Category Archives: Gospel

Taking Sin Seriously

May 2, 2013 By in Gospel, Holiness

Too often we think little of God, his perfect holiness, righteousness, and justice, and as a result little of what our sin really is and does. Reflecting on this perennial reality of the human heart, Thomas Boston (1676-1732) warned his congregation:

“Let no man think lightly of sin, which lays the sinner open to the wrath of God. Let not the sin of our nature seem a small thing in our eyes. Fear the Lord because of His dreadful wrath. Tremble at the thought of sin, against which God has such fiery indignation… Admire the matchless love which brought you out of the state of wrath… it was no easy work to purchase the life of the condemned sinner, but He gave His life for your life. He gave his precious blood to quench the flame of wrath, which otherwise would have consumed you.” Continue reading →

Water, Wine, and Milk

April 16, 2013 By in Gospel, Scripture

fountainThe following article is a guest contribution by Dale VanDyke, pastor of Harvest Orthodox Presbyterian Church. It was originally part of the sermon preached in the evening service on April 14, 2013, and is published here with the kind permission of the author.

“Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” It is the great glory of God that he calls not the righteous but sinners to repentance. Here in this great invitation God calls out to the thirsty. But why are God’s people so thirsty?

Jeremiah 2:13 gives us the answer, as God grieves the tragic choice of his rebellious children: Continue reading →

Street Preaching

January 3, 2013 By in Church Life, Gospel, Video

A friend just passed along this great youtube video of a street preacher in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina on New Years Eve, 2012.

It made me wonder… For all the conferences and coalitions, for all the togetherness around the gospel there is in evangelical and Reformed communities, what would the vitality of the church be like, how much more would God be glorified in the West and around the world, if we grew in simply taking up or purposely creating opportunities to speak the Word of God to friends, neighbors, and communities? Continue reading →

The Mystery of the Father’s Love

July 17, 2012 By in Gospel, Love

“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:9-10)

John also informs us of the capacity in which the Father sent the Son — ‘a propitiation for our sins’. It is this that crowns the manifestation. Amazement is the only proper reaction on our part to a mission of the only begotten into a world of sin, and misery, and death. What humiliation for the holy One to be subjected to conditions the opposite of both his character and glory. But to be sent as ‘a propitiation for our sins’ astounds amazement itself. What does propitiation mean? Continue reading →

McEwen on Gospel Proclamation

June 19, 2012 By in Gospel, Preaching

The gospel preacher is one who proclaims,

“Christ is All in All. If he insists on a divine attribute, he declares how it shines forth in Christ with the brightest excellence. If on a promise, he explains, how in Christ it is Yes and Amen. If on a command, he inculcates the necessity of obedience, by motives drawn from Jesus Christ; and how impossible it is for us to obey, without first being united to Him as the head of all vital influences. Christ is the Beginning, Christ is the End; Christ is the Middle, Christ is the All…

We preach Christ Jesus the Lord, the only all-sufficient Savior, every way adapted to your need, whoever you are. Continue reading →

The Love of the Father

June 5, 2012 By in Gospel, Love

“The chief way by which [Christians] have communion with the Father is love — free, undeserved, eternal love. This is the love the Father pours on the saints. Saints are to see God as full of love to them. They are to receive him as the One who loves them, and are to be full of praise and thanksgiving to God for his love. They are to show gratitude for his love by living a life which pleases him.

This is the great truth of the gospel. Commonly, the Father, the first person in the Trinity, is seen as only full of wrath and anger against sin. Continue reading →

The Conversion of Grimshaw

May 29, 2012 By in Church History, Gospel

The young Anglican curate William Grimshaw, a graduate of Cambridge, was unconverted, though in the ministry. Faith Cook, in William Grimshaw of Haworth narrates God’s gracious change of this man into a faithful servant of Christ (abridged here):

“…two incidents occurred at this time, both designed to lead the curate… out of his spiritual darkness. The first showed Grimshaw where his thinking was leading him astray. An itinerant preacher often passed that way and frequently rebuked Grimshaw for his legalistic views of salvation. ‘Mr. Grimshaw he would say, ‘you are a Jew. You are no believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. You are building on the sand.’ Continue reading →

The Love of Christ

May 15, 2012 By in Gospel, Love

Where should I begin my thoughts on the subject of the love of Christ to men? And when I begin, how will I end? It has a width and length, a depth and height that goes beyond knowledge. If the apostle Paul, who had the brightest revelations of this love, said this, how much more should I? I could far more easily measure the height of heaven, the circumference of the earth, and the depth of the sea, than measure Christ’s love. It is an unfathomable ocean without shores or bottom. Where did his love take him? Continue reading →