb 12:14), are being prepared for the conjugal vision of the divine king in his unmediated light. This is our “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13). 

Psalm 104 celebrates God’s work of creation. It begins with a description of God’s work in creating the heavens and their inhabitants (vv. 1-4). It then moves to an extended discussion of God’s work of creating the earth and its inhabitants, including human beings, who have a special vocation as co-laborers with God in producing the varied fruits that bring joy and satisfaction to the human family (vv. 5-24). The psalm then briefly discusses the sea and its inhabitants (vv. 25-26), concluding with a description of creation’s utter dependence on divine benefaction for its continued existence (vv. 27-30) and a prayer that God would be glorified in and pleased with his works forever and ever (vv. 31-35). What caught my eye today while studying this psalm was its description of heaven’s supreme inhabitant (cf. v. 3: “his chambers”) in verses 1-2: “You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment.” What is happening here?
Psalm 104 comes toward the end of Book Four of the Psalms, a section of the biblical canon devoted to theme of divine kingship: Yhwh mlk–“the Lord is king/the Lord reigns” (Pss 93:1; 96:10; 97:1; 99:1; cf. Pss 102:12; 103:19). These psalms proclaim the name of the Lord by means of a “royal metaphor,” describing God in terms common to human kingship. Drawing upon a broad field of images associated with Ancient Near Eastern kings, Scripture portrays God by means of royal appellations (e.g., king, shepherd, etc.), royal qualities (e.g., long life, strength, etc.), and royal trappings (e.g., throne, clothing, etc.) (see Marc Zvi Brettler, God is King: Understanding an Israelite Metaphor). The latter are especially relevant to grasping Psalm 104:1-2, which speaks of the divine king’s clothing.
The Bible is remarkably reticent in describing God’s appearance because, strictly speaking, God has no visible form or likeness (Deut 4:12, 15-19). Strictly speaking, the divine king is invisible (Rom 1:20; 1 Tim 1:17). Nevertheless, the Bible, on occasion, does describe God’s appearance in metaphorical terms. One thinks of Isaiah’s vision of the divine king in Isaiah 6, of Ezekiel’s vision of the divine likeness in Ezekiel 1, and of Daniel’s vision of the Ancient of Days in Daniel 7. In each instance, Scripture describes God in terms of “royal trappings” (Brettler): as one seated on a throne, as one clothed in royal garb. Psalm 104:1-2 is an instance of this kind of metaphorical description.
According to Psalm 104:1-2, the Lord is “clothed” in splendor, majesty, and light. These “articles” of clothing emphasize the divine king’s transcendent glory, the awesome, awe-inspiring nature of his divine being, rule, and worth. In order to appreciate more fully the significance of God’s radiant royal attire, we must further consider Scripture’s broader association of divine glory with created and uncreated light. We must follow Scripture as it leads us up the ladder of heavenly lights to their divine luminous source (James 1:17).
We begin with the lowest heavens, which are the visible heavens that you and I perceive anytime we walk outside. Psalm 19 tells us that the visible heavens are in the business of proclaiming “the glory of God” (Ps 19:1). Though they have no words to speak (Ps 19:3), the regular cycle of the sun and the moon in their daily and nightly rotations declares the divine king’s faithfulness. The universal scope of the sun’s illuminating power declares the divine king’s universal sovereignty (Ps 19:2, 4-6). The sheer joy that the sun exhibits in running its divinely ordained course proclaims the divine king’s goodness (Ps 19:5). Without words, these visible lights serve as royal ambassadors, announcing the invisible glory of the divine king (Rom 1:20).
Read More

If you have questions about the efficacy of masks, or lockdowns, or the new Covid vaccines, you are looked at like some sort of despicable heathen. You are treated with contempt by some of these ‘Christians’ as they try to make you feel like you cannot possibly be saved. You are now a heretic who dares to differ from this New Gospel of theirs.

