Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom …
We begin our three-part study of pride and humility in Proverbs 3. As I noted last week, at the core of our three passages is the same verse that originates here in Proverbs 3:34 and is then cited by both James and Peter in the New Testament. Of course, this verse looks a bit different …
As we noted last week, chapters 5 and 6 are tied together as in them Owen is defining for us what exactly mortification means. In the previous chapter he dismantled a few of the false notions and imitations of mortification, here he moves onto what it is positively. He lays the answer out into three …
He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. And as he reclined at …
Continue reading I Came Not to Call the Righteous, But Sinners | Mark 2:13-17
Pride should not be celebrated. Shocking, I know. Although I am purposely choosing to study pride and its opposing virtue, humility, during what has been dubbed “pride month,” my aim is not to launch a polemic assault on the LGBT movement. Of course, no one should be surprised to find those who gladly rebel against …
Having addresses three big principles (that all Christians must mortify sin, that mortification is only accomplished by the Spirit, and of mortification’s usefulness), Owen now moves into his “principal intention,” which is to show how Christians should mortify our sin (53). In order to show this, he explains that the remainder of the book will …
And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And …
Then the angel of God who was going before the hose of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the …
In this chapter, Owen discusses the third and final basic principle for mortifying sin, which “is that the life, vigour and comfort of our spiritual life depend much on our mortification of sin” (47). Or as the summary at the top of the chapter calls it: “of the usefulness of mortification” (47). Of all these …
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” And he said to them, “Let …
Continue reading Of Prayer, Preaching, Leprosy, & the Messianic Secret | Mark 1:35-45
