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The Epistle of James is now Available!
October 3, 2017 by Sam Storms
Several weeks ago I announced that my entire series of sermon notes on the book of Hebrews was available on my website. Today I’m happy to tell you that all twenty-two lessons on the book of James are now posted. If you are unfamiliar about how to access these documents, simply click on Resources at the top of the Home page, and then on Articles. Look under Biblical Studies, and at the bottom of the list you will see both Hebrews and James. These twenty-two articles are essentially a verse-by-verse analysis of James. I hope and pray you will find them helpful in your life or ministry, or in both.
Holding Fast to the Word of Life (1)
By: Sam Storms
Holding Fast to the Word of Life (1)
By: Sam Storms
I don’t know how you feel about this, but there have been times during the course of my life and ministry in the local church when I seriously wondered if it might be the wise thing to do simply to quit and withdraw into the isolation and seclusion of a monastery. As boring and outrageous as that may sound to you, at times it has struck me as profoundly appealing. It shouldn’t take a genius to figure out why. We today, no less so than the Philippians in the ...Read More ➔
Armageddon (what and when?)
By: Sam Storms
Armageddon (what and when?)
By: Sam Storms
One week ago, on Saturday, September 21, 2013, yet another article appeared in our local newspaper addressing the question of whether or not the conflict in Syria is a fulfillment of biblical prophecy and thus indicative of the end of the age and the Battle of Armageddon. I won’t bother you with the answers supplied. I only want to draw attention once again to what I believe is widespread misunderstanding of what Armageddon is all about. The place to begin is for ...Read More ➔
The Duration and Design of our Distress
By: Sam Storms
The Duration and Design of our Distress
By: Sam Storms
There is yet another reason why Peter can say with a straight face and a sincere heart that we are to rejoice in suffering. It’s found in 1 Peter 1:6-7. He highlights two things about our suffering that are essential for us to understand if we ever hope to experience joy in the midst of it. And it has to do with both the duration and design of suffering. (1) Duration “Now, for a little while,” says Peter, “you have been grieved by various trials...Read More ➔
Joni's Joy
By: Sam Storms
Joni's Joy
By: Sam Storms
Peter picks up on this theme of rejoicing in the midst of suffering in the first chapter of his first epistle. “In this,” says Peter in v. 6, “you rejoice.” Then again in v. 8 he says that Christians should “rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory”! What makes these two declarations about joy so remarkable is that they surround a description of suffering and trial and hardship, the very experiences that many think...Read More ➔
Sorrowful, yet always Rejoicing
1By: Sam Storms
Sorrowful, yet always Rejoicing
By: Sam Storms
Have you ever come across passages or phrases in God’s Word that make you think, this has to be a misprint? There’s simply no way a sane and spiritual biblical author could say such a thing! I have that experience every time I read 2 Corinthians 6:10 where Paul describes himself as “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing”. I want to say, “Make up your mind, Paul! You can’t have it both ways. Sorrow and joy are incompatible. They are mutually...Read More ➔
The Antecedence of God's Sovereign Grace in our Hearts
By: Sam Storms
The Antecedence of God's Sovereign Grace in our Hearts
By: Sam Storms
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13). I assume that most of you believe that God is sovereign over all of natural creation: over the stars above and the clouds and the rain and lightning and thunder and over every species of anim...Read More ➔
Kingdom Come (a short Review by Matthew Sims)
By: Sam Storms
Kingdom Come (a short Review by Matthew Sims)
By: Sam Storms
Kingdom Come: The Amillennial Alternative (Christian Focus, 2013) (a short review by Matthew Sims; he blogs at www.graceforsinners.com). I have a smeared history with eschatology. I grew up in dispensational churches and honestly the topic of ends times never gave me much hope. I never had a longing for the end. I lived in fear and doubt. I was afraid of being left behind (ironically, that turn of phrase has made some authors a lot of money). After studying Scripture an...Read More ➔
"For"
1By: Sam Storms
"For"
By: Sam Storms
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13). What an incredibly big word “f-o-r” is! We could as easily translate it with the English word “because.” “For” or “because” is there as Paul&rs...Read More ➔
"Work out your salvation with fear and trembling"
By: Sam Storms
"Work out your salvation with fear and trembling"
By: Sam Storms
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13). The Christian life is a battle that calls for the active and energetic engagement of our minds and our wills. We are not made holy or like Christ at one stroke, instantaneously. It is a proce...Read More ➔
Act the Miracle! Unraveling the Mystery of the Christian Life
2By: Sam Storms
Act the Miracle! Unraveling the Mystery of the Christian Life
By: Sam Storms
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13). I need to explain the title to today’s article: Act the Miracle. It isn’t original with me. I didn’t make it up. I stole it. I have unapologetically plagiarized the words &l...Read More ➔
Hebrews 2 and the Continuationist - Cessationist Debate
4By: Sam Storms
Hebrews 2 and the Continuationist - Cessationist Debate
By: Sam Storms
The author of Hebrews asks, “how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will” (Heb. 2:3-4). Does this passage support the notion that signs, wonders, miracles, and spiritual gifts of a certain sort ceased to exist at some point in t...Read More ➔
Will People have a Second Chance after Physical Death to Repent and Believe the Gospel?
