#2nd commandment

The Morning Devotional: Exodus 32

The Morning Devotional for November 16, 2022 Exodus 32       Key points: The Sin of the Golden Calf. The Judgment of the LORD.

Your Neighbor Is Commanded To Love You—Do You Want Their Love?

Photo by Derick McKinney on Unsplash # 91 on my 99 Life Tips–A List is: You are commanded to love your neighbor, not to trust him. Do you want your neighbor’s love? We will look first at love, then at trust, which is only natural since trust is born of love. The commandment to love your neighbor comes from the Judeo-Christian tradition. Jesus called it one of 2 great commandments. The other…

Carve Out Time For Those You Love

This summer my sister invited our entire extended family to her lake house in Michigan for our annual family reunion.  My parents have 9 children, 28 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren. This year we were 32. It was bitter sweet, as this was the first year at the lake after losing my father in February. We slept in bunk beds, cots, on the floor, in the closet and even in tents. Some of our…

Here is the Christmas Roundup from last year with some recent posts added on:

Podcast The Incarnation | Sola Scripture Ministries International

On today’s broad cast of After Darkness Light, Heinz Dschankilic and Michael Haykin look at the essence behind the Christmas story. This essence is described in John 1:14 where the apostle notes that “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Come join us today as they explore The Incarnation.

http://ift.tt/1zV1ZZ5

Christmas and Christianity, Part 1 | Nick Kennicott

I’m not sure if every pastor out there gets the same questions I do, but one that seems to come up pretty regularly this time of year is all about Christmas…

While Christians often debate this issue, I am convinced that the 2nd commandment forbids the making of images of Christ in every respect. I oppose the ikons of Eastern Orthodoxy depicting the members of the Trinity, and just as strongly oppose the myriad of attempts at depicting Jesus in art of various forms (film, paintings, sculptures, crucifixes, etc.). God has said quite categorically, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (Exodus 20:4). So the nativity scenes of Christmas depicting Jesus as a baby are a violation of the 2nd commandment, and while well intentioned, should not be displayed by Christians.

–

Christmas and Christianity, Part 2

There are at least five areas to consider when working through the biblical arguments against Christmas celebration. They are festivals and special days of observance, the Lord’s Day, the regulative principle of worship, cultural engagement, and Christian liberty.

–

Christmas and Christianity, Part 3

What About History?

Santa Claus is coming to town? | Stephen Rees

It’s that time again. The run-up to Christmas. We’ve been preparing our children. We’ve warned them. They mustn’t say it. They mustn’t even hint at it. Whatever anyone says to them, they mustn’t let it slip. They don’t believe in Santa.

-

The cost of Christmas

In a few weeks time most of us will be celebrating Christmas. So how do we, as Christians, decide what it’s right to spend at Christmas? We face the same pressures as other folk. Let me remind you of five important truths.

Christmas and the Christian | Feileadh Mor

Albert N. Martin is a straight shooter. In a series on Christmas he outlines the history of the practice in connection with Christian liberty…

MP3s:

Christmas and the Christian 01 Christmas and the Christian 02 Christmas and the Christian 03 Christmas and the Christian 04 Christmas Liberty 01 Christmas Liberty 02 Christmas Liberty 03

–

Gill on Christmas

It directs to the observation of several fasts and festivals, which are no where enjoined in the word of God, and for which it provides collects, gospels and epistles to be read: the fasts are, Quadragesima or Lent, in imitation of Christ’s forty days fast in the wilderness, Ember weeks, Rogatian days, and all the Fridays in the year; in which men are commanded to abstain from meats, which God has created to be received with thanksgiving. The festivals, besides, the principal ones, Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide, are the several saints days throughout the year; which are all of popish invention, and are either moveable or fixed, as the popish festivals be; and being the relics of popery makes us still more uneasy and dissatisfied with them.

Santa Claus, the Gospel & the Church + The “right way to fire your pastor” | Tom Ascol

It happened again last week. On Thanksgiving morning I received an email from a friend of a friend. The first line read, “It appears I am being forced out of my pastorate.” The story that unfolded in the rest of that email and upon further inquiry is filled with themes that are tragically too common…

Should We Celebrate Christmas? | Scott Brown

Each year, I receive letters asking my thoughts about the celebration of Christmas. So last year, I posted over a dozen articles on the subject of Christmas expressing a number of different perspectives from respectable men…

Ponder through the Twelve Days of Christmas series and test each of them by the Word of God.

