Old Testament Signs and Seals

Circumcision

In the Old Testament, God gave Israel the covenant signs of circumcision and the Passover. The bloody sign of circumcision carried deep significance for Abraham and his descendants in redemptive history. God gave Abraham the sign of circumcision (Gen. 17:1–14) to symbolize and seal all that He had promised Abraham and his offspring in the covenant.  The Lord promised Abraham a people, a place, and His presence (Gen. 12:1–3). In order for the Lord to bless ungodly Abraham (Rom. 4:1–5), he would have to justify Abraham. In the making of the covenant, the Lord reiterated His promises to Abraham. Abraham believed God and was counted righteous by faith alone (Gen. 15:6).

The Lord then enacted a covenant ceremony with Abraham in the cutting of the animals (Gen. 15:7–20). The cutting apart of the animals indicated that two parties were covenanting together. Both parties were obligated to walk through the separated animals. In this way they were pledging their commitment to fulfill their obligations in the covenant. The cut animals carried with them the imagery of judgment. If one party in the covenant failed to uphold their part, what happened to the animals would happen to them––namely, they would be “cut” apart in judgment. This ceremonial ritual symbolized the penalty of those who were cut off by the Lord in judgment. If they failed to keep their part in the covenant agreement, they would fall under the penalty of their covenant breaking. When the cutting of the covenant was enacted, Moses tells us, “When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces” (Gen. 15:17). R.C. Sproul explained the significance of this, when he wrote,

“What is going on here in this theophany is that God, manifesting Himself as the burning fire, moves between these pieces and symbolically is saying to Abraham, as He’s cutting a covenant with him, He said, ‘Abraham, if I don’t keep My word, may I be torn asunder as you have cut these animals in two. I am promising you and swearing, not by My mother’s grave—I don’t have a mother. I’m not swearing by the earth—that’s My footstool. I’m not swearing by the heavens—that’s My abode. I’m swearing by Myself.’ And because God could swear by nothing greater, He swore by His own being, saying, ‘If I break My word, may the immutable deity suffer mutation. I’m swearing by My holy character.’”

After the cutting of the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 15:7–20), the Lord gave Abraham the sign of circumcision (Gen. 17). Circumcision was another "cutting" ceremony in the confirmation of the covenant promises. It carries similar symbolism as the cut apart animals in Genesis 15. The Lord commanded that the sign of circumcision be placed on all the males in Abraham's house. Additionally, it was to be put on the reproductive organ of all his male offspring on the eighth day. The cutting away of the foreskin of the male reproductive order symbolized that there would be new creation (i.e., regeneration) by means of bloody judgment. It went on the male reproductive organ as a sign that God would cleanse the corruption that passes generation to generation upon all those who ordinarily descended from Adam. God charged Abraham to put the sign on his male offspring on the eighth day. This symbolized that God was promising to bring about a new creation––since the eighth day is also the first day of the week.

Throughout the remainder of the Old Testament, the Lord reminded His people that they needed "a circumcised heart" if they were going to enjoy the blessings of knowing and living for the Covenant Lord. The sign of circumcision indicated that the blessing could only come through a bloody judgment. In order for God to cleanse the corruption from the hearts of men, blood had to be shed. This pointed forward to the saving work of Christ. The blood Jesus shed at the cross is the blood of the ultimate circumcision. 

As an infant, Jesus was subject to receiving the Old Testament sign of circumcision. Though he knew no sin (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15), Christ would have to take on himself the sign of a bloody judgment as the Last Adam, the saving representative of his people. In this way, Jesus was showing that he had come as the representative redeemer of a sinful people. Just as at his baptism, Jesus submitted to practices that God gave a sinful people to show their need for redemption. As the representative redeemer, Jesus submitted himself to these cultic practices as part of his humiliation (Phil 2:5–11).  Since Jesus is the mediator of the everlasting covenant of grace, everything he did––from his conception to his ascension—form essential elements of his humiliation in his saving work.

The blood that Christ shed in his circumcision was in obedience to the covenant obligations the Lord put upon His people in the Old Testament economy of redemptive history. The circumcision of Christ when he was eight days old was part of his active obedience—even though it was done passively by him through an act of obedience on the part of Mary. In short, Jesus’ circumcision is part of his law-keeping and, therefore, apt of his meritorious righteousness. In fact, in Galatians, the apostle Paul stated that everyone who is circumcised (under the legal demands of the Mosaic legislation) “born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law” (Galatians 4:4–5). Beginning with circumcision, Jesus obeyed every single command and precept of the law perfectly in covenantal obedience to his Father.

There is another reference to “the circumcision of Christ” in the New Testament––one that focuses on the spiritual circumcision of the heart brought about by the death of Jesus on the cross. In Colossians 2:11, the apostle Paul wrote,

“In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ” (Col. 2:11).

There are two circumcisions mentioned in this passage in relation to Christ. The first is the spiritual circumcision he performed on the sinful hearts of men (Deut. 10:16, 30:6; Jer. 4:4; ;9:25–26). The apostle refers to this when he says, “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands.” The apostle is here referring to the new birth, as he elsewhere refers to the promised blessing of regeneration as “circumcision” (Rom. 2:25–29). In order to circumcise the hearts of His people the Lord would have to remove their sin nature first (Ezek. 11:19; 36:26); he would do this by hanging on the tree. The second “circumcision” in this passage is that which makes the spiritual circumcision of the hearts of God’s people possible––namely, “the circumcision” of Jesus on the cross. As one commentator observed,

“Assuming that the  two phrases, ‘in the stripping away of the body of flesh’  and ‘in the circumcision of Christ’  are construed alike. . .then the meaning is that the body of flesh was stripped off when Christ was circumcised, that is, when he died; the whole statement is ‘a gruesome figure for death’. . .Here is a circumcision which entailed not the stripping off of a small portion of flesh but the violent removal of the whole body in death.”

The sign of circumcision carried with it a promise of judgment and salvation. For those who broke God’s covenant and failed to keep its obligations deserve to be “cut off” from the presence of God. This was the promise of judgment signified in the sign. The promise of the new birth through the “cutting away” of the filth of our flesh was enacted by the promised judgment falling on Christ at Calvary. The sign of circumcision indicated that deliverance would come through an act of judgment. Jesus was “cut off from the land of the living” so that God’s people might have the body of flesh cut away.

Passover

The other Old Testament sacrament that the Lord gave Israel was the paschal meal (Exodus 14). The Passover was the redemptive feast in which God’s people were to commemorate what He had done for them in bringing them out of their bondage in Egypt. Like circumcision, the Passover was a sign of judgment and salvation. The Lord had sent great judgments upon his enemies in the act of delivering His people. The judgment promised in the tenth and final plague (i.e., the death of the firstborn) would fall upon the Egyptians (Exodus 12). However, the same judgment would fall on Israel if they did not have the sign of the covenant applied to the doorposts of their homes. In this way, the Lord was signifying that there is no difference between Jews or Gentiles regarding the just punishment of sin (Rom. 3:9–18). In the institution of the Passover, the Lord graciously granted his people a substitute sacrifice in the Passover Lamb. Whoever put the blood of the Lamb on the doorposts of his home would be delivered from the judgment of the destroying angel of the Lord. As the Lord promised, when He said, “The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt” (Ex. 12:13).

Jesus is our Passover lamb (1 Cor. 5:7). He is the one of whom Isaiah spoke when he foretold that he would be “like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent” (Isaiah 53:7). The apostle John alludes to Jesus as the fulfillment of the Passover throughout his gospel and the book of Revelation. At the outset of Christ’s ministry, John the Baptist pointed his disciples to him, saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29, 36). When Jesus hung on the cross, a soldier came to break his legs to take his body down. John tells us,

“When they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness––his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: ‘Not one of his bones will be broken.’” 

Phil Ryken traced the redemptive historical development of the sacrificial lamb in the Old Testament from Abraham to the Passover to the Day of Atonement. He observed,

“There is an obvious progression. . .with the lamb serving as a representative for larger and larger groups of people. At first God provided one lamb for one person. Thus Abraham offered a ram in place of his son Isaac. Next God provided one lamb for one household. This happened at the first Passover, when every family in the covenant community offered its own lamb to God. Then God provided one sacrifice for the whole nation. On the Day of Atonement, a single animal atoned for the sins of all Israel. Finally the day came when John the Baptist “saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’” (John 1:29; cf. John 11:50-52). God was planning this all along: one Lamb to die for one world. By his grace he has provided a lamb — ‘the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.’” (Rev. 13:8)

The Lord’s Supper was instituted during the Passover. This is no insignificant historical detail. Jesus intended for his disciples to draw the connection between the Passover meal and the Lord’s Supper, when he instituted the Supper on the same night as he partook of the Passover with his disciples. In many respects, Jesus drew these two redemptive meals together in harmonious unity by removing the bloody sign with the non-bloody signs of bread and wine. R.A. Finlayson envisages it in this way: “At the institution of the Lord's Supper, "Jesus, with infinite majesty and quiet deliberation, lays, as it were, the Paschal lamb aside, and places himself on the table!"

B.B. Warfield explained the close connection between the two by virtue of the sacrificial imagery, when he wrote,

“The Lord's Supper is the continuation of the Passover feast. The symbol only being changed, it is the Passover feast. And the eating of the bread and drinking of the wine mean precisely what partaking of the lamb did then. It is communion in the altar. Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us; and we eat the Passover whenever we eat this bread and drink this wine in remembrance of Him. In our communing thus in the body and the blood of Christ we partake of the altar, and are made beneficiaries of the sacrifice He wrought out upon it.”

The Supper, the apostle will tell us, is a sign and seal of our union and communion with Christ. This is clearly taught in 1 Corinthians 10:16–17. Jonathan Edwards noted this in his sermon on that passage, Sacramental Union in Christ, where he wrote,

“The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. . .is a seal on Christ’s part. The minister acts in that ordinance as Christ’s representative. The minister’s actions in breaking [bread], pouring out [wine], and offering [them] are appointed as an open declaration and confirmation of the act of his heart, that he fully and freely consents to, and complies with, his part of the covenant. The union of his heart to his people exhibits his dying love, his readiness to receive them into that near relation, into a vital union.

It is also a seal on his people’s [part]. . .Their taking the bread and wine is a declaration that they accept of Christ [and] accept that sacrifice. Their eating and drinking [signifies] that they accept of Christ as their food, and openly profess their union of heart, their faith and love.”

