Latest Articles on Guard the Deposit
How to Differentiate the Love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
When the Apostle John insists that we must love our fellow believers ("one another", v. 7, 11, 12; "brother", v. 20, 21), he does so on the basis that love is from God. But it's important to understand that the love from God is a very specific love: Beloved, let us...
The Goal of the Old Testament: Perceiving Yet More of Christ
A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life in a Year: Thomas Adams (1583-1652) remarks that Christ is the "sum of the whole Bible, prophesied, typified, prefigured, exhibited, demonstrated, to be found in every leaf, almost in every line....Christ is the main, the centre...
This Lord’s Day, Go Hear Christ Preach
I highly recommend Iain Murray's lecture "Conditions for Powerful Preaching," the first installment in his series "Preaching in History," which you can download and listen to for free from Sermon Audio. Right after the 36:20 mark, Iain Murray says: Jeremiah Burroughs,...
John Owen: All Scripture Treasures Up the Glory of Christ
A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life in a Year: A major principle of interpretation used by the Puritans was the idea, firmly rooted in Scripture, that all of God's Word points to Christ. As John Owen argued, anyone reading Scripture must always keep in mind this...
The Danger of Neglecting Word and Prayer in Gospel Ministry
Wise, convicting words from Kevin DeYoung: But what if your elders didn’t pray more than five minutes at their meeting last month? Would you know? No one would, not right away. What if your pastor hasn’t prayed for weeks? What if the elders are not deep into the word?...
How The Saints Enjoy Better Privileges than Adam in Eden
A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life in a Year: Having discussed the similarities between the two covenants [of works and of grace], [Patrick] Gillespie [1617-1617] turns his attention to the differences between the two covenants, "which are manifold and...
The Holy Spirit as Model for Judging Your Brother
After describing the and calling us to repent as the , James turns his attention to the manner in which we ought to love fellow believers in the...
John Owen: the Holy Spirit Speaks By the Word
A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life in a Year: [John] Owen explains that the [Holy] Spirit does not speak to believers in an outward or inward vocal testimony. In other words, the Spirit does not speak to believers "of the Word, but by the Word." When the Spirit and...
But the Holy Spirit Gives More Grace: James 4:6-10
No only do the Father and the Son love their people with an everlasting love, but James 4:1-5 insists that the that utterly detests our worldliness because our worldliness is a form of spiritual...
Lloyd-Jones: How Big is the Problem of Man?
From the D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermon on James 4:1, "From Whence Come Wars" right after the 32:00 mark: The problem is man himself--why he lives as he does; why he is irrational; why he is a fool; why he has wars and rumors of wars. Simple problem? It's the...
The Jealous Love of the Holy Spirit in James 4
The Jealous Love of God in the Old Testament From beginning to end, the Old Testament proclaims the great love of God for his people. Anyone who caricatures the God of the Old Testament as a God of wrath simply has not read the Old Testament carefully enough. But at...
Why the Written Word is Better than Direct Revelation
A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life in a Year: Revelations from God, such as that given to Abraham, commanding him to sacrifice his only son, had a "divine power and efficacy" that infalliby assured Abraham that the words came from God. Nevertheless, God required...