Mulligan Gospel?

And believe it or not preachers all across this country think that this man preaches the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Give me a break!


(HT) Extreme Theology

Judgment Sermon

If you didn't get the free mp3 download from a couple of weeks back at Grace To You titled Judgment on a Reprobate Society this is your second chance to Download It Now. This is a must listen sermon for any born again believer and a great tool to use on your lost friends. Very very powerful message!

"You may try to tell me that this is an intellectual thing, that God blesses homosexuals and all this stuff is hearts and flowers and wonderful relationships and filial friendships, and its all very beautiful and its all very David and Jonathan and so forth and so on, but the fact of the matter is you're nothing but evil, vile, Godless, apostate perverts." —John MacArthur

Believe and Obey

"Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes... "only those who believe obey" is what we say to that part of a believer's soul which obeys, and "only those who obey believe" is what we say to that part of the soul of the obedient which believes. If the first half of the proposition stands alone, the believer is exposed to the danger of cheap grace, which is another word for damnation. If the second half stands alone, the believer is exposed to the danger of salvation through works, which is also another word for damnation." —Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945)

Excerpt taken from The Cost Of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, SCM Press Ltd. published 1959, p. 63 & 68

Merry Christmas

Isaiah 9:6-7
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Luke 2:9-14
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Ignorance of Doctrine

"The substitution of so-called "practical" preaching for the doctrinal exposition which it has supplanted is the root cause of many of the evil maladies which now afflict the church of God. The reason why there is so little depth, so little intelligence, so little grasp of the fundamental verities of Christianity, is because so few believers have been established in the faith, through hearing expounded and through their own personal study of the doctrines of grace. While the soul is unestablished in the doctrine of the Divine Inspiration of the Scriptures—their full and verbal inspiration— there can be no firm foundation for faith to rest upon. While the soul is ignorant of the doctrine of Justification there can be no real and intelligent assurance of its acceptance in the Beloved. While the soul is unacquainted with the teaching of the Word upon Sanctification it is open to receive all the crudities and errors of the Perfectionists or "Holiness" people. While the soul knows not what Scripture has to say upon the doctrine of the New Birth there can be no proper grasp of the two natures in the believer, and ignorance here inevitably results in loss of peace and joy. And so we might go on right through the list of Christian doctrine. It is ignorance of doctrine that has rendered the professing church helpless to cope with the rising tide of infidelity. It is ignorance of doctrine which is mainly responsible for thousands of professing Christians being captivated by the numerous fallacies of the day. It is because the time has now arrived when the bulk of our churches "will not endure sound doctrine" (2 Tim. 4:3) that they so readily receive false doctrines." —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Quote taken from The Sovereignty of God by A. W. Pink, first published 1930 republished 1984 by Baker Books p. 213-214

Theology Alert

Just wanted to give a heads up to a newly found podcast that I have recently subscribed to and have found it to be very edifying. It is Theology Unplugged and it is brought to us by Reclaiming the Mind Ministries it is along the same format as The White Horse Inn but they stay mainly with theological issues. You can view their archives here or subscribe to the XML feed here and then there is this link just for iTunes users. Enjoy!

Suffering and Rejection

"To endure the cross is not a tragedy; it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ. When it comes, it is not an accident, but a necessity. It is not the sort of suffering which is inseparable from this mortal life, but the suffering which is an essential part of the specifically Christian life. It is not suffering per se but suffering-and-rejection, and not rejection for any cause or conviction of our own, but rejection for the sake of Christ. If our Christianity has ceased to be serious about discipleship, if we have watered down the gospel into emotional uplift which makes no costly demands and which fails to distinguish between natural and Christian existence, then we cannot help regarding the cross as an ordinary everyday calamity, as one of the trials and tribulations of life. We have forgotten that the cross means rejection and shame as well as suffering... But this notion has ceased to be intelligible to a Christianity which can no longer see any difference between an ordinary human life and a life committed to Christ." —Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945)

Excerpt taken from The Cost Of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, SCM Press Ltd. published 1959, p. 88-89

Valiant for the Truth!

After reading Phil Johnson's post on How Can I Be Sure? and the many other post around the blog world on the topic of the Emergent Church and the battle over the "Truth War" and recently I heard an interview on Way of The Master Radio with Doug Pagitt and Doug refused to let Todd Friel quote Psalms and I wondered why he would do that, so I decided to do a search for the word "Truth" in the bible and found that Psalms is so full of truth claims (imagine that) which is exactly what Mr. Pagitt tries to avoid. In my search of the word "Truth" in scripture I have compiled a summery of my thoughts in line with what the bible reveals concerning truth, I hope and pray it sheds some light on the false notion that as Christians we must embrace ambiguity and reject absolute truth.