Old Testament Types

Baptism

There are a few significant references to typical baptism in the Old Testament that help us better understand the nature of the New Testament sign and seal of the covenant. In 1 Peter 3:20–21, the apostle draws a connection between the Flood and new covenant baptism, when the apostle explains,

“God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

Regarding the flood as a typical baptism, Jonthan Edwards explained,

"That water that washed away the filth of the world, that cleared the world of wicked men, was a type of the blood of Christ that takes away the sin of the world. That water that delivered Noah and his sons from their enemies is a type of that blood that delivers God’s church from their sins, their worst enemies. That water that was so plentiful and abundant that it filled the world and reached above the tops of the highest mountains was a type of that blood the sufficiency of which is so abundant baptismal for the whole world’s baptism, to bury the biggest mountains of sin. The ark that was the refuge and hiding place of the church in this time of storm and floods was a type of Christ, the true hiding place of the church from the storms and floods of God’s wrath

In 1 Corinthians 10:1–4, the apostle Paul referred to the Red Sea crossing as baptism when he writes, “All our fathers passed through the sea; all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” Jonathan Edwards reflected on the significance of the baptism typology in the Red Sea, when he wrote,

“Christ overthrew their enemies in the Red Sea: the Lord triumphed gloriously, the horse and his rider cast into the sea, and there they slept their last sleep³ and never followed the children of Israel any more,⁴ as all Christ’s enemies are overthrown in his blood which by its abundant sufficiency and the greatness of the sufferings with which it was shed may well be represented by a sea. The Red Sea did represent Christ’s blood, as is evident because the Apostle compares the children of Israel’s passing through the Red Sea to baptism, 1 Cor. 10:1–2 [‘All our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And all were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea’]. But we all know that the water of baptism represents Christ’s blood.”

The flood and the waters of the Red Sea are said to be typical baptisms insomuch as they are an act of deliverance through judgment––particularly through water-judgment. Noah and his family were delivered through an act of judgment in the flood. God washed away His enemies with the flood. Just as He had brought blessing out of the waters at creation, so He would bring judgment through the flood waters. When the waters abated, Noah stepped out of the ark and into a typical new creation. In the same way, the Red Sea crossing was a type of baptism in that God destroyed His enemies in the waters of the Red Sea while delivering His people in a typical new creation. The language used in Exodus 14:16 and 21 reflects the language of creation in the dividing of the water and the dry land. Again, God was intimating that through a typical baptism He would deliver His people through judgment.

The final baptism in the Old Testament era was that of John the Baptist. John came at the end of the old covenant economy with a baptism of repentance. He was sent by God to call rebellious and apostate Israel back to the Lord by preparing the way of Christ. The remarkable thing about John’s ministry is what it teaches us about Jesus. Just as Jesus had submitted himself to receiving the covenant sign of circumcision (a sign that indicated that man needed God to cleanse the corruption of his heart), so he submitted to the act of a baptism of repentance––though he needed no personal repentance as the sinless one. Nevertheless, as the representative of his people, Jesus received the baptism of John as a precursor to what would happen to him on the cross.

As Jesus drew near to Jerusalem to suffer and die, he told his disciples, “I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished” (Luke 12:50). This allusion to his death under the figure of baptism ties everything typified in the flood, the Red Sea and John’s baptism together. Jesus would fall under the judgment of God in the place of his people on the cross. The floodwaters of the wrath of God would destroy the body of sin in his body on the tree. God would wash away the filth of our hearts by pouring His wrath out on Jesus in judgment on the tree. Meredith Kline summarized this so well, when he wrote,

“As covenant Servant, Jesus submitted in symbol to the judgment of the God of the covenant in the waters of baptism. But for Jesus, as the Lamb of God, to submit to the symbol of judgment was to offer himself up to the curse of the covenant. By his baptism, Jesus was consecrating himself unto his sacrificial death in the judicial ordeal of the cross. Such an understanding of his baptism is reflected in Jesus’ own reference to his coming passion as a baptism [Luke 12:5].

The Lord’s Supper

In 1 Corinthians 10:1–4, Paul sets out another Old Testament type of a New Testament sacrament, namely, to the Lord’s Supper in the food and drink Israel had in the wilderness. He writes, “All ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from that rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ.” The phrase “the same spiritual food and. . .the same spiritual drink” refers to the manna and water from the rock. This is a clear typological reference to the Lord’s Supper typified in these wilderness types. Jesus explained how the manna was a type of his own flesh, when he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven. . .I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:41, 51). The manna was a sign that God would provide supernatural, spiritual nourishment for the souls of His people in the Christ who came down from heaven.

The water from the rock was a supernatural, spiritual drink for Israel, analogous to the wine in the Supper. Israel experienced God’s provision of this life-giving drink at the beginning and at the end of their wilderness wanderings (Exodus 17:1–7; Num. 20:1–13). Moses was told to strike the rock with the rod of judgment with which God had sent the plagues on Egypt. The Lord came and stood on the rock so that when Moses struck it with the rod of judgment it symbolized the Lord being struck in the place of his people under the judgment of God to provide them with life-giving drink. Edmund Clowney drew the typology of the water from the rock in Ex. 17 and Num. 20 together through the lens of Calvary when he wrote:

“When Moses struck the rock, a stream of life-giving water poured out into the desert.  When Jesus was crucified, John tells us that blood and water poured from his side (John 19:34). . . . We do not wonder that Moses was judged severely for striking the rock a second time, when he had been told to speak to it (Numbers 20:7-13). Only once, at the appointed time, does God bear the stroke of our doom.”

Jesus is the rock who followed the Israelites throughout their wilderness journeying. When they complained, God graciously answered their accusations by placing Himself in their place under the rod of His own justice. In this type, we discover that Jesus steps in the place of His people on the cross to be struck with the rod of divine justice. Now that He has offered Himself once-for-all without spot to God, we are to simply ask Him for the living water, and He has promised to answer us for the soul-quenching blessing of the Spirit. 

If we are to understand the nature of the signs and seals of baptism and the Lord's Supper, we have to understand the judgment-deliverance symbolism of circumcision and the Passover, as well as of the typical baptisms and Lord's Supper in the flood, the exodus, and the wilderness. When we understand that the sacraments symbolize judgment, we look at the one who fell under that judgment on the cross––the one who was "wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities." By his blood, Christ delivers us from the wrath to come. He washes and cleanses us with his blood, even as water washes and cleanses. He feeds us spiritually with his flesh and blood, even as we are physically nourished by bread and wine. The signs and seals of the New Testament are rooted in the symbolism of the types and shadows of the Old Testament. Taken together, we come to see more clearly the Christ to whom the sacraments point. 

The Creative Word 

At creation, God spoke the world into existence by the word of His power (Heb. 11:3). God’s word is never a bare word. It is always accompanied with the power needed to accomplish that for which He spoke it (Is. 55:11). This is evident from the very beginning of Scripture where God speaks and brings everything out of nothing “by the word of His power.” God’s speaking the world into existence sets the course for the other examples of the power of His word in producing that for which He sends it. D.A. Carson observes,

“It was by ‘the word of the Lord’ that the heavens were made (Ps. 33:6): in Gn. 1:3, 6, 9, etc. God simply speaks, and his powerful word creates. That same word effects deliverance and judgment (Is. 55:11; cf. Ps. 29:3ff.). When some of his people faced illness that brought them to the brink of death, God ‘sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave’ (Ps. 107:20).”

Margaret Clarkson put this truth in poetic form in her hymn, “O Father, You are Sovereign,” in which she wrote, 

“O Father, you are sovereign
in all the worlds you made;
your mighty word was spoken
and light and life obeyed.
Your voice commands the seasons
and bounds the ocean’s shore,
sets stars within their courses
and stills the tempests’ roar.”

There is real power in God’s word to bring about that for which He has sent it. As the Psalmist says, “He spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm” (Ps. 33:9).

The creation account highlights the work of all three members of the godhead. While each member carries out a distinctive role respective to the eternal counsel, the Scriptures everywhere affirm that the Son was active at creation. The apostle John draws attention to the eternal Son and his role in the creation, when he refers to the Son as “the Word.” “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1–3). The link between the creative word of God and the redemptive word of God is that both are brought about by the living Word of God, Jesus Christ.

The Redemptive Word

The connection between creation and redemption by the Son is brought out most fully in Colossians 1:15–20, where the apostle writes,

“By him (i.e., Christ) all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ans through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”

The cosmic Christ, who is himself the eternal Word, spoke the world into existence in the original creation. He then died to redeem a people to God with his blood. In 2 Corinthians 4:6, the apostle ties the work of creation to the work of redemption by telling us that “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor. 4:6).

This word of God’s power over creation is operative in his work of redemption. Jesus’ word carries all the divine and eschatological power of being the word of the eternal Son. The miracles performed by Jesus were signs of the coming Kingdom of God. They were indicators that the king had come and had brought the eschatological blessing of God’s reign into the world and to his people. Among these kingdom signs are displays of Jesus’ word of power over nature, over sickness and death and over demons.

Jesus’ word exhibits His power over nature. This is evident from his first miracle of turning water to wine. The living Word who spoke the world into existence at creation exhibits his power over creation as signs of redemption. He speaks a word, rebuking the winds and the waves, and they are stilled (Luke 9:22–25). Luke tells us that the disciples were astonished, saying to one another, “Who is this that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

Jesus also reveals His power through his word in his miracles of healing. Perhaps the most significant connection between Christ’s word and His power is seen in his exchange with the centurion whose servant was near to death. By faith, the centurion recognized that Jesus’ word carried with his own divine authority.. As the Savior made his way to his home at the behest of this man’s servant, the centurion sent another servant, saying to him, “Just say the word, and let my servant be healed. For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” Immediately after commending the centurion’s faith, Jesus said to his servant, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.’ Luke notes, “the servant was healed at that very moment.” Jesus put on full display the power of his word by healing the centurion’s servant from a distance.

The Spirit-wrought power of the word that produces the new birth is most fully illustrated in the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Having let Lazarus die so that he could display his power to bring God glory, Jesus came to his tomb when he had been dead for four days. The Son spoke a word of power when he commanded him saying, “Lazarus, come forth.” Though he was unable to hear according to the material laws of nature, the powerful word of the Savior brought him from death to life. J.C. Ryle summed up this  scene when he wrote, “At the sound of that voice, the king of terrors at once yielded up his lawful captive, and the insatiable grave gave up its prey. At once ‘He that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes.’” This is the power of the word of Christ.

Charles Wesley captured the essence of the power of Christ’s word when he wrote the following lines to his hymn, “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing:”

“He speaks — and, listening to his voice,
new life the dead receive,
the mournful broken hearts rejoice,
the humble poor believe.

Hear him, you deaf! his praise, you dumb
your loosened tongues employ;
you blind, now see your saviour come,
and leap, you lame, for joy!”

God has appointed His word to be an effectual means of grace for the salvation and sanctification of His people. Whether it is in our spiritual birth or in the process of our spiritual growth the word of God is the central means of grace. Of course, the word of God does not confer the grace it exhibits by itself. It does so through the working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those God is intent on redeeming. The Spirit takes the word and makes it work powerfully in the hearts of God’s people––both for their regeneration and for their sanctification. The Westminster Shorter Catechism captures this truth so well, when it states, “The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching, of the Word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort through faith unto salvation.”

James tells us that God “of His own will brought us forth by the word of truth so that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures” (James 1:18). This is the new birth to which Christ referred when he told Nicodemus, “You must be born again” (John 3:7), if you are going to enter the kingdom and have eternal life. In the great regeneration discourse of Jesus, the focus is on the sovereign working of the Holy Spirit to bring men, women, boys, and girls from spiritual death to spiritual life. He does this when and in whomsoever He will. The new birth is the sovereign working of God on those the Father chose in the Son before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:3). That, however, does not negate the fact that God has also appointed means to bring about that new birth. James has told us that through the instrumentality of the word of God that God produces this new birth in us.