Day 1: Sermon by Charles Spurgeon

Day 2: Jonathan Edwards on Christmas, Easter, and New Year’s

Day 3: XMAS by A.W. Pink

Day 4: John Piper

Day 5: George Whitefield

Day 6: Brian Schwertly

Day 7: John MacArthur on the Christmas Tree

Day 8: A Scottish Covenanter – George Gillespie – on Christmas

Day 9: Two Sermons Commenting on Christmas Observance from Charles Spurgeon

Day 10: Rethinking the Pagan Origins of Christmas

Day 11: The Puritans on Christmas

Day 12.1: Did We Celebrate Christmas in Early American History?

Day 12.2: More Quotes from the 17th to the 19th Centuries

Day 12.3: What Roman Catholics Say About Christmas

Day 12.4: Christmas and the Use of Time

Day 12.5: R.C. Sproul and J.I. Packer

Friday Funny: ‘Twas the Sunday pre-Christmas: a cautionary tale [Jeremy Walker] + Audio Interview About This Poem | Jason Delgado

We interviewed Jeremy Walker about his newest book and this topic came up. Here is a five minute preview of Tuesday’s podcast:

http://ift.tt/1fLR6xg

The Power of the Most High | Stephen Yuille

We are in the midst of the Christmas season, when we give particular attention to the incarnation of Christ.

Jesus and the Real Meaning of Christmas | John Samson

Each Christmas we hear the story about angels and shepherds, of wise men and strange sightings of a star, of a donkey, and of the Child that was laid in a stable manger. Yet the actual birth of Jesus, though highly unusual, was not entirely unique. Of course, not everyone is born to the sight of a star moving and coming to rest overhead, or to the sound of angelic announcements and trumpet blasts! Yet it is true to say that many children have been born in humble surroundings. Therefore, it was the manner in which Jesus was conceived that marks Him out from others.

The doctrine of the Virgin Birth holds that Jesus’ birth was the result of a miraculous conception whereby the Virgin Mary conceived a baby in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit, without a human father.

Christ’s miraculous birth tells us much about His nature.

In the Fullness of Time | Mike Porter

So, why did Caesar, the most powerful man in the known world, send out the decree? Because “this…has been written by the prophet”.  Because “the heart of the King is in the hand of the Lord as rivers of water — he turns it wherever he wills”. Because the fullness of time had come, and for no other reason. It was God’s sovereign design, and not that of men.

14 reminders from Spurgeon for those home for Christmas | Tony Reinke

On Sunday morning, December 21, 1856, Charles Spurgeon preached a sermon to prepare his growing church for the coming Christmas season. He titled it “Going Home,” and the aim of the message was to encourage each member of his congregation to humbly, wisely, and appropriately find opportunities to share their personal testimony with family and friends.

Have Yourself An Eschatological Christmas | Eric Ayala

When we think of Christmas, we often think of the beginning of Jesus’ life here on earth, of when he was incarnate in the flesh and the beginning of the story of the Gospels. But we don’t often think of Christmas as an Eschatological event. The historical reality of the incarnation wasn’t just a sign of a new beginning, but of a completion and fulfillment. Christmas is a mark of the end, the eschaton, as the God who will bring the final day steps into time and space to bring about the culmination of all things. With him comes light and peace and hope; and also judgment and terror, and finality. Far from a celebration of just a cute little baby that we call Jesus, Christmas shows us the declarative and magnificent power of the omnipotent God who reigns over all things.

Christmas in Jesus’ Own Words | Paul Gordon

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10

Christmas in The Words of The Apostles of Jesus

“And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” 1 John 4:14

“To Nazareth came Gabriel, a herald of God’s love” | Jeremy Walker

Recently, preaching from Luke 1, I was disappointed with the range of hymns available that focused on the miraculous conception. What follows is a first attempt at addressing that lack.