Are you saved? The new Covid Gospel:
Yes we have actually got to the place with all the hysteria and fear over this virus that the traditional understanding of sin and salvation are now being thrown in the air. You may have thought that there are no new sins – just the plain old standard ones like murder, theft, lying, etc. Well, it seems that some folks have managed to create a whole new sin: the sin of being unvaccinated.
Sadly we have gotten to the place where some believers are basically arguing that fully submitting to medical mandates is somehow tied in with being a good Christian. Indeed, one wonders if some of these folks now believe this to be a requirement for salvation!
Two millennia ago the Apostle Paul had to chew out the Galatians because they were adding to the gospel. They wanted to add works of the law to their salvation by grace through faith. Paul asked them: ‘Who has bewitched you?’ (Gal. 3:1).
There have always been temptations to add to the gospel and to make salvation dependent upon various works that we might perform. Now we have those who have hesitancy about various health mandates being viewed as subpar Christians – maybe not even Christians at all.
If you have questions about the efficacy of masks, or lockdowns, or the new Covid vaccines, you are looked at like some sort of despicable heathen. You are treated with contempt by some of these ‘Christians’ as they try to make you feel like you cannot possibly be saved. You are now a heretic who dares to differ from this New Gospel of theirs.
In the old days one could ask if a person was actually saved if they had not been baptised or who had not done certain religious works. Now we have a new test for Christian orthodoxy. And we have the zealous Covid evangelists preaching their gospel to the unclean unconverted. Sadly I have had to deal with many of these evangelical Pharisees.
I know of too many of these folks who are utterly obsessed with the Rona jab, and they spend all their time attacking and denouncing any believer who dares to ask honest questions and show the least bit of hesitancy about them. They are convinced that we are all evil, deluded conspiracy theorists who must repent and get saved – saved to the New Covid Vaccine Gospel.
Thankfully many Christian leaders are standing against all this nonsense, including the matter of the State forcing churches to ban the unvaxxed from entering churches. I wrote about this very alarming matter just yesterday: billmuehlenberg.com/2021/09/09/the-big-brother-war-on-churches/
This shocking new development should greatly bother every true Christian out there. And some are speaking out. Sydney church leaders like Archbishop Anthony Fisher of the Catholic Church and Archbishop Kanishka Raffel of the Anglican Church have both taken a strong stance against this.
The latter for example said this: “Jesus is Lord of all, and his gospel is a gospel for all. A ‘No Entry’ sign at the door of the church is wholly inconsistent with the gospel preached inside. Neither race, gender, ethnicity, age, nor economic or educational status – or vaccination status – are to operate as divisions within the Christian community or barriers to the fellowship we share because of Jesus.” sydneyanglicans.net/news/consultations-begin-on-post-lockdown-plans
Read More

Your heart as you drive to Church on Sunday should be brimming with anticipation not because you expect some entertainment or life-changing emotional moment. Rather, you should be excited that God is going to teach you through your Pastor so that your life can change to better reflect Christ in the coming week.

I always enjoy reading and recommending books on how to become a better Church member. There are many books on becoming a better preacher, counselor, or pastor but not as many focused on the average Church attender. Many believers don’t fully understand what their role is as a normal Church member. One outworking of this uncertainty is how people respond to their Pastor’s sermon. A question commonly asked is how to get more out of your pastor’s sermons?
One of my favorite books to recommend for instructing normal Church members is “Duties of Christian Fellowship” by John Owen. It is short, accessible, and intensely practical. If you have not read this book, I recommend you do so and then purchase a few dozen to give out at your Church. It truly is gold and I cannot possibly recommend it enough. Drop whatever you are currently reading and get through this book first; it is that important.
The first section of the book deals with the question of how to get more out of your pastor’s sermons. The quote below is worthy of consideration, particularly the last sentence.
The failure to consider these principles is the cause of all the negligence, carelessness, laziness, and indiscipline while hearing the world, which has taken hold of so many these days. Only a respect for the truth and authority of God in the preaching of his word will bring men to hear it soberly and profitably. It is also the case that men grow tired of hearing the word only after they have grown tired of putting it into practice.
“Duties of Christian Fellowship” by John Owen, emphasis added
What the Quote Means
“Duties of Christian Fellowship” is organized around “rules” for Church members. The first 7 deal with how Church members should interact with the Pastor and the second set of 15 focuses on how Church members should interact with each other. The quote given above comes after the very first rule Owen gives: Christians should regularly attend a local Church to listen to preaching and to partake in the ordinances.
But as in every era of Church history, not every person puts a high emphasis on the public preaching of God’s word. Owen’s answer is given in the quote: most of the time believers tire of hearing the word preached because they have long since stopped trying to apply the sermons they here. In other words:
What Owen does here is shift the focus of the question “how can you get more from your pastor’s sermons” from the pastor to the Church member in the pew. If you aren’t “getting anything” from the faithful preaching of God’s word, the first problem to examine is in the mirror, not the Pastor. What Owen writes is right in line with the first chapter of James:
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
James 1:22-25 ESV, emphasis added
Read More