James proceeds to explain that believers, who have been “brought forth by the word of truth” are to now “put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). The apostle Peter states something similar, when he writes, “Put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. (1 Peter 2:1–3). It is by the ministry of the word that believers are built up in Christ and are being renewed into his image (Eph. 4:7–16).

The Preaching of the Word

If the eternal Son, who is the living Word of God, invests the same power into the word of redemption as he did in the word of Creation, how does he do so now that he is sitting on the right hand of the power on High in glory? Scripture teaches that he has appointed ministers of the gospel to proclaim “the word of the cross” (1 Cor. 1:18). The ministry of the word is the work of the crucified, risen, ascended, and reigning Lord Jesus. The apostle explains the relationship between absolute necessity of preaching the word of God for the salvation of men and the divine call to gospel ministry, when he writes,

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written. ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?’  So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:14–16).

The primary task of the church is the preaching of the word (Matt. 28:18–20; Mark 16:15; Acts 6:2). But how does that word come to work in the lives of those to whom it comes? Quite simply, the power of the preached word is tethered to the proclamation of the kingdom of God (Matt. 4:23; 24:14). The same power that Jesus worked in performing kingdom miracles is the same power that he works in the greater miracle of bringing his people from spiritual death to spiritual life through the ministry of the preached word. This was true in Jesus’ ministry, as it is in the ministry of those he appoints to proclaim the word of the cross. As Herman Ridderbos explained, 

"Jesus' word is not only a sign [of the coming kingdom], it is charged with power; it has the disposal of the matter, the salvation which it defines: it is not merely a word, but 'it will accomplish that which He pleases'. . .That is why at bottom there is no difference between the word with which Jesus casts out devils and his preaching of the gospel. In both cases the word and what it indicates go together."

Of course, this brings us to the work of the Spirit of God as the member of the godhead who takes the word and makes it work in the lives of God’s people. The Westminster Larger Catechism addresses the question, “How is the word made an effectual means of salvation,” by stating,

“The Spirit of God makes the reading, but especially the preaching of the word an effectual means of enlightening, convincing, and humbling sinners; of driving them out of themselves, and drawing them unto Christ; of conforming them to his image, and subduing them to his will; of strengthening them against temptations and corruptions; of building them up in grace, and establishing their hearts in holiness and comfort through faith unto salvation."

This list of spiritual benefits God has appointed through the preaching of His word reflects the primacy of the word and the preaching of the word in the application of redemption. Simply put, this is because the Lord Jesus Christ crucified and risen is the central message of Scripture.

Joel Beeke, reflecting on the way in which the Spirit works through the preaching of the word in the hearts of God’s people, writes, “True preaching is God’s brush with which He paints a vivid picture of His Son before the eyes of the soul. By the supernatural grace of the Holy Spirit Christ is not only pictured in the preached word but also present in the preached word. Spirit-filled, Bible-saturated proclamation brings the hearers into an encounter with Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”

Preaching holds the place of highest importance in the ministry and worship of the church because God has appointed it to be the means of the salvation and sanctification of His people. In his celebrated lectures that form the content of his book, Preaching and Preachers, Martyn Lloyd-Jones explained, “The most urgent need in the Christian church today is that of preaching; and, as it is the most urgent need in the church, it is obviously the greatest need of the world outside.” 

Responding to the Word 

In 1 Corinthians 1:18, the apostle Paul explains that the preaching of the cross is the great divider of mankind. D.A. Carson explains, 

“The message of the cross divides the human race absolutely. It is ‘foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God’ (1:18). On the one side are those whose religion, or lack of it, seeks a domesticated God accessible to the informed, the initiated, the wise; on the other side are those who have received the foolishness of the gospel by faith and are saved.”

There are two ways that men will respond to the ministry of God’s word––particularly when the cross is proclaimed. The first is that men and women will be convicted of their sin and respond to the message preached in faith and repentance. This was the response of the great multitude of those gathered in Jerusalem at Pentecost. When they heard Peter preaching the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, Luke notes that they were “cut to the heart” (κατενύγησαν τὴν καρδίαν). They then asked Peter and the other disciples, “What shall we do?” After Peter charged them to repent, believe the gospel, be baptized, and so receive the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit, Luke classifies those who believed as being “those who received his word” (Acts 2:41).

The second way men respond to the preaching of Christ crucified is that they are cut to the heart and rage in malice against those who proclaim the word of the cross. We see this in the account of the martyrdom of Stephen. After preaching Christ from the Old Testament, Luke tells us that those who heard were “cut to the heart” (διεπρίοντο ταῖς καρδίαις) and “cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him” (Luke 7:57).

Here are the two ways men will respond to the ministry of the word. They will either be “cut to the heart” by the proclamation of Christ crucified and turn to him in faith and repentance, or they will be “cut to the heart” and rage in spiritual hostility. The word will always have an effect on the hearts of men—whether for their salvation or condemnation (1 Cor. 1:18–25). The power of the word of God to convict, convert, and conform believers to the image of Christ is the same power of the word that brings a sentence of condemnation on the unbelieving world.  

Pastors need the saints’ prayers because they are ever the object of the flaming arrows of the evil one. In addition, the world is eager to run them over at any opportunity. As one of my seminary professors so illustratively put it, “Ministers have a bull’s eye on their back and footprints up their chest.” Sadly, this is even a reality for pastors within the context of the local church.

With so much opposition and difficulty within and without, pastors constantly need the people of God to be praying for them. The shepherd needs the prayers of the sheep as much as they need his prayers. He also is one of Christ’s sheep, and is susceptible to the same weaknesses. While there are many things one could pray for pastors, here are five straightforward Scriptural categories:

1. Pray for their spiritual protection from the world, the flesh and the Devil.

Whether it was Moses’ sinful anger leading to his striking of the rock (Num. 20:7-12), David’s adultery and murder (2 Sam. 11), or Simon Peter’s denial of the Lord (Matt. 26:69-75) and practical denial of justification by faith alone (Gal. 2:11-21), ministers are faced with the reality of the weakness of the flesh, the assaults of the world and the rage of the devil (see this article). There have been a plethora of ministers who have fallen into sinful practices in the history of the church and so brought disgrace to the name of Christ. Since Satan has ministers of the gospel (and their families) locked in his sight—and since God’s honor is at stake in a heightened sense with any public ministry of the word, members of the church should pray that their pastor and their pastor’s family would not fall prey to the world, the flesh, or the Devil. 

2. Pray for their deliverance from the physical attacks of the world and the Devil.

While under prison guard in Rome, the apostle Paul encouraged the believers in Philippi to pray for his release when he wrote, “I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:19). (See also 2 Cor. 1:9-11).

When Herod imprisoned Simon Peter we learn that “constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church” (Acts 12:5). After an exodus-like deliverance from prison, Luke tells us that Peter showed up at the home where the disciples were continuing to pray for his deliverance. This is yet another example of the minister being delivered from harm due, in part, to the prayers of the saints.

3. Pray for doors to be opened to them for the spread of the gospel.

In his letter to the Colossians Paul asked the church to be praying “that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains” (Col. 4:3). The success of the spread of the gospel is dependant in part on the prayers of the people of God. In this way, the church shares in the gospel ministry with the pastor. Though he is not the only one in the body who is called to spread the word, he has a unique calling to “do the work of an evangelist.” The saints help him fulfill this work by praying that the Lord would open doors “for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ.”

4. Pray that they might have boldness and power to preach the gospel.

In addition to praying for open doors for the ministry of the word, the people of God should pray that ministers would have Spirit-wrought boldness. When writing to the church in Ephesus, the apostle Paul asked them to pray for him “that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel” (Eph. 6:19). There is a well-known story of several college students going to visit the Metropolitan Tabernacle in order to hear Charles Spurgeon preach. As the story goes, Spurgeon met them at the door and offered to show them around. At one point he asked if they wanted to see the church’s heater plant (boiler room). He took them downstairs where they saw hundreds of people praying for God’s blessings on the service and on Spurgeon’s preaching. The gathering of the people of God to pray for the ministry of the word is what he called “the heating plant!” Believers can help ministers by praying that they would be given boldness and power in preaching the gospel.

5. Pray that they might have a spirit of wisdom and understanding.

One of the most pressing needs for a minister of the gospel is that he would be given the necessary wisdom to counsel, to know when to confront, to mediate and to discern the particular pastoral needs of a congregation. This is an all-encompassing and a recurring need. The minister is daily faced with particular challenges for which he desperately needs the wisdom of Christ. It is said of Jesus that “the Spirit of wisdom and knowledge, and of counsel and might” was upon Him (Is. 11:2). The servants of Christ need that same Spirit. Much harm is done to the church as a whole if the minister does not proceed with the wisdom commensurate to the challenges with which he is faced. Those who benefit from this wisdom can help the minister by calling down this divine blessing from heaven upon him.

*This post was first published at Ligonier.org in 2012. 

When Anna and I were dating, we were actively involved in an evangelistic ministry at a chapel on the boardwalk in New Jersey. For 77 nights, we would help put on services in which we would lead hymn singing, a minister would give a gospel presentation; then, we would go out on the boardwalk to share the gospel with any who would allow us to engage with them. Whenever we got on stage to lead the singing portions of these services, our eyes were drawn to a sign hanging down from a raftor in front of us. Written in big letters were the words, "Remember to think about what you are singing!" That phrase comes out of 1 Cor. 14:15, where the apostle wrote, "I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing praise with my mind also." There is a dire need for believers to sing with understanding. This was a need in the apostolic age, in the early church, in the medieval era, and in the Reformation––as it is in our our day. 

The English Puritan pastor, John Wells, explained that in Augustine's day it was not uncommon for Christians to care more about "the tune than the truth; more the manner than the matter; more the governing of the voice, than the raisedness of the mind." Augustine included a short section in his Confessions in which he explained the battle in his own heart to sing God's praises in worship with his mind and not merely to enjoy the beauty of the tune or the singing as an act in itself. Augustine confessed,

"When I call to mind the tears I shed at the songs of Your Church. . .how even now I am moved not by the singing but by what is sung, when they are sung with a clear and skilfully modulated voice, I then acknowledge the great utility of this custom. Thus I vacillate between dangerous pleasure and tried soundness; being inclined rather. . .to approve of the use of singing in the church, that so by the delights of the ear the weaker minds may be stimulated to a devotional frame. Yet when it happens to me to be more moved by the singing than by what is sung, I confess myself to have sinned criminally, and then I would rather not have heard the singing."

