Sermon Shorts from Spurgeon – Sermon 6: Sweet Comfort for Feeble Saints

When God puts his hand to a man, if he were worthless and useless before, he can make him very valuable. You know the price of an article does not depend so much upon the value of the raw material to begin with—bruised reeds and smoking flax; but by Divine workmanship both these things become of wondrous value. You tell me the bruised reed is good for nothing; I tell you that Christ will take that bruised reed and mend it up, and fit it in the pipes of heaven. Then when the grand orchestra shall send forth its music, when the organs of the skies shall peal forth their deep-toned sounds, we shall ask, “What was that sweet note heard there, mingling with the rest?” And some one shall say, “It was a bruised reed.”

From the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volume 1, Sermon 6 by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

https://ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons01/sermons01.vi.html

The Pope Changes the Text of the Lord’s Prayer

The Pope has approved changing the Lord’s Prayer from “lead us not into temptation” to “do not let us fall into temptation”.  This was not done on textual grounds, but from a “theological, pastoral, and stylistic viewpoint”.  Excuse me, but since when does that trump the biblical text?

https://www.christianpost.com/news/pope-francis-approves-change-to-the-lords-prayer-despite-opposition-its-deeply-problematic.html

History of the Text

I looked at several English translations going back to Tyndale (1534) and they all have the traditional reading.  The reason is that the Greek text is clear and there are not even any textual variants for that verse.  All Greek textual traditions read the same.  The only other possible translation I can see is “may You not lead us into temptation” which emphasizes the subjective mood of the verb, but that doesn’t address the Pope’s concern.  Continue reading

How To Face Temptation

During His earthly ministry, the Bible is clear that Jesus Christ faced temptations as we do.  One of those instances is documented in Matthew 4 (a parallel passage is Luke 4) where He is tempted by Satan himself.  In accordance with His perfect life, Jesus did not give in, but rather provides us with a primer on how to deal with the temptations we face. Continue reading