August 07, 2023

“I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.I will be glad and exult in you;I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.” Psalm 9:1–2

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Copyright © 2023, Truth For Life. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from The ESV® Bible
(The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing
ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

I was sinking deep in sin,Far from the peaceful shore,Very deeply stained within,Sinking to rise no more;But the Master of the seaHeard my despairing cry,From the waters lifted me—Now safe am I.

First Samuel 5 is a difficult chapter—a crystal-clear example of divine judgment and intervention. When we study it and consider the heavy hand of God, we have to remember that we’re dealing with events that happened a long time ago, around 1100 BC, and with what’s clearly an unrepeatable incident. It’s important that we approach passages like this one in light of the rest of the Bible. Scripture interprets Scripture in such a way that where one passage may not be as accessible as another, other portions enable us to approach those difficult texts properly.

For all the challenges we face in life, nothing is more difficult than losing someone we love. And when the loss is unexpected or tragic, our faith can surely be put to the test. In Seasons of Sorrow: The Pain of Loss and the Comfort of God, pastor and Christian blogger Tim Challies tells a story of unthinkable loss— the sudden death of his twenty-year-old son—and how he kept the Gospel in view as he grieved.  

Dear Friend,
As I drove to my study last week, a thought popped into my head. You will not be surprised when I tell you that it was a line from one of William Cowper’s lesser-known hymns: “Sometimes a light surprises the Christian while he sings.” I wonder, do you find that happening from time to time when you are part of a worshiping congregation? Familiar words suddenly are suffused with heavenly light, as if Jesus the worship leader drew near to say, “These words are most wonderfully true and relevant to you.” I cherish such moments when we get a tiny glimpse of what it will be to join with that great multitude in declaring, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

There is an old adage that goes, “People buy things they don’t need with money they don’t have to impress people they don’t like.” That is a sadly accurate summary of how the world tends to look at money. As Christians, however, we recognize that our money has a higher purpose.

July 31, 2023

“We make our journey through life in anticipation of the conclusion …, ’Well done good and faithful servant.’” —Alistair Begg

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Copyright © 2023, Truth For Life. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from The ESV® Bible
(The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing
ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Many Christians who sit in a church on a Sunday morning can say that they have already found the answer to the question What Is the Gospel? They have understood the saving grace of God in the cross of Christ, have taken hold of Christ by faith, and now find themselves in Christ, clothed in His righteousness, adopted as children of the Father, and walking in the Spirit’s power. In other words, at a particular moment in time, they were born again.

God is working this purpose outAs year succeeds to year;God is working this purpose out,And the time is drawing near;Nearer and nearer draws the time,The time that shall surely be,When the earth shall be filled with the glory of GodAs the waters cover the sea.

The end of the nineteenth century in the United Kingdom was a period when the authority and the sufficiency of Scripture were under vigorous attack. The doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement faced ridicule, not from outsiders but from ministers of the church. During what became known as the Down-Grade Controversy, Charles Spurgeon recognized that God was being robbed of His glory and that men and women were being robbed of their hope. He wrote, “Avowed atheists are not a tenth as dangerous as those preachers who scatter doubt and stab at faith.”