Bernard of Clairvaux also cautioned against the thoughtless singing of God's praises and warned against being carried away with the melody and forgetting the words. He wrote, 

"The sense of the words should be unmistakable, and they should shine with truth, tell of righteousness, incite to humility and inculcate justice; they should bring truth to the minds of the hearers, devotion to their affections, the cross to their vices and discipline to their senses. If there is to be singing, the melody should be grave and not flippant or uncouth. It should be sweet but not frivolous; it should both enchant the ears and move the heart; it should lighten sad hearts and soften angry passions; it should never obscure but enhance the sense of the words. Not a little spiritual profit is lost when minds are distracted from the sense of the words by the frivolity of the melody, when more is conveyed by the modulations of the voice than by variations of meaning" (Letter 398)

Of course, we are instructed most explicitly with regard to singing biblically sound hymns in Paul's admition to believers in Colossians 3:16–17 (together with its counterpart in Ephesisn 5:19). In Colossians 3:16–17, the apostle brought his imperative section on the "spiritual clothing" of Christians to a close with the following admonition:

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching andadmonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And swhatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

"The word of Christ" may refer to Christ speaking in all the Scripture—(which is without doubt true since He is God; and, as the Living Word, he is the divine author of Scripture). However, it is more likely that Paul is referring to Christ as the focal point of all the Scripture, as Peter O’Brien indicates when he notes, “it is probably. . .referring to the message that centers on Christ, that Word of truth or gospel.” Paul is reading all the Scriptures through the lens of Christ crucified, risen, ascended, reigning, and returning–-just as Jesus did in his post-resurrection appearances on the Emmaus Road and to the disciples (Luke 24:26–27; 44). The apostle ties this principle to what we sing when we gather together with other believers. Simply put, he is charging believers to keep the focus of all their psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs on the saving grace and redemption that we have in the Lord Jesus. 

This was a marked feature of the great German hymns of the Reformation. Referencing the role theologically rich hymns held in the Reformation in Germany, Phillip Schaff wrote, "The hymn became, next to the German Bible and the German sermon, the most powerful missionary of the evangelical doctrines of sin and redemption, and accompanied the Reformation in its triumphal march." Theologically rich hymns become a means of propagating the gospel. This is one of the central reasons why our songs should be full of "the word of Christ." 

Paul moves from the general directive for the word of Christ to dwell among believers richly to charge believers to be "teaching and admoniting one another in all wisdom." There is a vertical dimension to our singing as believers that has the benefit of other believers in mind. One really powerful example of this, drawn from the history of the Christians church, is that of the hymn writing of John Newton and William Cowper. 

Published in 1779, the Olney Hymns became that collection of 348 hymns that John Newton produced together with his dear friend, William Cowper. These hymns were intended by Newton for use in the weekly prayer meetings in his congregation. Newton contributed 280 of the hymns—including such well known compisitions as, “Amazing Grace” and “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken;" while Cowper, battling the dark clouds of melancholy, penned 68 Olney hymns––among them the remarkable “God Moves in a Mysterious Way.” Newton entered into this work, in no small measure, because of Cowper’s recurring depression; hymn-writing became a gospel-shaped means of pastoral care. He longed to lift his friend's soul with the comfort of God’s word and the sweet consolations of the gospel in poetic beauty. 

Martin Luther had done so several centuries before in relation to his protégée, Phillip Melanchthon. As William Marshall explained,

“When. . .Melancthon was cast down with the gloomy aspect of things at the dawn of the Reformation. . .Luther used to cheer him up and said, 'Come let us sing the forty-sixth psalm, and let earth and hell do their worst."

When we think of the many calls in Scripture for the people of God to be singing joyful praises to the Lord for His majesty, as well as for His redeeming mercies and providential care, we should long to do so thoughtfully. We should meditate on the words of the Psalms, making them our own. We should think carefully about the words of the hymns we sing, ensuring that we are singing them "with grace in our hearts to the Lord" (Col. 3:16). We shoudl care far more about what we are singing in worship than how these songs are being performed. It is incumbent on us to think about how we are teaching and admonishing other believers with the word of Christ in our songs, and how we are singing those words from our hearts to the Lord. What a powerful means of imparting grace to one another through the ministry of singing the words of Christ together. 

1. God cannot tolerate evil.
2. God cannot accept any solution except the saving work of His Son, Jesus.
3. God cannot reject anyone who comes in the name of Jesus.
4. God cannot take second place in your life.

I used to give this tract out on the boardwalk in Wildwood, NJ where my wife and I did evangelistic ministry 20 some years ago. I loved watching the expressions people had as they looked at the tract. Some would turn to their friends and say, “See, I was right!" (apparently having previously told them that there was no such thing as an all-powerful God). Others would ask, “So, are you an anti-Christian group?” It added a shock-value purpose of capturing interest long enough for people to open the tract and read it. Though biblically-speaking, there is really only one thing God cannot do (i.e., He cannot go against His own divine nature), the writer of Hebrews expressly touches on the importance of believers understanding the unchangeability of God with regard to His covenant promises. In Hebrews 6:13-20, we read,  

"When God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, 'Surely I will bless you and multiply you'; And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever."

Having exhorting his readers to beware the danger of apostasy, the writer of Hebrews next encourages those who profess faith in Christ to trust the Covenant God who made a promise to Abraham and confirmed that promise with an oath. It is ultimately not the resolve of believers that establishes them; it is the sure and steadfast promises of God, and the accomplishment of those promises in Christ, that is the sure foundation of the believer’s hope and perseverance.

We have a continual need for the promises of God, as we see in from God’s dealings with Abraham throughout the Genesis narrative. God came to Abraham and gave him “exceedingly great and precious promises” (Gen. 12:1-3). He then reiterated and developed those promises, time and time again, as He carried Abraham along in faith (Gen. 13–21). John Owen put it so well when he wrote: 

“God redoubled the word at the first giving of His promise unto Abraham, for the strengthening of his faith.” God still does this today.

Again Owen noted: 

“We need everything that any way evidences the stability of God’s promises to us, for the encouragement of our faith.”

God not only reiterated His promises to Abraham, "He swore by Himself." In the truest sense of that phrase, we can conclude that “God swore to God" in the Covenant of Grace. God swore by Himself that He would fulfill everything that He promised to Abraham. The Apostle Paul retrospectively looks back on the promises made to Abraham and says that all the promises of God are "Yes" and "Amen" in Christ” (2 Cor. 1:20).

As if that was not enough, when God made a promise to Abraham––on the integrity and greatness of His own being––He entered into  a covenantal oath arrangement with him by means of an animal cutting ceremony (Genesis 15:7-21). In the Ancient Near East, two parties would enter into a covenant arrangement by taking a pair of animals, cutting them apart and then walking through the middle of the pieces. In this way, the parties in the covenant were saying, “If I break this covenant, may God do so to me as was done to these animals” (Jer. 34:18). In the case of God’s promises to Abraham, it was not Abraham and God who walked between the cut animals. Rather, it was God, and God alone, who walked through the pieces. God was signifying that He represent both paries in the covenant (Gen. 15:17-18).

When He gave Abraham the covenant sign, the Lord charged him to “walk before Me and be blameless” (Gen. 17:1). On several occasions we are told that Abraham did not walk before God blameless. On two occasions, Abraham gave his wife into the hands of kings whom he feared. Instead of waiting on God to fulfill His promise, Abraham took it into his own hands by going into Hagar to get an heir. Like Abraham, we too have broken the the covenant by failing to keep the legal demands (i.e., perfect, personal, and perpetual obedience). Accordingly, we deserve the covenant curses. This is signified in the cutting of the animals in Genesis 15:17–18). Circumcision, the sign of the covenant, represented that God would “cut off” all those who break His covenant. So also, the cutting of the animals indicates the just punishment for covenant unfaithfulness. God represented both Abraham (and the elect) when He passed through the cut pieces. In this way, God was indicating that He would take the curses on Himself. That is precisely what we discover at the cross.

On the night when He was betrayed our Lord Jesus took bread and broke it. This symbolic act indicated what would happen to Christ when he hung on the cross. He would be cut off from the blessed presence of God for the disobedience and covenant breaking of his people. Jesus was “cut off from the land of the living”––as Isaiah foretold (Is. 53:8). He was “wounded for our transgressions; crushed for our iniquities" (Is. 53:5). When the Paul says of Abraham, ”No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God" (Rom. 4:20), we are to understand that the blood of Jesus covered even our times of unbelief with regard to the promises of God.

The promise–making God is Himself the promise–keeping God in Christ. He does not and cannot change (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 6:18). In this, we who do change, are kept. I love the words of Horatius Bonar's hymn, "I Hear the Words of Love." He writes,

The confidence we ought to have in the unchangeable promise of God is unbounded because of the unchangeable promise of the unchangeable God Himself. It is limited only by the infinitude of God Himself.  Owen again reflected on the significance of this when he wrote:

“Where the promise of God is absolutely engaged, it will break through all difficulties and oppositions unto a perfect accomplishment."

We ought to be able to face any trial, and any difficulty without wavering. This is what the Scriptures said was true of Abraham. “No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Rom. 4:20-21).

The believer, like Abraham, must take the promises of God up while facing the challenges of life that often seem to run counted those promises. Abraham knew that God had promised to bless the nations in Isaac (as the type Christ), but then God told to sacrifice the son of promise. The writer of Hebrews tells us that “Abraham reasoned that God could raise Isaac from the dead” (Heb. 11:19). Sanctified reasoning in light of God's promises is vital to Christian perseverance in the faith. God brings difficult trails into our lives so that we learn to live by faith in the promises.

Sinclair Ferguson adds a practical element to how this works out in our lives, when he says,

“We’re all patient when we have no frustrations; but the very essence of patience is that we’re able to cope with, bear the burden of and see through frustrations. And here’s one of the great paradoxes of God’s ways with us. God is determined to be frustrating to you; because unless He is frustrating to you, at the end of the day, you’ll begin to confuse your will for your life with God’s will for you life.” 

Abraham held onto the promises even when they seemed contrary to the further commands and providences of God. We too will persevere by faith in those promises.

Since all the covenant promises of God have all been fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the writer of Hebrews rightly calls Him, “the Anchor of the soul” (Heb. 6:19). If our souls are anchored with the one who fulfilled the demands of the law and took the punishment for our sins in order to fulfill the promises of the Covenant of Grace, nothing can shake that foundation. What would it take for those in saving union with Christ to fall away? Thomas Peck explained:

“When Christ can be degraded from His position at the right hand of the Majesty on high, when He can be made to abdicate His supremacy over principalities and powers, and might and dominion, and to become again a wanderer among sinful men, the object of their reproach, and finally the victim of their malignity; when the Father can forget His acceptance of the work of His own Son, an acceptance so solemnly proclaimed in raising him from the dead and giving him glory; then, and not before then, can one who has been united to Christ become subject to the penalty of the law, and expiate that penalty in the everlasting pains of hell.”

May we be strengthened to hold fast to the promises of God by trusting fully in the unchangeable God of promise. If He has promised, has bound Himself to that promise by covenant oath, and has fulfilled those promises in Christ, then we have every reason to believe that He will bring those promises to fruition throughout our lives and for eternity.

*This post is an adaptation of a post that originally appeared on Feeding on Christ on April 26, 2013. 

