Sinclair B. Ferguson

But some of these things apply to Pilate, don't they?

He'd had conversation with the living Word of God, and in a sense, he actually was enlightened about his identity.

He recognized he was the king of the Jews.

At least that's what he wrote about him and refused to change.

In Jesus' presence, he must have been able to taste the goodness and sense the powers of the age to come.

But when push came to shove, he turned away, he fell away, and there was no way back.

Pilate is surely another warning to us to make sure we respond in faith to his own question.

What shall I do with Christ?

I hope what the author of Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter 6 is true for you.

Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things, things that belong to salvation.

Well, this week's series of podcasts has turned out rather differently from what I expected when we began.

I was actually anticipating reflecting with you on some of my favorite hymns, but we've ended up thinking and talking just about singing itself, not about specific psalms or hymns or spiritual songs that we love to sing.

Yesterday I said that secular songs have a horizontal direction.

We sing about ourselves, or what's around us, or we sing to each other, and there's nothing wrong with that.

But there's a whole missing dimension.

And by contrast, even when a Christian sings in a horizontal direction, even sings the very same songs, there's always a vertical direction.

And the reason is, as I said, because we live before the face of God and in His presence.

We know that when we're singing, He's listening.

When we're singing, we're singing to Him and about Him or for Him or in His presence.

So all of the Christian singing is different.