The God of the Bible is the "God of Truth" (Deuteronomy 32:4, Psalm 31:5, Isaiah 65:16), God "lives, in truth" (Jeremiah 4:2) and the Bible is called the "scripture of truth" and the "Word of truth" (Daniel 10:21, John 17:17, 2 Corinthians 6:7, Ephesians 1:13, James 1:18). Jerusalem is "called a city of truth" (Zechariah 8:3) the ten commandments are called "the law of truth" (Malachi 2:6) and God "desires truth in our inward parts" (Psalm 51:6), and the only way we can truly serve God is "in Spirit and in Truth" (John 4:23). We are reminded to continually walk before Him "in truth" with all our soul (1 Kings 2:4) and to "serve him in truth with all your heart" (1 Samuel 12:24). The man who wants to walk righteously before God must "speaketh the truth in his heart" (Psalm 15:2) and he wants to be "guided and taught in truth" (Psalm 25:5), and will "not conceal" the truth from others (Psalm 40:10), but will gladly "rejoiceth in the truth" (1 Corinthians 13:6).

But today within Christianity there are those who deny that there is even an absolute truth to be known but without truth there is no mercy for "mercy and truth are met together" (Psalm 85:10), they say that this is a new generation where truth is within each of us but "His truth endureth to all generations" (Psalm 100:5) and "endureth for ever" (Psalm 117:2). If no one can surely know truth then there is no actual right or wrong which is the basics of all laws and without laws there is only anarchy but God's "laws and commandments are truth" (Psalm 119:142,151, Malachi 2:6). Those who deny absolute truth also deny the Lord Jesus and call Him a liar for Christ said "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6) and was "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). Jesus taught "the way of God in truth" (Matthew 22:16, Mark 12:14) we are told that "the truth is in Jesus" (Ephesians 4:21). These same false teachers also deny the Holy Spirit for the Spirit is called "the Spirit of truth" (John 14:17, 15:26, 16:13, 1 John 4:6) and "the fruit of the Spirit is in truth" (Ephesians 5:9). We are to be "sanctified through the truth" (John 17:19) and we are to "speak the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15) and we are to have our "loins girt about with truth" (Ephesians 6:14) and how can we do this unless we study so that we can "rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15), and we know that it is God's will that we "come unto the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4) so that "the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32).

But those who maintain that we can't know truth are "false witness's and speak deceit" (Proverbs 12:17), they are "in err and devise evil" (Proverbs 14:22), they make mention of God "but not in truth, nor in righteousness" (Isaiah 48:1) they "obey not the voice of the Lord and truth is cut off from their mouth" (Jeremiah 7:28). "And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD" (Jeremiah 9:3). And "they will deceive his neighbour, and will not speak the truth" (Jeremiah 9:5) and their "father is the devil" (John 8:44) for they have "changed the truth of God into a lie" (Romans 1:25) and are "instructors of the foolish" (Romans 2:20) and they "hinder you that ye should not obey the truth" (Galatians 5:7) for they have "received not the love of the truth" (2 Thessalonians 2:10) and are "men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth" (1 Timothy 6:5). These same men have "turned away their ears from the truth" (2 Timothy 4:4, Titus 1:14) and are "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 3:7).

But these men have been led "captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ" (Colossians 2:8) and are "a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right!" and "full of all kinds of deceit and trickery" (Acts 13:10). So I pray that these men "will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will" (2 Timothy 2:26) otherwise they might be counted among those who "might be damned who believed not the truth" (2 Thessalonians 2:12) because the Lord will "judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth" (Psalm 96:13).

"There is one sure and infallible guide to truth, and therefore, one, and only one corrective for error, and that is the Word of God." —G. Campbell Morgan (1863-1945)

Christmas Linebacker

Come on, you know you have always dreamed of being a Christmas Linebacker!

(HT) Mister Anderson

Playing Men of God?

Below is an quote from a sermon that Paul Washer preached, don't know the name of the sermon, where it was preached nor do I have it in it's entirety, but I heard this clip on The Way of The Master Radio with Todd Friel that was aired December 13th you can download the full show here it sounds like a sermon jam but not sure about that. If you have any information about the actual sermon please let me know. Anyway this is Paul Washer's take on seeker-sensitive church's.

"If you are a lost unregenerate Hell bound church member, then you will need all sorts of things to motivate you for the Christian life, you'll need to go to a church where it's like a six-flags over Jesus, they have every sort of thing you can imagine to keep you entertained. They have program after program after program because they got to keep the machine going because the building cost a lot of money. And they gotta introduce and embrace every fad that comes down the pike, church growth this, church growth that, my goodness how did the apostle Paul ever start a church? You have to be sensitive to culture, this generation, that generation, the x-y-z generation, every generation and you have to know everything, NO! It's all a bunch of little boys trying to play men of God without the scripture is what it is and they've got to build something on something other than scripture because they don't have scripture nor the power of God." —Paul Washer

Come and Die

"When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." —Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945)