1. Welcome One Another (Tabletalk)
2. Legalism Defined (Tabletalk)
3. Faithfulness and Fruitfulness (Tabletalk)
4. What is Brotherly Love? (Tabletalk)
5. How Jesus Read the Scriptures (Tabletalk)
6. How Jesus Brings Peace (Tabletalk)
7. What Did Jesus Mean by "The World"? (Tabletalk)
8. The Cross and the Believer's home (Tabletalk)
9. Disarming the Devil (Tabletalk)
10. The Vertical Dimensions of the Cross (Tabletalk)
11. Why is the Substitutionary Atonement Essential (Tabletalk)
12. Why We Need a Priest (Tabletalk)
13. How Does Jesus' Temptation Link Him to Israel? (Tabletalk)
14. The Blessed Repetition of Redemptive History (Tabletalk)
15. Who is the True Israel? (Tabletalk)
16. The Gift of Entertainment (Tabletalk)
17. Holy War Jesus-Style (Tabletalk)
18. The Idol Crushing King (Tabletalk)
19. The Ark of the Covenant (Tabletalk)
20. Take Heed (Tabletalk)
21. The Deep Things of Christ (Tabletalk)
22. The Allurement of Christ (Tabletalk)
23. A Sinless Life (Tabletalk)
24. Mercy Triumphs Through Suffering (Tabletalk)
25. A Life of Blessing and Rest (Tabletalk)
26. The Secret of Sanctification (Tabletalk)
27. Fear of Man (Tabletalk)
28. The Peril of Wandering (Tabletalk)
29. It's the Little Things (Tabletalk)
30. The Inner Ring (Tabletalk)
31. Signs and Wonders: Christ's Gifts of the Spirit (Modern Reformation)
32. The Role of the Spirit in Current Trinitarian Controversies (Modern Reformation)
33. The Sin-Bearing, Curse Removing Second Adam
34. The Sin-Bearing, Curse Removing True Israel
35. The Obedience of the Second Adam and True Israel
36. A Biblical Theology of the Clouds
37. A Biblical Theology of Food and Drink
38. A Biblical Theology of Burial
39. A Biblical Theology of Time
40. A Biblical Theology of Locusts
41. A Biblical Theology of Mountains
42. A Biblical Theology of the Tribe of Judah
43. A Biblical Theology of Light and Darkness
44. A Biblical Theology of Exile and Restoration in the OT Prophets
45. A Biblical Theology of Burial
46. A Biblical Theology of the Trees of the Garden
47. A Biblical Theology of Clothing
48. A Biblical Theology of Glory
49. A Biblical Theology of Oil
50. The Cursed and Blessed Ground (A Biblical Theology of the Ground)
51. The Curse Reversed
52. A Brief Redemptive History of Animals
53. A Match Made in Heaven
54. The Church Comes First
55. As Seems Best to Them
56. Intramural Battle Wounds
57. The Reciprocal Wisdom of Proverbs 31
58. Father-to-Son Talks
59. 6 Thoughts on Sacred Space
60. 7 Thoughts on Sacred Time
61. A Divine Division
62. The Theological Significance of the Eighth Day
63. The New Creation Spirit of Christmas
64. The Son Hung on a Tree (A Biblical Theology of Trees)
65. The Noahic Covenant and Redemptive History
66. The Righteous One of Psalm 1
67. Jesus: True Israel of the First Gospel
68. Jesus: The Breath of Life
69. Jesus: Antitypical Sojourner and Exile in a Foreign Land (A Biblical Theology of Sojourning)
70. Everlasting Types and Ordinances of the Everlasting Christ
71. Christological Principles of Typology
72. Old Testament Personal Types and Shadows of Christ
73. The Clean for the Unclean (A Biblical Theology of Ceremonial Cleansing)
74. The Resurrection Power of Jesus
75. Gospel Justice
76. Fostering Relationships Between Church Leaders
77. Symbols of Christ in the Wilderness
78. Christ and the Tent in the Wilderness
79. The Ark of the Covenant and the Empty Tomb
80. The Last of the Levites
81. The Firstborn, the Levites, Substitution and the Redemption Money
82. The Presence of God Promised and Typified in the Death of Jacob and Joseph
83. Boaz: The Law-Keeping/Debt-Paying Redeemer
84. The Aroma of Christ
85. The Circumcision of Christ
86. On the Sabbath, Ceremonial Sabbaths, the Lord's Day and the Day of the LORD
87. The Parable of Three Lost Sons
88. The God Who Loves Finished Work
89. The Wisdom of the Son (Seeing Christ in the Proverbs)
90. A Covenantal Approach to the Song of Songs
91. The Songs of the Son (Seeing Christ in the Psalms)
92. A Law-Keeping Redeemer is Born
93. The Serpent on the Pole and the Cross of Christ
94. Jesus, the True and Greater Gardener
95. Jesus' Ark
96. The God of Typological Recapitulation
97. Eternalizing the Old Testament
98. The Symbolism of the Rainbow
99. Baptized with the Transgressors
100. Guardian Angels? 
101. A Sense of the Love of Christ
102. Four Gospels?
103. Vos on Old Testament Theophanies
104. Grace Is a Person
105. Christ, The Tree of Life
106. Grace Is a Gift
107. The Internal Witness of Scripture
108. Our Shield and Reward
109. Cities of Refuge
110. A Mountain Range Christmas
111. God Has Spoken
112. The Role of the Spirit in the Life of Christ
113. Jonathan Edwards on Adam and the Tree of Life
114. The Offices of Christ and the Marks of the Church
115. Imagining the Image of God
116. The Justification of Imputation
117. James and Justification: Which Court?
118. Maintaining Unity in the PCA
119. The Most Important Overlooked Doctrine (Part 1)
120. The Most Important Overlooked Doctrine (Part 2)
121. Taking Up the Hammer and the Nails (A Theology of Apostasy)
122. Which Systematic Theology is Best?
123. Satan Bound?
124. Manhood and Resurrection
125. Jesus Christ: Savior or Example
126. Modern Judaizers
127. You'll Meet Them All
128. Sainthood
129. Work and Rest
130. Is the Fourth Commandment Required for Christians?
131. The Scriptural Witness to the Historicity of Adam
132. The Third Use of the Law and the Finished Work of Christ
133. Understanding the Law and its Uses
134. Three Ways the New Testament Writers Quote the Old Testament
135. How Redemptive-History and Example Meet in the Book of Hebrews
136. The Church: Organizism or Organization
137. The Gospel of the Forty Days
138. Jesus' Compassion for Sinners
139. A Thanksgiving Jesus
140. The Human Growth of Jesus
141. The Hardest Week
142. The Great Redemptive Multi-Tasker
143. The Grace of Remembering
144. Mansions in Glory?
145. A Faith that Triumphs and Suffers
146. No Greeting From the Holy Spirit?
147. Jesus on the Inerrancy and Infallibility of Scripture
148. The Covenant of Grace in Time and Eternity
149. When God Swears to God
150. Taking Up the Hammer and the Nails (A Theology of Apostacy)
151. Jesus' Compassion for Sinners
152. The Real Miracle
153. Jesus' Miracles: Types of Spiritual Realities
154. 5 Important Theological Pairs
155. Heir of All Things
156. The Flesh/Spirit Distinction in Paul
157. Did Jesus Descend into Hell?
158. The Elemental Principles of the World
159. The Transmission and Identification of the Inerrant Text
160. Noah, Jesus and Preaching to Spirits
161. The "Signs" of Tongues and Prophecy in 1 Cor. 14:20-25
162. The Holy Spirit Says...
163. Jesus and the World to Come
164. On Headship, Hats, Hair and Historical Context
165. The "Not I, but the Lord...I say, not the Lord" Sayings of Paul
166. Suffering, Chastisement and the Fatherly Love of God
167. John's Use of the Song of Songs in the Book of Revelation
168. No More Consciousness of Sin
169. Uncommon and Courageous Conviction
170. Life-Changing Sermons
171. A Year-End Self-Evaluation
172. The Kinsman Redeemer
173. Low Expectations…
174. Joseph Did You Know?
175. Sinful Anger: Its Cause and Cure
176. The Minister’s Grit
177. The Future of Emptiness
178. When the Father Sacrificed the Son
179. The Spirit in the Old and New Testament
180. A Redemptive Historical Lamb
181. The Covenant of Works, the Law and the Mosaic Covenant (Geerhadus Vos)
182. Geerhardus Vos on Supra- and Infra- Lapsarianism
183. Luther and Calvin on Galatians 5:6
184. Calvin and Edwards on Works of the Law
185. Edwards on Spiritual Pride
186. Jonathan Edwards on the Demand and Curse of the Law
187. Jonathan Edwards on Adam and the Tree of Life
188. Warfield, Biblical Doctrines and Confessionalism
189. 10 Must Read Pre-Reformation Works
190. The Sorrow and Joy of Imputation (Hugh Martin)
191. 6 Ingredients of Jesus' Bitter Cup (Isaac Ambrose)
192. Thomas Boston on the Glory of Man at Creation and Redemption
193. Samuel Miller Publications Online
194. Archibald Alexander Publications Online
195. Vos on the Typical Role of Moses and the Exodus
196. Adolphe Monond on Jesus, the Mystery of Godliness
197. Luther on Seeing the Savior in a Poor, Beggar Baby
198. Machen on Getting as Little Truth as Possible
199. Vos on the Difference Between a Prophet and a Priest
200. Spurgeon on Expositional Reading and Preaching in the Worship Service
201. C.S. Lewis on the Right of Private Judgment
202. Because There Was No Sun (Calvin on Gen. 1:11)
203. A Pastor's Love for Christ
204. Machen on Getting As Little Truth As Possible
205. The Patriotic Church
206. The Heart of the Reformation
207. Losing Loved Ones and Having Regrets
208. Fear and Sonship
209. A Pastor's Love for Christ (Tabletalk)
210. A Romantic View of Ministry
211. The Fine Line (Tabletalk)
212. Preach the Gospel to Yourself?
213. Mini-Sermons for the Soul to Sing
214. Pastoral Ministry and Spiritual Warfare
215. The Pastor and Social Media
216. The Complexity of Pastoral Care
217. Learning to Think for Yourself
218. 4 Kinds of Pastors
219. Pastoral Reality: Ecclesiastes-Style
220. Extemporaneous Preaching
221. Ecumenical Fences
222. Handling Contentions in the Church
223. From the Text to the Table
224. A Faithful Seminary
225. Leadership Principles and Pastoral Ministry
226. Sing Your Heart Out
227. 6 Ways to Become a Welcoming Church
228. 7 Wrong Reasons for Joining a Church
229. "Top Down" or "Grass Roots" Ministry
230. 7 Characteristics of Spiritually Beneficial Friendships
231. The Race is Not to the Swift
232. Working on Learning to Rest
233. The Rare Jewel of Christian Commitment
234. Perspective is Key
235. The Dangers and Duties of Confessing Sin to One Another
236. The Theological Driver Seat and a M-16
237. Time for a Spirit Check
238. Teaching One Another In...
239. Back to School, Back to the Bible
240. Don't Waste Your Grill
241. Stipulations for Mercy Ministry
242. Contentment in the Ministry
243. The Gracious Judgment of Charity
244. The Theology and Practice of the Lord's Supper
245. The Importance of Time Management
246. 7 Ways to Avoid Becoming a Pastoral Ideologue
247. How Jesus Confronted and Corrected Others
248. 5 Reasons to Join (Or Not Join) a Church Plant Near You
249. Why We Fear Grace
250. The Internet: The Great Evangelical, Op-Ed Tabloid
251. A Church's Coming of Age
252. Ministering to the Mobile
253. Dividends and Drawbacks of Small Groups
254. Marks of Orthodoxy?
255. A Multiplicity of Mentors
256. Reestablishing Ministry Goals
257. Singing the Mediatorial Praises of Jesus
258. 7 Ways to Care for Your Wife
259. Picking Up Sticks in the Service of Jesus
260. When They Walk Away
261. Did God Ordain Evil?
262. Jesus Loves the Rich
263. Teachability
264. Gospel Motivations for Gospel Ministry
265. When Christians Hurt You
266. Interpretive Indecisiveness
267. Of Ministers and Marriages
268. The Reach of the Gospel
269. Being Professional in Ministry
270. The Roller Coaster Effect of Ministry
271. Old Man, New Man; Dead Man, True Man
272. The Weight of the Church
273. The Digital Sermon
274. A Spiritual Inheritance
275. The Greatest Book Never
276. Destroying the Good for the Better
277. Reading God’s Providence
278. When the Preaching is Bad
279. Diagnostic Decision Making
280. Nothing to Complain About
281. The Sitting Christ
282. The Ministerial Decrease
283. The Unhypocritical Jesus
284. Gospel Poetry at the Table
285. The Family Idols
286. The Last Cry of Dereliction
287. Doctrine, Denominations and Division
288. Criticizing Our Camp
289. The Prophet and the Prophets
290. When Speaking About Jesus’ Bride
291. The Social Media Echo Chamber
292. The Judgment-Mercy of God
293. On Being a Lifelong Learner
294. Nothing Should Surprise Us
295. Trusting Christ to Provide
296. 7 Areas of Unbiblical Conscience Binding
297. 5 Reasons to Keep the Kids in
298. Teaching Our Children the Raw Parts of Scripture
299. Sophisticated Temples of Modern Idolatry
300. Redeeming our Reading
301. Grace and Wisdom for Mercy Ministry
302. A Tribute to R.C. Sproul
303. Social Sin, Social Media, and Social Interaction
304. Overcoming Discouragement in Ministry
305. Grown-Up Churches in an Age of Adolescence
306. Jesus: The Measure of a Man
307. Particle Board Preaching
308. Pastoral Reality: Ecclesiastes-Style
309. "...And Everything Else Will Follow"
310. Communicating and Connecting in Ministry
311. An Angel's View of Christmas
312. Deacons and the Poor in the Church
313. ...Until We Contemplate the Face of God
314. Plagiarizing and Quoting in Preaching
315. Not-So-Great Expectations
316. Church Planting Mathematics: 10 x 100 > 1 x 1000?
317. The Blessing of Teaching the Children
318. Giving and Receiving Criticism in Ministry
319. A Marathon Mentality for Ministry
320. 5 Rules of Social Media Engagement
321. An Ides of March for Every Cesar
322. Unity in Multi-Categorical Diversity in the Church
323. Ecclesiastical Antinomianism
324. Tuned in Parents on the Technological Frontier
325. Refuting Theological Error
326. Jesus Loves Me, This I Know
327. Jesus and the General and Special Revelation of God
328. It's Not Until...
329. The Least Mentioned Sin
330. No Special Providence
331. The Missing Strings of Sanctification
332. Misplaced Presumptuous Tenderness
333. By Some Means
334. The Household Baptist
335. Gifts of Grace For Jesus
336. Everyone Packages Knowledge
337. When Your Spouse Won't Join a Solid Church
338. Three Act Night
339. Little Eternal Beings
340. Nuggets of Truth
341. The Hard Job of Interpreting Job
342. The Unique Church
343. Six Ways to Redeem Thanksgiving
344. The Serpent Conquering Last Adam and True Israel
345. Bringing Our Children to the Table
346. What are You Waiting For?
347. Don't Waste Your Commute
348. A Spiritual Brotherhood
349. The Patient God
350. Discovering Christ in the Psalms
351. The Extra Ministry Mile
352. Giving and Receiving Commendation
353. It's All About the Recovery
354. When We Worship Our Worship
355. Keeping Short Accounts
356. The Importance of Being a Pastor/Theologian
357. Preaching the Funeral of an Unbeliever
358. 10 Outstanding Theologians (Of Whom You May Not Have Ever Heard)
359. The Importance of an Inquirer's Class
360. The Story of Redemption
361. Thoughts to Avoid in Public Prayer
362. Taking a Vacation from God
363. Making Changes in a Church
364. Killing Envy
365. What Would Jesus Buy
366. How Then Should We View the Children
367. 10 Essential Pre-Reformation Writings
368. The Spirituality of the Church Speech
369. He Won't Be Silent Forever
370. Let's Make Wisdom Great Again
371. Hell to Pay
372. Love and Anger at the Cross
373. The Growing Christ
374. A Merry Luther Christmas
375. Virgins Don't Conceive, Unless...
376. Souls Always Need More Curing
377. Jesus and Racial Bias
378. Luther, Law and Love
379. Even the Smallest Sin...
380. Counselor, Comforter, Keeper
381. 'Til Kingdom Come
382. Retribution and Redemption
383. Content to Know Enough
384. Understanding Opponents
385. Van Mastricht on the Scholastics
386. Smells Like Teen Spirit
387. Only for a Time
388. Low Visibility
389. Legalism, Lawlessness and Pastoral Ministry
390. God's Special People
391. Imagine There's No Hell
392. The Exception and the Rule
393. Private and Personal or Public and Ecclesial
394. Unorthodox Christology
395. Insider Language and the Mission of God
396. Pitying Criminals or Imprisoning Society
397. The Power of Biblical Thinking
398. A Functional Imperfect Perfectionism
399. When Everything is a Gender Question
400. The Last Judgement
401. The Incomparable Conjunction of Love and Wrath
402. Decerebrated Frogs, the Straight Line and Cultural Accommodation
403. Are Some Sins Worse than Others
404. The Church Jesus Attends
405. Why We Love New Beginnings
406. A Better Jerusalem
407. Creation, Incarnation and the Immutability of God
408. Hollywood, Capitol Hill and the Human Heart
409. The Old Perspective on the Works of the Law
410. The Great Pope Within
411. Closely Connected Care
412. Love the Sinner as You Love Your Sinful Self
413. Game of Dethroning Sexual Sin
414. Why Did Jesus Need the Holy Spirit
415. The Christ-Haunted Song
416. Military Cases of Conscience
417. Justifying a Non-Repeatable Justification
418. In Defense of the Sabbatical
419. Expect the Unexpected
420. Luther and Calvin's Quiet Discussions in Heaven
421. If Christ is Not Risen...
422. The Greek Orthodox Answer Man
423. Identity, Affinity and Christ
424. The Ecclesiastical Pendulum Swing
425. Redemptive History, Union with Christ and the Liturgical Calendar
426. Jesus and the Victim Card
427. To Be a Diaper Changer
428. Striving to Escape the Fall
429. Proverbs 8:23, the Eternal Generation of the Son and the History of Reformed Exegesis
430. Running the Race of Redemption
431. More Mercy in Christ than Sin in Us
432. Scripture, Slavery and Social Activism
433. Laying R.I.P. to Rest
434. The Need for a Ministerial Breakdown
435. The Missing Message
436. Desiring to Rule Over Genesis 3:16
437. Wisdom and Biblical Principles of Complementarianism
438. The Savior at the Well
439. Christ in Flesh and Spirit
440. The Seed of Scripture
441. Two Went Up to Pray
442. The Resolved Parent
443. Best Face Off
444. To Whom Should We Pray?
445. In All Circumstances
446. A Man of Constant Sorrow
447. The Redemptive-Historical End Zone Verse
448. The Doctrine of the Standing or Falling Church
449. Crossing the Finish Line
450. The Hope of Forgiveness
451. God's Metrics
452. It Only Takes One
453. The Glory of the Son
454. From the Sea to the Conquest
455. Planning, Planting and Pastoral Ministry
456. Which World View
457. Calmer Than You Are
458. Keeping the Cross in Focus
459. The Mechanistic Church
460. Faith to Dry Up Puddles
461. The Doubting Believer
462. The John Murray Collection
463. The Genesis of Theology
464. Dan's Invasion and Idolatry (He Reads Truth)
465. Gideon Pursues the Kings of Midian (He Reads Truth)
466. Return to Your God (He Reads Truth)
467. The Ascension: Where is Jesus Now? (He Reads Truth)
468. What Forgiveness Requires (He Reads Truth)
469. The Incense Altar (He Reads Truth)
470. Jesus and Humanity (He Reads Truth)
471. Restoration (He Reads Truth)
472. The Faithful Manager (He Reads Truth)
473. The Coming of the Holy Spirit (He Reads Truth)
474. Wisdom from Above (He Reads Truth)
475. The Road to Damascus (He Reads Truth)
476. The Lord Rises Up (He Reads Truth)
477. Christ Heals Injury and Illness (He Reads Truth)
478. Guilty as Charged (He Reads Truth)
479. From Groans to Glory (He Reads Truth)
480. Samuel’s Final Speech (He Reads Truth)
481. David’s Song of Thanksgiving (He Reads Truth)
482. The King Honors Mordecai (He Reads Truth)
483. Israel Blessed (He Reads Truth)
484. From Exile to Victory (He Reads Truth)
485. Tell the Truth (He Reads Truth)
486. The Two Foundations (He Reads Truth)
487. The Root and Branch of David (He Reads Truth)
488. Mary Visits Elizabeth (He Reads Truth)
489. The Lord Provides in the Wilderness (He Reads Truth)
490. Build Each Other Up (He Reads Truth)
491. Jesus' Ministry Begins (He Reads Truth)
492. Making the Ark (He Reads Truth)
493. See the Lord's Salvation (He Reads Truth)
494. Encounters with Christ (He Reads Truth)
495. Sin and Redemption (He Reads Truth)
496. Our King (He Reads Truth)
497. The Coming of the Holy Spirit (He Reads Truth)
498. God’s Judgment (He Reads Truth)
499. <a href="http://hereadstruth.com/2016/09/21/return-to-your-god/"

