Let’s say it’s a beautiful day outside and you’re taking a stroll in the park. You study your shadow, and you notice just how much it looks like you. It’s an image of you. It’s connected to you. You start to run, and it follows you. It does what you do. Your shadow is affixed to you. Your shadow cannot be detached from you . . . unless you’re Peter Pan. Keith Mathison uses this helpful illustration in his little book titled The Lord’s Supper to explain the spiritual presence of...
Tag - sacraments
Before I begin to unpack Article 35 of the Belgic Confession, let me make an important clarification for this podcast. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired Word of God, inerrant, infallible, and the only rule or authority for faith and life (WCF 1:2). The ecumenical creeds and Reformed confessions and catechisms do not replace Scripture nor are they equal to Scripture. Please listen carefully. Scripture alone is the Word of God, however, the ecumenical creeds and...
Let’s think about the Lord’s Supper. Let’s try to better understand this incredible gift from our Lord. What’s God’s intent for the Lord’s Supper? Why did God give you and me the Lord’s Supper? Heidelberg 67 asks, “Are both the Word and the sacraments, then, intended to focus our faith on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as the only ground of our salvation?” It answers, “Yes, indeed. The Holy Spirit teaches us in the gospel and assures us by the sacraments that...
A slight correction from last time. I read Heidelberg 65, which is important to this series, but I referenced it as Heidelberg 66. I apologize for the confusion. Heidelberg 65 asks, “where does . . . faith come from?” Great question. Believers want to have faith and a stronger and deeper faith. How do they get that? Heidelberg 65 answers, “From the Holy Spirit who works it in our hearts by the preaching of the gospel and strengthens it by the use of the sacraments.” Aren’t you glad...
I have a really bad habit of not drinking enough water, and quite frankly, it creates problems for me. I think I have more aches and pains because I don’t drink enough water. I like to run, and if I’m dehydrated, guess how I feel when I run. On hot days, in particular, I sometimes have a very difficult time running, in part, because I’m not well hydrated. You’d think I would learn my lesson, but I still struggle with the discipline of drinking enough water. Think about food for a...
From a very early age, we don’t like being told what to do. Right? “Theodore, do not put that in your mouth!” What does Theodore do? He crams it in his mouth quickly. From our earliest years, something inside us says, “No, I don’t want to do that, and you can’t make me.” Isn’t this right? Isn’t it right that we are born with an aversion to commands that promote our wellbeing? Growing up, I was taught not to use foul language. During my college years, my language became more...
Oliver loved Christmas. It was Christmas Eve, and he couldn’t wait to wake up the next morning, run down the stairs, and open his presents. He knew he had to wait until after breakfast, but his visions of tearing open presents after his mother’s morning spread were quite vivid. He struggled to fall asleep, but in time he did, and on Christmas morning he jolted awake, ran down the stairs, and beheld quite a sight. Under the sparkling tree were presents galore. After breakfast, Oliver’s...