Running To The Light

For almost sixteen years me and my family sat under superficial biblical teaching that was driven by either programs or purpose all born out of a faulty theology that "had a form of Godliness", and it was very easy to run to the light that they were shining because it was a light that had been "put under a bushel", it was just enough of the true Light not to offend the eyes of my heart, it was like looking "through a glass darkly" but only worse, because I had been given sun glasses to wear and I gladly put them on. But now after a year long steady diet of sound biblical doctrine from a local expository preacher who's presentation of the Light is being "set on a candlestick", the scales have been removed from my darkened mind and now several things have become very apparent to me in my own life. First it is quite clear that my wicked heart is being exposed to more Light than ever before and this is proving to be a very painful process to endure, because the first reaction of my flesh is to run from the glaring Light that has "been shed abroad in my heart", or I want to try and hide my sin from the Light. These two gut reactions are not acceptable to a true Christian they both leave me wanting and defeated and neither reaction leaves me fulfilled but convicted in my spirit of some wrong doing. Second I am understanding more of what it means to press on, you see, I see myself for what I truly am and it's an ugly site to behold but I find that the Light is so attractive to me like never before and it's beauty is so desirable that I no longer want to hide my sins or flee, but I want to run to the Light so that there is no longer any more hiding places for my guilt and burden to remain. This is a very difficult time in my walk with Christ as I have found myself so unsuspectingly crushed by sins that I have never dealt with before and some that I have really never realized were hindering my walk and my witness.

So I pray that God will continue to expose me to more of the Light of His Word in hopes that my darkened heart will shine brighter and brighter with the love and truth of Jesus Christ all to His glory, please forgive me Lord and help me to kill my sin daily with more of Your Light. Amen

This Week in Blogdom

Joe Thorn leaves us with a great Packer quote on doctrine.

Tim Challies notified us of the White House Christmas Card.

CRN informs us of an article from Ankerberg Theological Research Institute concerning Islam.

Erik at the Irish Calvinist reminds us of a sermon by R. C. Sproul on justification.

Nathan Busenitz over at Pulpit Magazine gives us a great article on compromise.

Over at Team Pyro Phil Johnson reminds us that the Gospel Lite tastes great but it's less filling.

and finally Ingrid over at Slice of Laodicea informs us of a new book on a forgotten doctrine.

Showtime?

This morning as I prepare my heart for corporate worship with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, I am reminded by this article of the type of worship services me and my wife have come out of recently and how important it is to join in a biblical worship service instead of the ever growing showtime religion that seems to be so popular today. Below is a quote from John MacArthur's article.

"Can the church fight apathy and materialism by feeding people's appetite for entertainment? Evidently many in the church believe the answer is yes, as church after church jumps on the show-business bandwagon. It is a troubling trend that is luring many otherwise orthodox churches away from biblical priorities.

Church buildings are being constructed like theatres. Instead of a pulpit, the focus is a stage. Some feature massive platforms that revolve or raise and lower, with colored lights and huge sound boards. Shepherds are giving way to media specialists, programming consultants, stage directors, special effects experts, and choreographers.

The idea is to give the audience what they want. Tailor the church service to whatever will draw a crowd. As a result, pastors are more like politicians than shepherds, looking to appeal to the public rather than leading and building the flock God gave them. The congregation is served a slick, professional show, where drama, pop music, and maybe a soft-sell sermon constitute the worship service. But the emphasis isn't on worship, it's on entertainment."

Excerpt taken from an article by John MacArthur titled "Gimme That Showtime Religion".

Quote of the Day

“We shall never be clearly persuaded, as we ought to be that our salvation flows from the wellspring of God’s free mercy until we come to know his eternal election, which illumines God’s grace by this contrast: that he does not indiscriminately adopt all into the hope of salvation but gives to some what he denies to others” —John Calvin (1509-1564)

Lost Hymns

How Sad Our State By Nature Is!

How sad our state by nature is!
Our sin, how deep it stains!
And Satan binds our captive souls
Fast in his slavish chains.

But hark! a voice of sovereign grace
Sounds from the sacred Word;
“Ho, ye despairing sinners, come,
And trust upon the Lord!”

My soul obeys the Almighty’s call,
And runs to this relief;
I would believe Thy promise, Lord;
O help my unbelief!

To the blest fountain of Thy blood,
Incarnate God, I fly;
Here let me wash my spotted soul
From sins of deepest dye.

Stretch out Thine arm, victorious King,
My reigning sins subdue,
Drive the old Dragon from his seat,
With all his hellish crew.

A guilty, weak, and helpless worm,
Into Thy hands I fall;
Be Thou my strength and righteousness,
My Savior, and my all.

Words: Isaac Watts, Hymns and Spir­it­u­al Songs, 1707

God-fearing Men?

As I come near to the end of this great book by A. W. Pink titled The Sovereignty of God, several things have really impacted my thinking of God while reading this book, first and foremost is a clearer view of His absolute sovereignty over all of His creation including salvation, reprobation, the human will and how all these great truths should impact our prayer life have been a real eye opener. Pink takes it even further as he talks about the attitude of fear we should always have towards God and the dangerous effects of not having a healthy fear of the Lord. I know there are some in Christendom who say that God doesn't want us to fear Him, and this seems to be a pious statement, but Mr. Pink begs to differ and I whole heartily agree.