In 2 Samuel 7:1–17, the Lord promised David that He would establish an everlasting kingdom, raising up a son who would reign on his throne forever (2 Sam. 7:8–16). God’s dealings with David in redemptive history form the climax of Old Testament revelation. Scripture reveals that Christ is the promised son of David (Matt. 9:27; 15:22; 20:30; 21:9; 22:42). He is the new David, the King who rules as covenant head of His people (Ezek. 34:23–24). One cannot fully understand the message of Scripture without recognizing that Jesus is the promised son of David who fulfills the covenant promises (2 Cor. 1:20–21; Rom. 1:3; 2 Tim. 2:8). Much of who Jesus is and what He did is directly related to the person of David and the promises God gave him. To establish the relationship between David and Christ, the Scriptures reveal the typological identification that exists between them.

David is arguably the most developed type of Christ in the Old Testament. The typological connection between him and Christ is first understood by his name. The prophets expressly refer to the promised messiah as “David” (Ezek. 34:23–24; 37:24–25), as well as “the righteous Branch of David” (Jer. 23:5). This association is rooted in the seed promise God made to David in the Davidic covenant (2 Sam. 7:17–23). David’s name carries a typical relation to the person of Christ, as David’s name is expressly connected to the Hebrew word translated “beloved.” Jesus is God’s beloved Son, the antitype of the beloved David (Isa. 5:1; Matt. 3:17; 12:19; 17:5; 2 Peter 1:17).