A Tale of Two Christmases | Tom Chantry

A thought occurred to me while I was driving home on Christmas Eve listening to callers to a radio station share their Christmas memories. They were all trying to be happy, but they all sounded depressed. It struck me of a sudden that I understand why this is.

  More will be added here as they appear.

 Related:

2013 Christmas Roundup

‘A Happy Christmas To You All!’ – C. H. Spurgeon

Here is the Christmas Roundup from last year with some recent post added on:

Podcast The Incarnation | Sola Scripture Ministries International

On today’s broad cast of After Darkness Light, Heinz Dschankilic and Michael Haykin look at the essence behind the Christmas story. This essence is described in John 1:14 where the apostle notes that “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Come join us today as they explore The Incarnation.

http://ift.tt/1zV1ZZ5

Christmas and Christianity, Part 1 | Nick Kennicott

I’m not sure if every pastor out there gets the same questions I do, but one that seems to come up pretty regularly this time of year is all about Christmas…

While Christians often debate this issue, I am convinced that the 2nd commandment forbids the making of images of Christ in every respect. I oppose the ikons of Eastern Orthodoxy depicting the members of the Trinity, and just as strongly oppose the myriad of attempts at depicting Jesus in art of various forms (film, paintings, sculptures, crucifixes, etc.). God has said quite categorically, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (Exodus 20:4). So the nativity scenes of Christmas depicting Jesus as a baby are a violation of the 2nd commandment, and while well intentioned, should not be displayed by Christians.

–

Christmas and Christianity, Part 2

There are at least five areas to consider when working through the biblical arguments against Christmas celebration. They are festivals and special days of observance, the Lord’s Day, the regulative principle of worship, cultural engagement, and Christian liberty.

Santa Claus is coming to town? | Stephen Rees

It’s that time again. The run-up to Christmas. We’ve been preparing our children. We’ve warned them. They mustn’t say it. They mustn’t even hint at it. Whatever anyone says to them, they mustn’t let it slip. They don’t believe in Santa.

-

The cost of Christmas

In a few weeks time most of us will be celebrating Christmas. So how do we, as Christians, decide what it’s right to spend at Christmas? We face the same pressures as other folk. Let me remind you of five important truths.

Christmas and the Christian | Feileadh Mor

Albert N. Martin is a straight shooter. In a series on Christmas he outlines the history of the practice in connection with Christian liberty…

MP3s:

Christmas and the Christian 01 Christmas and the Christian 02 Christmas and the Christian 03 Christmas and the Christian 04 Christmas Liberty 01 Christmas Liberty 02 Christmas Liberty 03

–

Gill on Christmas

It directs to the observation of several fasts and festivals, which are no where enjoined in the word of God, and for which it provides collects, gospels and epistles to be read: the fasts are, Quadragesima or Lent, in imitation of Christ’s forty days fast in the wilderness, Ember weeks, Rogatian days, and all the Fridays in the year; in which men are commanded to abstain from meats, which God has created to be received with thanksgiving. The festivals, besides, the principal ones, Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide, are the several saints days throughout the year; which are all of popish invention, and are either moveable or fixed, as the popish festivals be; and being the relics of popery makes us still more uneasy and dissatisfied with them.

Santa Claus, the Gospel & the Church + The “right way to fire your pastor” | Tom Ascol

It happened again last week. On Thanksgiving morning I received an email from a friend of a friend. The first line read, “It appears I am being forced out of my pastorate.” The story that unfolded in the rest of that email and upon further inquiry is filled with themes that are tragically too common…

Should We Celebrate Christmas? | Scott Brown

Each year, I receive letters asking my thoughts about the celebration of Christmas. So last year, I posted over a dozen articles on the subject of Christmas expressing a number of different perspectives from respectable men…

Ponder through the Twelve Days of Christmas series and test each of them by the Word of God.

Day 1: Sermon by Charles Spurgeon

Day 2: Jonathan Edwards on Christmas, Easter, and New Year’s

Day 3: XMAS by A.W. Pink

Day 4: John Piper

Day 5: George Whitefield

Day 6: Brian Schwertly

Day 7: John MacArthur on the Christmas Tree

Day 8: A Scottish Covenanter – George Gillespie – on Christmas

Day 9: Two Sermons Commenting on Christmas Observance from Charles Spurgeon

Day 10: Rethinking the Pagan Origins of Christmas

Day 11: The Puritans on Christmas

Day 12.1: Did We Celebrate Christmas in Early American History?