"Why is it that even among those who profess to be the Lord's people there is so little real subjection to His Word, and that its precepts are so lightly esteemed and so readily set aside? Ah! what needs to be stressed to-day is that God is a God to be feared. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 1:7). Happy the soul that has been awed by a view of God's majesty, that has had a vision of God's awful greatness, His ineffable holiness, His perfect righteousness, His irresistible power, His sovereign grace. Does someone say, "But it is only the unsaved, those outside of Christ, who need to fear God"? Then the sufficient answer is that the saved, those who are in Christ, are admonished to work out their own salvation with "fear and trembling." Time was, when it was the general custom to speak of a believer as a "God-fearing man"—that such an appellation has become nearly extinct only serves to show whither we have drifted. Nevertheless, it still stands written, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him" (Psalms 103:13)! —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Quote taken from The Sovereignty of God by A. W. Pink, first published 1930 republished 1984 by Baker Books p. 181

Merciful Husband

Proverbs 11:17 "The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh."

I am far from being a Biblical scholar so don't make to much of this it's just a thought that ran through my mind this morning as I was reading my daily Proverbs and I came across the verse above, and I was reminded of Ephesians 5:28 "So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself." and so I have concluded that "He that is cruel and unmerciful to his wife troubles his own flesh: Do good to your soul, love your wife and be merciful to her."

Open Line Denies Calvinism

"Calvinism really is a bad doctrine" was the knock-out punch from "Chuck" who called into Open-Line on Monday night which is a bi-weekly radio program hosted by Pastor Donald Cole and part of the Moody Broadcasting Network. This was said right after Pastor Cole said quote: "Everybody is among the elect" and all you have to do is to "activate it" referring to salvation and that "until you activate it, it's useless" just like a credit card. Then a 11 year old girl called in and quoted John 6:44 and asked about predestination, and Pastor Cole said "what Jesus is really saying is that if your not a lover of God you won't like me either". Now I know that Pastor Cole is a very well loved and respected Bible teacher and my goal is not to attack Pastor Cole's faith in Christ, as I truly believe him to be a brother in the Lord Jesus, but do these statements really line up with scripture? Now I don't think that Pastor Cole really believes you have to love God before you come to Christ. And I am pretty sure the Bible teaches that men are DEAD in there transgressions and sins (Eph 2:1, Col 2:13) and I don't think men dead in sin love God. So my question to Pastor Cole is why in the world would the Apostle Paul asked the question in Romans 9:14a "What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God?" if he wasn't teaching the doctrine of election? I guess I shouldn't be shocked since Moody himself tended to lean more toward the Arminian side.

Anyway, you can download the whole program in mp3 format HERE and pick up the discussion almost 17 minutes into the show, I would love to hear your comments on this one.

Meddle Not With Them!

Proverbs 24:21 "My son, fear thou the Lord and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change:"

With all the Emergent church leaders like Brian McClaren who are declaring that Everything Must Change I believe it's quite clear from this verse that as Christians we are commanded not to meddle with them that not only are given to change but who openly proclaim that a change is needed within Christendom, and you may ask why? Well just read the next Proverb.

Proverbs 24:22 "For their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them both?"

Clearly the Emergent Church Movement has risen suddenly and who will know the ruin of them that follow this change? The famous Baptist Preacher John Gill commented on these verses in his Exposition of the whole Bible he said concerning verse 21 quote:

"Or who are given to change in religious things; make innovations in doctrine and practice, always love to hear or say some new thing; turn with every wind, and shift as that does; are tossed about with every wind of doctrine, fickle and inconstant, carried about like meteors in the air, with "divers and strange doctrines"; such as disagree with the perfections of God, the doctrines of Christ and his apostles, the Scriptures of truth, the analogy of faith, anti form of sound words; and so the word here used signifies "divers", and is so rendered Es 3:8; and may design such who hold doctrines and give into practices divers and different from the faith once delivered to the saints, and from the institutions and appointments of Christ; innovations in doctrine and worship ought not to be admitted of; and such who are for introducing them should not be meddled or mixed with; they should not be countenanced and encouraged; they should not be attended upon or given heed unto; have no fellowship, and join not in communion with them." —John Gill (1697 – 1771)

I would like to leave you with a quote from D. A. Carson that I think speaks volumes of truth on this subject of change within Christendom.

"Always be suspicious of church's that proudly flaunt how different they are from what has gone before." —D. A. Carson

Quote of the Day

"It would be impossible to overemphasize the importance of sound doctrine in the life of a Christian. Right thinking about all spiritual matters is imperative if we would have right living. As men do not gather grapes of thorns nor figs of thistles, so sound character does not grow out of unsound teaching". —A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)

Taken form A Treasury of A. W. Tozer by A. W. Tozer, p. 174

Strong Delusion

"We read in 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness". The fulfillment of this scripture is yet future. What God did unto the Jews of old He is yet going to do unto Christendom. Just as the Jews of Christ's day despised His testimony, and in consequence, were "blinded," so a guilty Christendom which has rejected the Truth shall yet have sent them from God a "strong delusion" that they may believe a lie." —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Quote taken from The Sovereignty of God by A. W. Pink, first published 1930 republished 1984 by Baker Books p. 124

The Sky Angel Cowboy

Just thought I would share this touching phone call from a 12 year old boy named Logan who lives on a ranch in Nebraska.