The typological relationship is next discerned by their birthplace. Both David and Christ came out of Bethlehem. This is no insignificant typical association. The prophet Micah specifically foretold the eternal (from everlasting) and the temporal (Bethlehem) origin of the Redeemer (Mic. 5:2; Matt. 2:1–6). The eternal Son of David was born in Bethlehem, the city of David.

There is a close connection between the calling of David and Jesus. David was a shepherd when the Lord called him to rule over Israel (1 Sam. 16:19; 2 Sam. 7:8). The Lord chose and anointed David to shepherd His people (2 Sam. 5:1–2). Jesus is the Good Shepherd, the chosen and Anointed One appointed by God to shepherd His people, the true Israel (Isa. 42:1; Mic. 5:2; John 10).

David was a warrior who conquered God’s enemies in battle. Jesus is the eschatological, divine warrior who conquers all God’s enemies in battle on the cross (Ps. 45:3; Col. 2:15; 1 John 3:8). David typifies Christ by engaging in representative warfare with Goliath. The one who won this battle won it for his people (1 Sam. 17:9). David represented God’s people, ultimately defeating the Philistines in battle. Jesus faced off in representative warfare against Satan, ultimately defeating him and the spiritual forces of darkness on the cross (Col. 2:15). As David defeated Goliath with his own weapon, so Christ defeated Satan with His own weapon—namely, the cross. Jonathan Edwards helpfully observed,

God preserved [David] from [Goliath], and gave him the victory over him—so that he cut off his head with his own sword and made him therein the deliverer of his people—as Christ slew the spiritual Goliath with his own weapon, the cross, and so delivered his people.

As David had a group of mighty men with him in his sufferings, Jesus had His disciples with Him through His humiliation and suffering. David’s mighty men were with him when he ate the showbread in the tabernacle (1 Sam. 21:1–6). Jesus’ disciples were with Him when they walked through the grain fields on the Sabbath (Matt. 12:1–8). It was Christ Himself who drew out this redemptive-historical connection (Mark 2:25–26).

Among the great suffering David endured were the attacks of Saul on account of his jealousy. The Son of David was maliciously treated from infancy, when King Herod sought to destroy Him out of jealousy. Just as David was derided by his brothers, so the Son of David was derided by His brethren. David was despised and rejected by the king, by his people, and by his own family. Jesus was rejected by His people, sentenced and executed by the Romans, denied by Peter, abandoned in His hour of trial by His disciples, tortured, attacked by Satan and demons, and forsaken by God when bearing the sin of the world. David crossed over the Brook Kidron as he was being betrayed by Ahithophel (2 Sam. 15:13–37). When his plot was uncovered, Ahithophel hung himself (2 Sam. 17:23). Jesus crossed over the Brook Kidron when being betrayed by Judas (John 18:1). After his betrayal, Judas went and hanged himself (Matt. 27:5).

The entire life of David was a series of typological deaths and resurrections until he was delivered and exalted. The whole of Christ’s life was one of suffering followed by resurrection glory. Jesus is “the root and the descendant of David” (Rev. 22:16), the One “who has the key of David” (Rev. 3:7). Christ has been exalted to the right hand of God to rule on the throne of David (Luke 1:32). The crucified, risen, and exalted son of David rules forever over the kingdom of God in righteousness, truth, and grace as the new David.

A general officer of the United States army…was in a great western city at a time of intense excitement and violent rioting. The streets were over-run daily by a dangerous crowd. One day he observed approaching him a man of singularly combined calmness and firmness of mien, whose very demeanor inspired confidence. So impressed was he with his bearing amid the surrounding uproar that when he had passed he turned to look back at him, only to find that the stranger had done the same. On observing his turning the stranger at once came back to him, and touching his chest with his forefinger, demanded without preface: “What is the chief end of man?’”On receiving the countersign, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever”—”Ah!” said he, “I knew you were a Shorter Catechism boy by your looks!” “Why, that was just what I was thinking of you,” was the rejoinder.

My initial exposure to the Westminster Standards (i.e., the Westminster Confession of Faith, and Shorter and Larger Catechisms) was a significantly less advantageous experience. As a new convert, I was surrounded by a number of seminarians who seemed to principally appeal to the Standards in order to critique and correct the erroneous theology of others. This fostered in me the perception that the Standards were fundamentally polemical in nature. I began to view the Westminster Confession of Faith as a restrictive and contrarian document—as something akin to legal documents rather than a theological document full of spiritually rich expositions of biblical truth. Additionally, I have met numerous ministers in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) who have expressed almost a sense of embarrassment when speaking about the Standards on account of their antiquated origin and language.

Over the years, however, I have come to view the Westminster Standards, not through the lens of early pejorative experiences but through the lens of ongoing Christian experience and pastoral ministry. I now have a deep love for the Standards as being a succinct exposition of biblical truth and articulation of the doctrines of the Protestant tradition. The Standards are a doctrinal outline of the Christian faith—full of both doctrinal and experiential truth.

A Standard?

The Westminster Standards have long served as the doctrinal standards to which ministers and churches in Reformed Presbyterian churches adhere. While the Standards have been a staple of Reformed Presbyterianism for centuries, they were first and foremost ecumenical documents—the product of 130 of the greatest pastors and theologians in all of church history. The members of the Assembly, who themselves served in different ecclesiastical fellowships (having quite a number of differing theological opinions among themselves!) sought to walk together as far as they could for the sake of biblical fidelity and doctrinal unity. Meeting over 1,130 times in 6 years, the members of the Assembly have given us one of the most careful articulations of the Christian faith even written.

In Reformed Presbyterianism, the Westminster Standards are just that—the standard by which we vow to test our doctrinal formulations. Ministers and members alike are to appeal to them to express what we believe to be biblical teaching and to reject what lies outside the bounds of confessional orthodoxy. They are not inspired and inerrant documents. God has reserved those categories for His breathed-out Word. The Standards can, by proper process, be amended by our denomination—a process to which God’s Word may never be subject. While we acknowledge that the Westminster Standards are human documents—subject to revision—one old Southern Presbyterian professor stated so well the importance of the theology of the Westminster Standards when he said, “The theology of the Confession of Faith is not perfect; but, it’s better than yours; and, you can have your theology corrected by a diligent study of it.” That sentiment captures the high regard that Reformed Presbyterian ministers have had for the Westminster Standards.

The Usefulness of the Standards

Despite the fact that the Standards have always held a uniquely important place in Presbyterian church history, many American Presbyterian ministers have either denied their teachings, ignored their usefulness, or simply given lip service to the vows that they took to uphold and teach their truths. Downplaying the importance of the Westminster Standards lay at the root of the Old School/New School division in the 19^th Century—a division that resulted in the toleration of doctrine and practices that opposed the clear teaching of Scripture and the Standards. Additionally, it was a neglect of confessional orthodoxy and a denial of the integrity of the vows that Presbyterian ministers took that led to an embrace of theological liberalism at the turn of the 20^th Century in the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America and at Princeton Theological Seminary.

There will always be those who deny the teaching of the Confession, ignore its usefulness, or give lip service to the vows that they have taken to uphold and teach its truth. The last of these dangers is perhaps the most subtly pernicious. J. Gresham Machen explained that those who tolerated the shift towards theological liberalism in the Presbyterian Church, in the name of unity, were more dangerous than the theological liberals who were pressing for the diminution of doctrinal fidelity and confessional orthodoxy. In Christianity and Liberalism, Machen wrote:

Many indeed are seeking to avoid the separation. Why, they say, may not brethren dwell together in unity? The Church, we are told, has room for both liberals and for conservatives. The conservatives may be allowed to remain if they will keep trifling matters in the background and attend chiefly to "the weightier matter of the law.” And among the things thus designated as “trifling” is found the cross of Christ as a really vicarious atonement for sin.1

The tendency for ministers to utilize the subtlety of arguments that press for unity as over against truth (or, unity as being “weightier” than truth) ought to alert us to our own need to be diligent in defending confessional integrity in the PCA. Real and lasting unity is rooted in truth. We are far from immune to a shift toward theological liberalism. To think otherwise would be the height of foolish self-confidence.

This ever-present danger is intensified by the fact that we live in a day and age when men and women treat the vows that they have taken before God with little to no solemnity. Individuals throw away their marriage and walk away from local churches over the most inconsequential issues. The Scriptures are clear about the seriousness with which God deals with the vows that we take before Him. In Ecclesiastes 5:4–6, Solomon explained,

When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands?

Both ministers and members of PCA churches take vows to “maintain…the purity and the peace of the church” (BCO 5-9 (i.3), 21-5 (6) and 57-5). Those of us who have taken ministerial vows must seek to keep those vows with the utmost seriousness. If we treated the quest for unity in our marriage as being more important than the quest for truth, duplicity, deceit, and infidelity would run rapid and ultimately destroy any and all unity. It is unimaginable that any Christian would desire anything less than loving unity in truth with his or her spouse. How equally zealous ought we to be for loving unity in truth in the Church of God, the bride of Christ which He purchased with His own blood! After all, ministers in Christ’s church have been entrusted with the great stewardship and principle task of maintaining the peace and the purity of the bride of Christ.

A consideration of our own experiences, the nature of the Standards, the history of American Presbyterianism, and the biblical teaching on vow-making should help awaken in us a desire to pursue confessional integrity in our own lives and ministries. Here are four ways that we, as ministers in the Presbyterian Church in America, can pursue such confessional integrity:

1. Incorporate the Westminster Standards into our regular devotional and theological diet. We do ourselves an enormous disservice by failing to read the Standards regularly and devotionally. Whenever I have recognized such a deficiency in my own life and have returned to a meditative study of the Standards, I have come away sensing the enormity of the benefit derived. There is almost no theological subject upon which they do not touch. Additionally, the Standards have experiential warmth that is meant to stir the hearts of men and women unto a greater love for Christ and a deeper commitment to seeking after God.
2. Assimilate the Westminster Standards into our regular preaching ministry. There is no better source of theological definitions than those we will find in the Westminster Shorter and Larger Catechisms. For instance, if we are preaching from the Scriptures on the subject of regeneration, justification, sanctification, adoption, faith, or repentance, we will find no more careful and succinct definitions than those which we find in the Shorter Catechism.
3. Integrate the Westminster Standards into the ministries of our congregations. While some will have an initial reversion to it, one of the best things that we can do in our children’s ministries is to have our children memorizing the Shorter Catechism. A systematic approach enables us to cover nearly every precious doctrinal truth of Scripture with our covenant children. This is not to say that it should be a replacement to Bible memorization or teaching. However, there is no better supplement. After all, as Warfield expressed, we want our sons and daughters to grow up to be Shorter Catechism boys and girls.
4. Defend the Westminster Standards in the courts of our denomination. We who have taken ministerial vows to the Standards should be diligent to defend their teaching in the courts of our church. This means that if we serve on theological examination committees (i.e., committees appointed for the examination of men for licensure and ordination) we should test all theological answers against the clear teaching of the Standards we have vowed to uphold.

1. J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdman’s, 1923), 160.

*This article was first published at the Gospel Reformation Network on May 21, 2017.