Day 12.2: More Quotes from the 17th to the 19th Centuries

Day 12.3: What Roman Catholics Say About Christmas

Day 12.4: Christmas and the Use of Time

Day 12.5: R.C. Sproul and J.I. Packer

Friday Funny: ‘Twas the Sunday pre-Christmas: a cautionary tale [Jeremy Walker] + Audio Interview About This Poem | Jason Delgado

We interviewed Jeremy Walker about his newest book and this topic came up. Here is a five minute preview of Tuesday’s podcast:

http://ift.tt/1fLR6xg

The Power of the Most High | Stephen Yuille

We are in the midst of the Christmas season, when we give particular attention to the incarnation of Christ.

Jesus and the Real Meaning of Christmas | John Samson

Each Christmas we hear the story about angels and shepherds, of wise men and strange sightings of a star, of a donkey, and of the Child that was laid in a stable manger. Yet the actual birth of Jesus, though highly unusual, was not entirely unique. Of course, not everyone is born to the sight of a star moving and coming to rest overhead, or to the sound of angelic announcements and trumpet blasts! Yet it is true to say that many children have been born in humble surroundings. Therefore, it was the manner in which Jesus was conceived that marks Him out from others.

The doctrine of the Virgin Birth holds that Jesus’ birth was the result of a miraculous conception whereby the Virgin Mary conceived a baby in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit, without a human father.

Christ’s miraculous birth tells us much about His nature.

In the Fullness of Time | Mike Porter

So, why did Caesar, the most powerful man in the known world, send out the decree? Because “this…has been written by the prophet”.  Because “the heart of the King is in the hand of the Lord as rivers of water — he turns it wherever he wills”. Because the fullness of time had come, and for no other reason. It was God’s sovereign design, and not that of men.

14 reminders from Spurgeon for those home for Christmas | Tony Reinke

On Sunday morning, December 21, 1856, Charles Spurgeon preached a sermon to prepare his growing church for the coming Christmas season. He titled it “Going Home,” and the aim of the message was to encourage each member of his congregation to humbly, wisely, and appropriately find opportunities to share their personal testimony with family and friends.

Have Yourself An Eschatological Christmas | Eric Ayala

When we think of Christmas, we often think of the beginning of Jesus’ life here on earth, of when he was incarnate in the flesh and the beginning of the story of the Gospels. But we don’t often think of Christmas as an Eschatological event. The historical reality of the incarnation wasn’t just a sign of a new beginning, but of a completion and fulfillment. Christmas is a mark of the end, the eschaton, as the God who will bring the final day steps into time and space to bring about the culmination of all things. With him comes light and peace and hope; and also judgment and terror, and finality. Far from a celebration of just a cute little baby that we call Jesus, Christmas shows us the declarative and magnificent power of the omnipotent God who reigns over all things.

Trappings of Tradition | Reformed Baptista

Blogs and discussion groups abound with ideas on what to do for Advent, claiming that by doing these things I will create meaningful memories for my children. If I don’t fill my kids with sugar and deck them halls with red, green, silver or blue, have I deprived my children forever?

Is there something wrong with you if you don’t follow tradition?

…If this time of year brings an undue amount of pressure for you, here is a sanity-saving tip that I have come to know: if a holiday event brings you stress and pressure, then don’t do it.

Let me repeat: if a holiday event brings you stress and pressure, then don’t do it!

It is truly that simple. Breaking the trappings of tradition can be difficult, but once done, the freedom is thrilling. The doctrine of Christian liberty is such a precious doctrine to study. Usually we hear it summoned as a defense for various holiday celebrations. Yet let’s remember that it also offers freedom from holiday celebrations.

More will be added here as they appear.

 Related:

2013 Christmas Roundup

Friday Funny: ‘Twas the Sunday pre-Christmas: a cautionary tale [Jeremy Walker] + Audio Interview About This Poem

Thalt shall use whatever gendered (or genderless) pronouns, to describe Moonrus, as makes you feel most comfortable with Moonrus.