1By: Sam Storms
Will People have a Second Chance after Physical Death to Repent and Believe the Gospel?
By: Sam Storms
This is a question I’ve been asked countless times and the answer from God’s Word remains the same: No. Nevertheless, some have tried to argue that 1 Peter 4:6 speaks of the gospel being preached to people who have physically died, providing them with a second chance, after death, to believe and be saved. Let’s look at vv. 5-6 together: “but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is why the gospel...Read More ➔
Accountability and Encouragement: Just How Important Are They?
By: Sam Storms
Accountability and Encouragement: Just How Important Are They?
By: Sam Storms
The question we want to explore is this: How crucial is it to our salvation and endurance in the faith that we be committed to community and the encouragement and rebuke that come from other believers? To answer that question, look at Hebrews 3:12-14 – “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that...Read More ➔
Guidelines for the Public Expression of Prophecy
8By: Sam Storms
Guidelines for the Public Expression of Prophecy
By: Sam Storms
[Here at Bridgeway Church we highly value prophetic ministry, but only to the degree that it is pursued and practiced in accordance with Scripture. People often ask me how we handle prophetic “words” on a Sunday morning, in a large gathering. It’s one thing to facilitate this spiritual gift in a small group (which I outlined in an earlier post), but when several hundred people are present it poses an entirely unique set of challenges. So here are the gu...Read More ➔
Tough Topics (a short review by Matthew Sims)
By: Sam Storms
Tough Topics (a short review by Matthew Sims)
By: Sam Storms
Tough Topics: Biblical Answers to 25 Challenging Questions (Crossway, 2013) (a short review by Matthew Sims; he blogs at www.graceforsinners.com). Sam Storms desires to answers tough questions believers ask. He does so pastorally and carefully. He says, Sadly, many believers walk away from church or from a friend or even from a pastor, frustrated that such issues are either answered badly or met with an “I don’t know,” or perhaps even ignored altoge...Read More ➔
The Excellency of Christ (5)
By: Sam Storms
The Excellency of Christ (5)
By: Sam Storms
“And one of the elders said to me, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth” (Rev. 5:5-6). [Edwards continues his portrayal of Je...Read More ➔
The Sin of Self-Sufficiency
By: Sam Storms
The Sin of Self-Sufficiency
By: Sam Storms
“Self-sufficiency, like self-absorption, is a no-no in the body of Christ; God will not prosper the pride of those who think they can get along without other Christians’ help. Spiritual isolationism is in his eyes not a virtue but a vice; only through mutuality of dependence, ministry and pastoral care do Christians really grow and churches really go forward.” (J. I. Packer, Praying, 238)....Read More ➔
Living Hope!
By: Sam Storms
Living Hope!
By: Sam Storms
Why is God to be “blessed” with exuberant and heart-felt praise? First, it is because in accordance with his great mercy he caused us to be born again. We now turn our attention in 1 Peter 1:3-5 to the second and third reasons. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperi...Read More ➔
Caused by God to be Born Again
By: Sam Storms
Caused by God to be Born Again
By: Sam Storms
In the previous post we ended by noting that Peter points to four things that account for his explosive praise of God. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvati...Read More ➔
Hope Springs Eternal in the Born-Again Breast
1By: Sam Storms
Hope Springs Eternal in the Born-Again Breast
By: Sam Storms
What do you say to someone who is badly broken, whose dreams have been shattered and whose life is in constant disarray and turmoil? How do you comfort a Christian who wakes up every day to a job he hates or to a chronic pain she can barely endure or to the frustration of dealing with people who disregard your opinions and mock your faith? Where does the believer, the one who has been elected according to the foreknowledge of God and set apart by the gracious work of th...Read More ➔
Elect according to the Foreknowledge of the Father
By: Sam Storms
Elect according to the Foreknowledge of the Father
By: Sam Storms
In an earlier post we were looking at how Peter identifies his readers (and us). The first thing he said is that we “elect exiles.” But he doesn’t stop with that. He proceeds to define election both in terms of its basis and goal. (1) We are elect, says Peter, “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.” The first thing this tells us is that divine election was an eternal, pre-temporal act of God before the foundation of the world. ...Read More ➔
Remembering Who and Whose You Are
By: Sam Storms
Remembering Who and Whose You Are
By: Sam Storms
I had lunch recently with a very close friend whom I’ve known for over 50 years. In the course of our conversation he told me about the trouble he faced when he and his wife decided to sell their home and purchase a new one. When they applied for a mortgage loan, they were denied funding because his credit rating came back at a horribly low level. After a bit of investigation, he discovered that his identity had been stolen. One credit agency had him living in...Read More ➔