After his victory in the wilderness, Christ's victorious obedience is seen in his response to Satan when he was working through Simon Peter to keep Jesus from going to the cross. Robertson explains, 

"When Peter seeks to dissuade Jesus from going to the cross, the Lord immediately identifies the ultimate source of this devilish suggestion. His closest disciple cannot dissuade him from his commitment to complete the mission given by his heavenly Father." 

There is another conflict when Satan entered Judas so that he would betray the Lord. This happened the same night that Jesus entered the garden of Gethsemane. Though Scripture does not tell us that Satan was present in the garden, the garden is another critical moment in which that Jesus enters into conflict with the evil one. Robertson explains, 

"How, then, does Jesus conquer Satan? He overcomes Satan by submitting without reservation to the will of the Father. Rather than asserting his own will above the Father’s, as did the first Adam, this second Adam drinks to the dregs the cup the Father had given him. Even though it involves a genuine struggle of will, Jesus learns to greater and greater depths the full meaning of obedient submissiveness to the Father:

My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will. (Matt. 26:39)

My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done. (Matt. 26:42)

The cup which my Father has given me, shall I not drink it? (John 18:11)

Jesus purposely dismisses Judas from the upper room to allow him to fulfill his treacherous task: 'That which you do, do quickly' (John 13:27). He could have easily exposed Judas to the other disciples, which would possibly have ended his intrigues. But instead, he releases him—yes, commissions him—to complete his act of betrayal. In the garden of his arrest, he explains that he could call to his Father, who would promptly put at his disposal more than twelve legions of angels (Matt. 26:53). But by submitting to the will of the Father, he triumphs over the devil."2

It is only as we take these three critical moments of conflict from the Savior's life together (i.e.,at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of Jesus' messianic ministry) that we come to understand the principle way that Jesus defeated the evil one. The victory lay in his conscious determination to render obedience to his Father in order to fulfill the eternal pact between he and his Father for the redemption of his people. By submitting himself sinlessly to the father's plan for redemption, the Son acted as the last Adam (Rom. 5:12-21) and true Israel of God (Hosea 11:1; Matt. 2:15), overcoming Satan in the only way that he could have been conquered. The evil one was constantly seeking to divert Christ from doing the will of his Father. Yet at each point in his life and ministry, Jesus resisted that temptation. This qualified him to strike the final, decisive blow to Satan when he hung on the cross. The Apostle Paul tells us that in that final moment, when Christ was nailed to the tree, "he disarmed principalities and power, making a public spectacle of them by triumphing over him" in his death. May we ever rejoice in the victorious obedience of the Son––who has conquered the one who conquered man! 

1. O. Palmer Robertson, Christ of the Consummation: A New Testament Biblical Theology, vol. I (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2022), 35.

2. O. Palmer Robertson, Christ of the Consummation: A New Testament Biblical Theology, vol. I (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2022), 36.

There is something mysterious about the account of the magi following the star to the place where the Lord Jesus lay in a manger. We know so very little about the star, the magi, or the manger. Many have raised speculations about the guiding star throughout the history of biblical interpretation. We are left with several questions about the star. Was it a single star or a cluster of stars? Was it a natural phenomenon set apart by God for a supernatural use, or was a supernatural manifestation of a newly created luminary to serve the purpose of leading the wisemen to Christ? Pastors and theologians have sought to answer these questions in varying ways. We may not be able to answer all question about this star with any degree of certainty. We can, however, conclude is that this star and its light served one purpose––to bring these Gentile sages to Jesus. In this way, the star served as a natural illustration of a spiritual reality. Charles Spurgeon, in his sermon, "The Star and the Wise Men," explained, 

"The star which God used was a star that stopped at Jesus; it went before the wise men till it brought them to Jesus, and then it stood still over the place where the young child was. . .It stood still, and so should the gracious mind. . .There is nothing beyond Christ which is worth a moment’s thought. " 

This was the great purpose of that wondrous star; it was a revelation of Christ to these Gentile sages. It did not exist so that the magi would find this luminary phenomenon to be anything other than a guide to Christ. Reflecting on the fact that this star existed to serve the purposes of revealing Christ, wrote, 

"Christ appeared as the Master with power over the star rather than as one subject to its influence, since the star did not hold to the shining course of the other constellations in the heavens, but, to the persons seeking Christ, pointed out the path which led directly to the place where He had been born. Wherefore, the star itself did not, in wondrous fashion, cause Christ to live, but Christ, in wondrous wise, caused the star to appear; the star did not determine the marvels of Christ’s birth, but Christ determined the appearance of the star among His other miracles." 

In the same way, ministers of the gospel exist to point men and women to where Christ may be found. He does not exist for them. Rather, they exist to exalt him and point to him. Whenever ministers proclaim the redemptive excellencies of Jesus, sinners are being guided by the light of the gospel to Christ. 

We know very little about the wise men. They were likely astronomers or astrologers from Mesopotamia or some other part of the Eastern world. Many scholars posit the theory that this group of astrologers would have most likely adhered to the principles and practices of Zoroastrianism coming out of what is today the regions of Iraq or Iran. Whatever the reality, these learned men were coming from a far off pagan land. Of this much we may be sure, they were far from the promises of God and from the God of promise, being alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenant promises. 

Additionally, we do not know how many of these sages made the long journey from a foreign land. It may have been a small number of magi or a great multitude. In any case, these Gentile astronomers were far from the people of God, and far from the promises of God. Nevertheless, God had chosen them and was calling them to come to the newborn Christ. They were, in some respects, the first-fruits of the Gentiles, for whose salvation Christ had come into the world. 

These wisemen had very little revelation about Christ. We can conclude that they have received some form of revelation. We do not know whether it was oral revelation or an immediate revelation from God. It might have been a mixture of the two. 

In his exceptional sermon, Seeking After Christ, Jonathan Edwards speculates that the magi had learned Messianic prophecies that had been passed down from the Hebrews' time of captivity in Babylon. He explained, 

"'Tis most probable that those wise men that came from the east were some that had received instruction from the holy writing of the Jews that had been carried into the east, first to Babylon, which was many hundred miles to the east of Judea, and afterwards to Shushan in Persia, which was yet a great deal further to the east. There was Daniel, that great prophet exalted to great dignity, and there was Nehemiah, and there was Elisha and Mordecai; and these had the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning Christ with them.

And Daniel himself, who was set over the wise men of the east as their master, was himself a great prophet and wrote one of those books of Old Testament prophecy— whose prophecy of Christ is in some respects more particular than [that] of any other prophets— and probably wrote it in Persia when he was in great dignity there, and doubtless left instructions among the great and wise men of that eastern part of the world, whose master he was, concerning Christ, and probably might leave his own prophecy and the other prophecies of Scripture concerning the Messiah in their hands."

Additionally, Edwards surmised that these learned men from the east very well might have been recipients of the prophecy of Balaam in Numbers 24. He observed,

"They were probably instructed [in] one of the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning the star that should arise out of Jacob. This they probably had from Balaam's prophecy. Num. 24:17, 'I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall arise out of Israel, that shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.' Balaam himself, who prophesied thus, came out of the east and, it may be, from the same country that those wise men came from, and there might leave his prophecy." 

Edwards again noted that the magi had "many parts of the Old Testament in their hands and have had ’em delivered down from their forefathers for a great many ages. And it is supposed that they received ’em from the Jews that were carried captive, and particularly from Daniel." 

Despite the sparsity of revelation they may have had, these Gentile astronomers and sages made a long and arduous journey to find Christ. We cannot be sure of the precise length of the journey, but given the area of the world from which they came, it is altogether probable that such a journey would have taken them upwards of two entire years. A journey as long and arduous as this one would have been would have been quite costly. There is every reason to believe that the wise men leveraged their own material goods for this journey. We know that they went to such lengths as to bring with them the costly gifts of gold, frankincense, and myhrr,  

By way of contrast, the chief priests and scribes had much revelation about Christ. In fact, they had the entire Old Testament revelation. When the wise men asked Herod--the non-Hebrew king of Israel, where the Christ was to be born, the priests and scribes immediately pointed to the Bethlehem prophecy in Micah 5:2. The faith of the wise men is set in stark contrast to the unbelief of the religious leaders in Israel. The Christ had come into the world and the religious leaders were unmoved and undesirous of seeking for Him.

In fact, Herod was enraged by the threat that it posed to His power and rule. The religious leaders knew exactly where they were to find Him but did not exert one ounce of energy in doing so. The Magi, however, spent much of their own time, money, and efforts in finding the Savior of the world. This contrast teaches us several important points. 

First, it teaches that someone can know the Scriptures--even those specific Scriptures about the birth of the Messiah, while having no gracious working in their souls. J.C. Ryle explained, "there may be knowledge of Scripture in the head, while there is no grace in the heart." These leaders of the Old Covenant church knew the Scriptures but had no interest in the Savior.

Second, the Magi were examples of those who had great saving faith. Ryle again observed,

"They saw no miracles to convince them...They beheld no signs of divinity and greatness to overawe them. They saw nothing but a new-born infant, helpless and weak...And yet when they saw that infant, they believed that they saw the divine Savior of the world.

Then he noted,

"They believed in Christ when they had never seen Him...They believed in Him when the Scribes and Pharisees were unbelieving...They believed in Him when they saw Him a little infant on Mary’s knee, and worshipped Him as a king."

These wealthy and learned pagan astrologers joyfully humbled themselves and worshiped the infant Jesus--who appeared to be nothing other than a poor beggar baby. They were eager to present Him with costly gifts they had brought from distant lands. In this, they teach us that when we have saving faith in Christ we will readily and generously give of our resources in the service of the King--even when accompanied by unspectacular circumstances. Many are willing to give to things that have an outward show and appearance. True faith moves believers to give themselves and their resources to the advancement of His kingdom regardless of outward pomp. 

At the close of his sermon, "The Star and the Wise Men," Edwars drew out this pointed application: 

"There is a kind of infinite power in the light of this heavenly star to fill the heart with gladness and rejoicing. Its light in the soul is holiness and happiness itself. Let not any seek or expect to see a star in their imaginations, as though we saw something up in the air shining with an outward light. The star that I speak [of] is Christ as held forth in the doctrine [of the] Word of God, and in the glorious gospel, which is to be seen, not with bodily eyes, not in the imagination, but in the understanding and sense of the heart.

If you find this star, then will you come out of darkness into marvelous light. You’ll find the brightest light in the universe. You will find the pleasantest and sweetest light that is to be seen in heaven itself, the most beautiful object that ever the eyes of angels beheld."

As we consider anew the divine activity in the lives of the wise men, we are met with the reality of God's sovereign grace to those who were once far off from God. We are reminded of the way in which God chooses and calls pagans to trust in His Son. We are warned that we can have a deep knowledge of the Scriptures yet no grace in our hearts. We are motivated to believe in Christ despite any visible miracles or outward displays of glory. We are taught to trust in Jesus even when others around us show deep disinterest. And we are encouraged to give of our time, possessions, and persons to the King of Kings and the advancement of His kingdom--especially when the work of His kingdom seems to be lacking in outward impressiveness. May we learn from the Magi during this season of Advent, and may we like them seek, find, and worship the Christ!