The burdens of Isaiah 14:28 through 17:11 fall upon Philistia, Moab, Damascus, and Ephraim, yet a single thread runs through them: nations and men who set their confidence in something other than the LORD are brought down. Philistia is warned not to rejoice that “the rod of him that smote thee is broken,” for a worse serpent would follow (Isaiah 14:29). Moab is pictured fleeing with “the abundance he hath gotten, and that which they have laid up” (Isaiah 15:7), for “we have heard of the pride...

Matthew 18 assumes something modern churches often deny: that membership belongs only to those genuinely converted. Christ commands His church to confront sin and, if necessary, remove the unrepentant. Every step presupposes a congregation of regenerate souls who entered by a credible profession of faith. Discipline cannot function among the unconverted, for one cannot remove from Christ’s fellowship a person never truly joined to it. Genuine conversion is not a decision made under emotional...

A sharp divide often exists today between personal faith and local church life. Many view salvation as an individual transaction between a soul and God, with partici-pation in the local assembly treated as an optional add-on for the especially devout. However, scripture paints a radically different picture. In the New Testament, entering the Kingdom of God through salvation and entering into the active life of Christ’s earthly assembly are two sides of the same coin. The authority,...