(HT) The Morning Show

You Will Glorify God!

If you haven't taken the time to download and listen to a sermon I recommended last week by Pastor Jeff Noblit of First Baptist Church of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Please do your soul a great service and download it today. Below are just a couple of quotes from Pastor Noblit's message.

"When I read much about the seeker model church, or the emergent church or the Joel Osteen type of church it's glaringly clear to me that this is not a ingenious new way to present Christ, it's an old false way of doing church that actually denies the biblical Christ, the biblical gospel and does not build a biblical church. It's old liberalism in new clothing. And brothers I want to say to you any preacher who makes any effort to dumb down the doctrine of sin, the depravity of man, and calling men to repentance is not preaching the true gospel, that's not the gospel. It's not clever... it's wicked, it's dooming men's souls and leading millions to false assurance."

"You see what we need to remember brothers is our God is a purpose driven God, three times in Ephesians chapter 1 He tells us that the gospel and ministry of Christ is "to the praise of the glory of His grace" That's His purpose, His glory. The ultimate purpose has not been will never be the eternal souls of men being saved, that is not the ultimate purpose. God is absolutely powerful enough to redeem every soul had He wanted to, the ultimate purpose is the glory of God, and sir you will glorify God either in Hell vindicating His justice which should come against a sinner like you, or either in Heaven glorifying His Grace that got you there fully by His own doing but you will glorify God."

Download MP3 - Calvinism a Cause for Rejoicing and Concern by Pastor Jeff Noblit

Merry Tossmas?

(HT) WATWUZITHINKIN?

Maintaining Your Justification?

As some of you know one of things that really gets under my skin is the false teaching that a true Christian can loose his/her salvation and there are few that make these claims who truly ever come out from under this burdensome teaching. To try and shed some light on this topic I want to direct you to an article by J.W. Hendryx over at Reformation Theology titled Biblical Reflections on Hebrews 6, below is a quote from the article.

"The very assertion that a Christian can lose their salvation is tantamount to saying that what Christ accomplished on the cross was insufficient to save completely and so you need to trust in yourself to maintain your own righteousness, and this is not unlike Roman Catholic theology. To say Christ can lose us is the same as believing that what Christ did is not enough for someone... That you MUST MAINTAIN YOUR OWN JUSTIFICATION.

This is a form of legalistic self-justification to believe that you can either attain or maintain your own righteousness before God and it is itself a denial of Christ, the very error the Hebrews were tempted to make, that the author was speaking of. In fact this is a backdoor to the Galatian heresy where Paul says, "Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" (Gal 3:3) To believe one can lose salvation, therefore, is trusting in something other than Jesus Christ to keep you righteous in Him."

Always the Ungodly

Romans 4:5 "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."

"The ungodly is justified, the very moment that he believes; before sanctification has begun to operate in him, he knows that he stands before God perfectly right. He is not merely beginning to be right; partly right, to be a little more right to-morrow, and perfectly right when he enters heaven; but perfectly right now, henceforth, and forevermore. He is righted not only for the present and for all eternity, but also for the past. He is assured of standing before God in flawless right, as though be had never been wrong, nor ever could be wrong again.

Hence the consciousness of being justified is instantaneous and at once complete, and can not be increased nor decreased. And this is possible because this righteousness has nothing to do with his being, but has exclusive reference to the relation in which he sees himself placed. This relation was miserable and wholly unrighteous; but another, outside of himself, has restored that relation and made it what it ought to be. Hence he stands right, without any reference whatever to his personal being. This is the deep significance of the confession that he who is justified is always an ungodly person." —Abraham Kuyper (1837–1920)

Excerpt taken from The Work Of The Holy Spirit by Abraham Kuyper, 1900, Page 447

Redemption Secured

I want to thank Tony Reinke over at the Shepherds Scrapbook for recommending the book The Apostles’ Doctrine of the Atonement by George Smeaton. I have found it to be a very easy read and a very in depth exposition of Scripture. I just wanted to share a quote I came across in chapter 2, section VII titled Epistle To The Galatians where Mr. Smeaton explains Galatians 3:13-14a "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ;" saying quote:

The price or ransom paid for us was nothing else but the personal Redeemer, the Son of God condescending to be made a CURSE for us; a thought so vast and unfathomable, that though our minds grow familiar with the phraseology, we are for ever incapable of comprehending or fully surveying it. The ransom which liberated us was not His divine doctrine, nor His bright example of holiness left us to follow; for that would but throw humanity back upon its own resources, and could never be disjoined from dependence on works, or inner holiness. The apostle thinks of the ransom in a far other way: he identifies it with the Lord's abasement and ignominious death as a vicarious satisfaction. He affirms that the price by which He discharged us from temporal and eternal penalty was His being made a curse for us by entering into our position before God. That is the meaning of the participial clause (compare 2 Cor. v. 19): He was made the accumulated curse of His people, as if it were embodied in Him. God treated the sin-bearer as if He had been the sinner: that is, what the law awarded to us was visited upon Him; and by that substitution our redemption was secured.

