“Now when Moses went into the tabernacle of meeting to speak with Him, he heard the voice of One speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubim; thus He spoke to him.” Numbers 7:89 Moses was given instructions for constructing the tabernacle by God in order for the Lord to meet (tabernacle) with His people. His Presence would go with His people. He would tabernacle with His people. This of course prefigured “Immanuel” – God with us – the Lord Jesus Christ. “And He said [to Moses],…
“But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed” (Romans 3:21) Since all have broken the holy law of God, all are liable to death. Death is theirs by merit. Death is the due wage of sin (Romans 6:23). Full payment is due God. Physical, spiritual, and eternal death are the due wages of sin. Man, left to himself, can never attain the righteousness that God’s holiness demands in His law. He cannot obtain the righteousness of God through obedience to God’s law. How can God remain absolutely just and yet declare a man to be righteous?…
“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.” (Genesis 49:10) As Jacob was about to die, he blessed his sons and his grandsons (Ephraim and Manasseh). When he blessed Judah, he declared this prophetic blessing, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.” This is an allusion to the coming of the Messiah, the Kingly office of Jesus Christ. This is a continuation…
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins.” (Ephesians 2:1) Many believers and ministers today believe that men is merely wounded in their trespasses and sins at birth. Man is basically good, but he sometimes does bad things. Paul denies this totally saying that we are dead in our trespasses and sins until the power and love of God (mentioned in Chapter 1 of Ephesians) makes us alive in Christ. Paul is about to show the difference between man’s nature before being regenerated and brought to life by Christ Jesus, by God’s grace. “And you were dead in the…
“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved!” (Jeremiah 8:20) Jeremiah is the lamenting prophet. He laments that he has been given a duty to speak to a people who would not listen to God’s words spoken by the prophet. “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I commend you, that it may be well with you.’ Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their…
In his novel ‘The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ (1979) Douglas Adams describes how an alien race programs a computer called Deep Thought to provide the ultimate answer to “Life, the Universe and Everything”. After a multi-million years’ calculation, back came the answer – 42. What is the meaning of life and the universe? What is the ultimate cause and purpose of life? What is the purpose of my life? This question has been pondered for thousands of years. Man knows that something outside of himself caused life to begin. What are the answers to these ultimate questions? Well,…
When we make decisions we commit to those decisions based upon our principles with due consideration of the consequences of our choices. Choices have consequences. I have made many bad choices in the past. In those choices, I have often “paid the price.” for making those bad choices. Some decisions prove to be very costly in terms of pain and grief. Experience is certainly an excellent teacher. There is one choice in life that everyone must make. How will you deal with the Lord Jesus Christ? Will you own Him as your Lord and Savior or will you reject Him?…
You might ask – What does “orthodox” mean? It is a cognate of two greek words – “orthos” which means “straight” and “doxa” which mean “teaching” or “opinion”. An orthodontist is a tooth-straightener. An orthopedic doctor is a child-straightener. He makes sure that a child’s skeleton is straight. Metaphorically, this word “orthos” (straight) means “true”. A straight shooter is someone who speaks truthfully to you. Our church denomination is the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Our denomination was established in 1936 to bring the Presbyterian Church in the USA back to orthodoxy or “right teaching” or “true teaching and preaching” of God’s Holy…
One of the major reasons the Orthodox Presbyterian Church was established as a new denomination in the 1930’s was a reaction against modernism. Many of the minsters of that era in the Presbyterian Church USA, the body that this new denomination withdrew from, subscribed to a modernist document called the Auburn Affirmation. The reason the Auburn Affirmation was so offensive to many conservatives in the Presbyterian Church USA, was that it was a direct attack upon some of the central truths of Scripture. What were these attacks against the Truth of God’s Word ? There were five major attacks upon…
We have Good News to give! Your labor is not in vain, Christian! Christ has risen, just as he said. 1 Corinthians:15 NKJV: Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up…