Satan Tempts the Christ (2)

Read Part 1.

The second temptation of Jesus in Matthew concerns the protection of God:

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: `He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, `In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” (Matthew 4:5-6)

Discussion

From the Archives – Jonah: The Runaway Prophet

Jonah is “a paradox: a prophet of God, and yet a runaway from God: a man drowned, and yet alive: a preacher of repentance, yet one that repines at repentance.”1

Discussion

Book Briefs: Rejoice & Tremble by Michael Reeves

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“…there are times when this book feels more academic than I would like. But in the end, I found that Michael Reeves thoroughness provides a firm and stable biblical foundation for adopting a nuanced understanding of the fear of the Lord. (If you’d like a more concise version of Rejoice & Tremble, Reeves released an 80-page version…” - Tim Augustyn

Discussion

“Good and Necessary Consequence” (WCF) or “Necessarily Contained in” (2LCF): Is There a Difference?

In Chapter One: “Of the Holy Scripture,” the Second London Confession of Faith (2LCF) is almost identical to the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF) and the Savoy Declaration (SD) on which it is based.1 There are only three minor differences worth noting.2 First, the Baptists add a sentence at the beginning of the chapter that is found neither in the WCF nor in the SD: “The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving kno

Discussion

Review: ‘Men and Women in the Church’ by Kevin DeYoung

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“DeYoung—pastor, professor, and prolific author—writes with clarity of style, depth of theological astuteness, and an uncanny ability to sort and categorize ideas. He keeps his promise of writing a short, ‘intelligent and readable’ book” - TGC

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A Radical Goal for Social Media: Posting Peace

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“…like many other good things in life, social media can become distorted and twisted, which is one of Bursch’s points: ‘The social-media platforms we create are not just connecting us—they’re changing us. They’re changing how we view reality, understand relationships, process conflicts, and abide with each other’ ” - TGC

Discussion

Satan Tempts the Christ (1)

There are so many amazing stories about Jesus in the Gospels that they can vie for precedence and obscure somewhat from our minds their individual greatness. This problem of over familiarity certainly applies to the Temptation of Jesus. I shall follow Matthew’s report:1

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Review: Small Preaching by Jonathan Pennington

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“I haven’t read a great many preaching books, but I feel certain that there are plenty that contain less wisdom and yet more words than Jonathan Pennington’s Small Preaching.” - Mark Ward

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What’s in the Water?: Baptism as a Sign of Addition (Part 3)

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“The church is a mysterious monolith in the desert of this world. Its crisp edges are unmistakable, distinct, and visible to anyone with eyes to see. Baptism is no small part of that. In fact, as the sign of the new covenant, we could say that baptism makes the church visible. Baptism is the shape of the church.” - 9 Marks

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