Excerpt taken from The Apostles’ Doctrine of the Atonement by George Smeaton (1870; reprint, Banner of Truth, 1991) p.246

Ministerial Confessions

Hear the heart searching words of Horatius Bonar (1808-1889) as he openly confesses to the ministers of his day the short-comings of the Church of Jesus Christ and calls for a introspection of our hearts:

We have been carnal and unspiritual. The tone of our life has been low and earthly. Associating too much and too intimately with the world, we have in a great measure become accustomed to its ways. Hence our spiritual tastes have been vitiated, our consciences blunted, and that sensitive tenderness of feeling has worn off and given place to an amount of callousness of which we once, in fresher days, believed ourselves incapable.

We have been selfish. We have shrunk from toil, difficulty and endurance. We have counted only our lives, and our temporal ease and comfort dear unto us. We have sought to please ourselves. We have been worldly and covetous. We have not presented ourselves unto God as "living sacrifices," laying ourselves, our lives, our substance, our time, our strength, our faculties, our all, upon His altar. We seem altogether to have lost sight of this self sacrificing principle on which even as Christians, but much more as ministers, we are called upon to act. We have had little idea of anything like sacrifice at all. Up to the point where a sacrifice was demanded, we may have been willing to go, but there we stood; counting it unnecessary, perhaps calling it imprudent and unadvised, to proceed further. Yet ought not the life of every Christian, especially of every minister, to be a life of self sacrifice and self denial throughout, even as was the life of Him who "pleased not himself"?

We have been slothful. We have been sparing of our toil. We have not endured hardship as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. We have not sought to gather up the fragments of our time, that not a moment might be thrown idly or unprofitably away. Precious hours and days have been wasted in sloth, in idle company, in pleasure, in idle or worthless reading, that might have been devoted to the closet, the study, the pulpit or the meeting! Indolence, self indulgence, fickleness, flesh pleasing, have eaten like a canker into our ministry, arresting the blessing and marring our success. We have manifested but little of the unwearied, self denying love with which, as shepherds, we ought to have watched over the flocks committed to our care. We have fed ourselves, and not the flock. We have dealt deceitfully with God, whose servants we profess to be.

We have been cold. Even when diligent, how little warmth and glow! The whole soul is not poured into the duty, and hence it wears too often the repulsive air of 'routine' and 'form'. We do not speak and act like men in earnest. Our words are feeble, even when sound and true; our looks are careless, even when our words are weighty; and our tones betray the apathy which both words and looks disguise. Love is lacking, deep love, love strong as death, love such as made Jeremiah weep in secret places. In preaching and visiting, in counseling and reproving, what formality, what coldness, how little tenderness and affection!

We have been timid. Fear has often led us to smooth down or generalize truths which if broadly stated must have brought hatred and reproach upon us. We have thus often failed to declare to our people the whole counsel of God. We have shrunk from reproving, rebuking and exhorting with all patience and doctrine. We have feared to alienate friends, or to awaken the wrath of enemies.

We have been lacking in solemnity. How deeply ought we to be abased at our levity, frivolity, flippancy, vain mirth, foolish talking and jesting, by which grievous injury has been done to souls, the progress of the saints retarded, and the world countenanced in its wretched vanities.

We have preached ourselves, not Christ. We have sought applause, courted honor, been avaricious of fame and jealous of our reputation. We have preached too often so as to exalt ourselves instead of magnifying Christ, so as to draw men's eyes to ourselves instead of fixing them on Him and His cross. Have we not often preached Christ for the very purpose of getting honor to ourselves? Christ, in the sufferings of His first coming and the glory of His second, has not been the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, of all our sermons.

We have not duly studied and honored the Word of God. We have given a greater prominence to man's writings, man's opinions, man's systems in our studies than to the Word. We have drunk more out of human cisterns than divine. We have held more communion with man than God. Hence the mold and fashion of our spirits, our lives, our words, have been derived more from man than God. We must study the Bible more. We must steep our souls in it. We must not only lay it up within us, but transfuse it through the whole texture of the soul. The study of truth in its academic more than in its devotional form has robbed it of its freshness and power, engendering formality and coldness.