The Eschatology of Jonathan Edwards
By: Sam Storms
The Eschatology of Jonathan Edwards
By: Sam Storms
There has been for quite some time considerable confusion about what Jonathan Edwards believed regarding biblical eschatology. Allow me to bring some clarity to the matter. At no time did Edwards believe or preach that America would be either the focus or the locus of the coming millennium. Rather, he suggested that, at best, America may be where those intermittent revivals would occur that eventually would bring on the millennium, the latter being at least 250 years aw...Read More ➔
Read this Article very slow - Grammatical Gripes (4)
2By: Sam Storms
Read this Article very slow - Grammatical Gripes (4)
By: Sam Storms
I have a dear friend who, by his own admission, never met an adverb he liked! You can easily see what I mean by noting some of the statements he makes: “All of you need to respond to this serious.” “Don’t take this personal.” Some of you may wonder what’s wrong in these sentences. What’s wrong is that “serious” and “personal” are both adjectives, not adverbs. Adverbs are words that qualify or add so...Read More ➔
The Excellency of Christ (4)
By: Sam Storms
The Excellency of Christ (4)
By: Sam Storms
“And one of the elders said to me, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth” (Rev. 5:5-6). [Edwards continues his portrayal of Je...Read More ➔
Why "Tough Topics"?
By: Sam Storms
Why "Tough Topics"?
By: Sam Storms
When people ask me why I wrote the book Tough Topics: Biblical Answers to 25 Challenging Questions (Crossway, 2013), I can think of no better response than what I wrote in the Introduction. Lucy and Linus are gazing out the window at a staggering downpour of rain. “I’m concerned,” Linus says in a voice quivering with fear. “This could end up flooding our city, maybe even the whole world.” “Not to worry,” Lucy responds with a...Read More ➔
The Biblical Blessing of Covenant Membership in the Local Church (4)
By: Sam Storms
The Biblical Blessing of Covenant Membership in the Local Church (4)
By: Sam Storms
In the previous post we looked briefly at what is actually entailed in covenant membership in the local church. We now turn to some of its practical benefits as well as some objections often heard against it. In addition to the obvious biblical reasons for covenant membership, there are some practical reasons why membership is important and helpful First, committing yourself in covenant membership to a local church makes a powerful statement in a “low-commitment&...Read More ➔
God, both Awesome and Attractive
By: Sam Storms
God, both Awesome and Attractive
By: Sam Storms
“Godly Christians have always been marked by a two-sided perception of the numinous. On the one hand, the transcendent glory of God’s purity and love, as focused in the plan of salvation, fascinates them. On the other hand, the transcendent glory of God’s sovereignty, as focused in the divine threat of judgment for impiety, alarms them. This characteristically Christian sense of the mercy and the terror (fear) of the Lord is the seed-bed in which awaren...Read More ➔
The Biblical Blessing of Covenant Membership in the Local Church (3)
By: Sam Storms
The Biblical Blessing of Covenant Membership in the Local Church (3)
By: Sam Storms
There is a reason why I entitled these articles, The Biblical Blessing of Covenant Membership in the Local Church. The reason is because I do believe covenant membership is a blessing, not a curse, and I believe that it is a blessing precisely because it is biblical. I don’t care much for arguments or ideas or practices that are grounded in something other than Scripture. What is or is not traditional matters little to me. What does or does not look like other chu...Read More ➔
The Excellency of Christ (5)
By: Sam Storms
The Excellency of Christ (5)
By: Sam Storms
“And one of the elders said to me, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth” (Rev. 5:5-6). [Edwards continues his portrayal of Je...Read More ➔
The Biblical Blessing of Covenant Membership in the Local Church (2)
By: Sam Storms
The Biblical Blessing of Covenant Membership in the Local Church (2)
By: Sam Storms
In the previous article we lookd at the first three lines of evidence that appear to support the idea of membership in the body of Christ. We now continue with the remaining arguments. 4. The List of Widows In 1 Timothy 5:9-12, Paul gives Timothy a set of instructions for enrolling widows on the list of those receiving support from the church. He writes: “Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband, a...Read More ➔
The Biblical Blessing of Covenant Membership in the Local Church (1)
1By: Sam Storms
The Biblical Blessing of Covenant Membership in the Local Church (1)
By: Sam Storms
Think deeply with me about your answer to this question: “What should you want in your local church?” Note well, the question is what you and I “should” want in our local church, not necessarily what “do” we want. I’m asking you, “What should we want in our local church?” What you and I prefer or like or what makes us feel comfortable isn’t of preeminent importance. What’s truly important is what God&rsquo...Read More ➔
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