Were the Apostles Good Expositors and Exegetes?

R. T. France:

It may be something of a surprise to those brought up in the tradition of biblical exposition to find that the biblical writers themselves do not often seem to use other biblical texts in the same way that we have come to use their own writings. In particular, extended exposition of Old Testament passages in an expository fashion does not seem to be a characteristic of most of the New Testament writers.

—"The Writer of Hebrews as a Biblical Expositor," TynBul 47 (1996):245–76.

Luther on a Life of Repentance

Luther's first thesis from his Ninety-Five Theses:

"When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, 'Repent' [Matt. 4:17], he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance."

—Martin Luther, "Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences," in Luther's Works: Career of the Reformer I (vol. 31; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1957), 25.

O Lord, Awaken Us to Receive and Serve Your Son

Luther:

Dear Lord, awaken us that we may be prepared to receive your Son with joy when he comes and to serve him with a pure heart. Graciously hurry the coming of that day. Bless and prepare us with wisdom and strength that in the meantime we may walk wisely and uprightly. May we joyfully wait for the coming of your dear Son and so depart blessed from this valley of sorrow. Amen.

—Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 106.

The Manger Is not Clean, but Abundant Crops Are Coming

My study looks like the end of a semester with three final term papers well underway.

The sight of this sorry mess calls to mind Prov. 14:4.

The "manger" is not clean. But "abundant crops" are coming.

Seeing Jesus at the Supper Poetically Put

I'm on the lookout for good poetry about seeing Jesus by faith at the Lord's Table. I want something to help with expressing this glory! Someone, somewhere must have penned a poem about experiencing Jesus at the Supper with that blessed sixth sense.

When I said this publicly, a kind friend sent me a poem by Huss and a Greek poem from the fourth century. Both are good poems and express the glory of the table and exercising faith there. I'm looking for some, however, that express as their main theme what Edwards called that "divine and supernatural light immediately imparted to the soul."

If none exists, I just might learn how to write poetry one of these days and give it my best go. For the first time in years, I believe, I once again beheld the glory of Christ and his kingdom at the Table this last Lord's Day. And oh how sweet it was to look on Jesus there! And oh how that table can cure ten thousand ills of soul!

All praise be to the risen Christ, who lives and reigns forever as the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world for serial sinners like me!

Depression, Mental Illness, and Suicide

A helpful group of resources on depression, mental illness, and suicide may be found here.

Heidelberg on Baptism

Question 73: Why doth the Holy Ghost call baptism the washing of regeneration and the washing away of sins?

Answer: God speaks thus not without great cause: namely, not only to teach us thereby that like as the filthiness of the body is taken away by water, so our sins also are taken away by the blood and Spirit of Christ; but much more, that by this divine pledge and token he may assure us that we are as really washed from our sins spiritually as our bodies are washed with water.

Question 74: Are infants also to be baptized?

Answer: Yes; for since they, as well as their parents, belong to the covenant and people of God, and both redemption from sin and the Holy Ghost, who works faith, are through the blood of Christ promised to them no less than to their parents, they are also by baptism, as a sign of the covenant, to be ingrafted into the Christian Church, and distinguished from the children of unbelievers, as was done in the Old Testament by circumcision, in place of which in the New Testament baptism is appointed.

—Philip Schaff, ed., The Creeds of Christendom (vol. 3; Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996), 330–331.

Dullness

Why do I languish, thus, drooping and dull,
                    As if I were all earth?
O give me quickness, that I may with mirth
                          Praise thee brimfull!

The wanton lover in a curious strain
                   Can praise his fairest fair;
And with quaint metaphors her curled hair
                           Curl o'er again.

Thou art my loveliness, my life, my light,
                   Beauty alone to me:
Thy bloody death and undeserved, makes thee
                          Pure red and white.

When all perfections as but one appear,
                    That those thy form doth show,
The very dust, where thou dost tread and go,
                           Makes beauties here;

Where are my lines then? my approaches? views?
                    Where are my window-songs?
Lovers are still pretending, and ev'n wrongs
                            Sharpen their Muse:

But I am lost in flesh, whose sugared lies
                   Still mock me, and grow bold;
Sure thou didst put a mind there, if I could
                           Find where it lies.

Lord, clear thy gift, that with a constant wit
                    I may but look towards thee:
Look only; for to love thee, who can be,
                            What angel fit?
                 
—George Herbert, The Complete English Poems (New York: Penguin Classics, 1991), 107–108.
 

A Successful Hermeneutic: Confirmed by Scripture Itself

"A successful hermeneutic is a consistent interpretative procedure yielding a consistent understanding of Scripture that in turn confirms the propriety of the procedure itself."

—Packer, J. I., Celebrating the Saving Work of God: The Collected Shorter Writings of J. I. Packer (Carlisle: Paternoster, 1998), 9–10.

The Inverted Valuations of Western Culture

"God, society, family, individuals, sex, property. It is an order of values that western culture has more or less completely reversed."

—Christopher Wright, Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1992), 210.

Simple Obedience

"Obedience ought not to be complicated, either by the competing claims of other gods (the moral maze of polytheism), or by the confusing rules of human experts (the moral bondage of legalism)."

—Christopher J. H. Wright, Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1992), 190.