We have not been men of prayer. The spirit of prayer has slumbered among us. The closet has been too little frequented and delighted in. We have allowed business, study or active labor to interfere with our closet hours. A feverish atmosphere has found its way into our closet, disturbing the sweet calm of its blessed solitude. Sleep, company, idle visiting, foolish talking and jesting, idle reading, unprofitable occupations, engross time that might have been redeemed for prayer. Why is there so little concern to get time to pray? Why is there so much speaking, yet so little prayer? Why is there so much running to and fro, yet so little prayer? Why so much bustle and business, yet so little prayer? Why so many meetings with our fellow men, yet so few meetings with God? Why so little being alone, so little thirsting of the soul for the calm, sweet hours of unbroken solitude, when God and His child hold fellowship together as if they could never part? It is the lack of these solitary hours that not only injures our own growth in grace, but makes us such unprofitable members of the church of Christ, and that renders our lives useless. In order to grow in grace, we must be much alone with God. It is not in society, even Christian society that the soul grows most rapidly and vigorously. In one single quiet hour of prayer it will often make more progress than in whole days of company with others. It is in the 'desert' that the dew falls freshest and the air is purest. So with the soul. It is when none but God is near; when His presence alone, like the desert air in which there is mingled no noxious breath of man, surrounds and pervades the soul; it is then that the eye gets the clearest, simplest view of eternal certainties; it is then that the soul gathers in wondrous refreshment and power and energy. Nearness to God, fellowship with God, waiting upon God, resting in God, have been too little the characteristic either of our private or our ministerial walk. Hence our example has been so powerless, our labors so unsuccessful, our sermons so meager, our whole ministry so fruitless and feeble.

We have not honored the Holy Spirit. We have not sought His teaching or His anointing. "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth." (1 John 2:20). Neither in the study of the Word nor the preaching of it to others, have we duly acknowledged His office as the Enlightener of the understanding, the Revealer of the truth, the Testifier and Glorifier of Christ. We have grieved Him by the slight put upon Him as the Teacher, the Convincer, the Comforter, the Sanctifier. Hence He has almost departed from us, and left us to reap the fruit of our own perversity and unbelief. Besides, we have grieved Him by our inconsistent walk, by our lack of circumspection, by our worldly mindedness, by our unholiness, by our prayerlessness, by our unfaithfulness, by our lack of solemnity, by a life and conversation so little in conformity with the character of a disciple or the office of ambassador.

We have had little of the mind of Christ. We have come far short of the example of the Master. We have had little of the grace, the compassion, the meekness, the lowliness, the love of Jesus. His weeping over Jerusalem is a feeling in which we have but little heartfelt sympathy. His seeking of the lost is little imitated by us. His unwearied teaching of the multitudes we shrink from as too much for flesh and blood. His days of fasting, His nights of watchfulness and prayer, are not fully realized as models for us to copy. His counting not His own life dear unto Him that He might glorify the Father and finish the work given Him to do, is but little remembered by us as the principle on which we are to act. Yet surely we are to follow His steps; the servant is to walk where his Master has led the way; the under shepherd is to be what the Chief Shepherd was. We must not seek rest or ease in a world where He whom we love had none.

We have been unbelieving. It is unbelief that makes us so cold in our preaching, so slothful in visiting, and so remiss in all our sacred duties. It is unbelief that chills our life and straitens our heart. It is unbelief that makes us handle eternal realities with such irreverence. It is unbelief that makes us ascend with so light a step into the pulpit to deal with immortal beings about heaven and hell.

We have not been sincere in our preaching. If we were, could we be so cold, so prayerless, so inconsistent, so slothful, so worldly, so unlike men whose business is all about eternity? We must be more in earnest if we would win souls. We must be more in earnest if we would walk in the footsteps of our beloved Lord, or if we would fulfill the vows that are upon us. We must be more in earnest if we would be less than hypocrites. We must be more in earnest if we would finish our course with joy, and obtain the crown at the Master's coming. We must work while it is day; the night comes when no man can work.

We have been unfaithful. The fear of man and the love of his applause have often made us afraid. We have been unfaithful to our own souls, to our flocks, and to our brethren; unfaithful in the pulpit, in visiting, in discipline in the church. In the discharge of every one of the duties of our stewardship there has been grievous unfaithfulness. Instead of the special particularization of the sin reproved, there has been the vague allusion. Instead of the bold reproof, there has been the timid hint. Instead of the uncompromising condemnation, there has been the feeble disapproval. Instead of the unswerving consistency of a holy life whose uniform tenor should be a protest against the world and a rebuke of sin, there has been such an amount of unfaithfulness in our walk and conversation, in our daily deportment and talking with others, that any degree of faithfulness we have been enabled to manifest on the Lord's Day is almost neutralized by the lack of circumspection which our weekday life exhibits.

We need men that will spend and be spent, that will labor and pray, that will watch and weep for souls!

Building Bridges Audio

Now that the "Building Bridges Conference: Southern Baptists and Calvinism" is over and all the mp3's have been posted for free downloading be sure that you download the two sermons posted below by Jeff Noblit and Tom Ascol these are two very powerful sermons that should be in every Christians audio archives.

Tom Ascol - Working Together to make Christ Known
Jeff Noblit - Calvinism a Cause for Rejoicing and Concern

Charlie Brown Christmas

Infectious Days

This week I am fighting off a bad sinus cold and maybe it's time to break down and just go visit the doctor because deep down I am just a big baby when it comes to being sick so I need to get over this quickly before I really embarrass myself. And No, my lack of faith isn't why I have a cold and yes I do believe it's nonsense to try and rebuke my cold, or to cast it out in the name of Jesus. But what I will do is take my doctors advice and get some of those miracle working drugs that the Lord has blessed us with in hopes to being all the better within the next week. But one thing that I have noticed about myself in these few infectious days is my lack of enthusiasm for sharing the Gospel with non-believers, I have just been in a fog with my thoughts to the point that I have rarely even thought about the Gospel much less of even sharing it with someone. It's very humbling to think that a little sinus infection would turn my world so upside down that it would keep me from sharing the greatest news in the world to someone who desperately needs to hear it and just how sinful I truly must be that I would let something so trivial take my focus off Christ and His commission and become so consumed with my own well being. Jesus please forgive me. Lord I believe, please help my unbelief.

Romans 7:24 "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

Mizzou #1

Just in case you missed the #1 ranked Missouri Tigers defeating the Kansas Jayhawks Saturday night with a crushing 36 to 28 victory. Below is a quick recap of the game.

Tolerating Treacheries?

"There is no other religion in the world that has been false to its own doctrines in the way that Christianity has been. Imagine a Muslim allowed to come forward in the pulpit and preach against Mahomet! Would it be tolerated for a single moment? Suppose a Brahmin fed and paid to stand up in a temple and speak against Brahma! Would it be allowed? No surely; nor is there an infidel lecturer in this country but would find his pay stopped at once, if, while pretending to be in the service of Atheism, he declaimed the sentiments he was deputed to advocate.

How is it? Why is it? In the name of everything that is reasonable and instinctively consistent, whence can it be, that men can be called Christian ministers after the last vestige of Christianity has been treacherously repudiated by them? How is it that they can be tolerated to minister in holy things to people who profess and call themselves sincere followers of Jesus, when they tread under foot the precious blood of Christ, "reduce the mystery of godliness to a system of ethics"?

To use the words of a divine of the last century, they "degrade the Christian Church into a school of philosophy; deny the expiation made by our Redeemer's sacrifice; obscure the brightest manifestation of divine mercy; undermine the principal pillar of practical religion; and make a desperate shipwreck of our everlasting interests. They dash themselves to death on the very rock of salvation." —C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

(HT) Team Pyro

Quote of the Day

"While it is true that man could use reason to gain an incomplete knowledge of God, such reason never enabled any man apart from God’s intervention to come to him. Only by God’s initiative does man have the opportunity to go beyond the blindness of sin and become a Christian." —Martin Lloyd-Jones (1899–1981)

Being Thankful

Today I am so very thankful for the blessings in my life, over the last year my Dad endured a couple of stint surgeries, my farther in-law survived a stroke a few months back, and my oldest son walked away from a terrible auto accident, my youngest son graduated from high school and received an academic scholarship to a local community college and we endured a year long battle with a new home construction. I also have a house full of family gathered today where later we will all sit down to a great feast and eat until it hurts and retire to the living room to watch a couple of football games on a beautiful wide screen high definition TV, the gift of friends old and new, a new church home with an expository preacher and so much more that it's useless to try and put into words. With all these blessings I'm still so amazed that God would give so much to someone who is so unworthy as myself, and not only all of these physical comforts and blessings but more than all that He would give me his best gift of all, that of His only begotten Son the Lord Jesus Christ who suffered and died for my sins, and then to even give me the faith I need to believe in that Grace which He has provided. Praise be to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lost Hymns

I Will Sing Of My Redeemer

I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His wondrous love to me;
On the cruel cross He suffered,
From the curse to set me free.

Sing, oh sing, of my Redeemer,
With His blood, He purchased me.
On the cross, He sealed my pardon,
Paid the debt, and made me free.

I will tell the wondrous story,
How my lost estate to save,
In His boundless love and mercy,
He the ransom freely gave.

I will praise my dear Redeemer,
His triumphant power I’ll tell,
How the victory He giveth
Over sin, and death, and hell.

I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His heav’nly love to me;
He from death to life hath brought me,
Son of God with Him to be.

Stimulate Animosity!

"What kind of gospel presentation would it be if instead of saying Jesus wants you to be happy and joyful and peaceful and solve all your problems and make you prosperous and wealthy and healthy and all of that, if we said to someone, you know you're in desperate need of Jesus Christ to save you because you're on your way to an eternal hell and you have this choice...you can suffer forever in hell, or you can become a Christian and suffer here for a while? Because that's the bottom line. Personally that's not a tough choice for me. I'd rather take a few shots here than endure an eternal hell. But men seem to want to live under the illusion that if you claim Christ and if you name Christ and if you quote/unquote serve the church, God will eliminate all your difficulty, all your adversity, all your pain, all your persecution. That's not true. In fact, I think the more effective you are for God and the more faithful to divine truth, the more you stimulate animosity." —John MacArthur

Excerpt taken from a sermon preached by John MacArthur titled "The Fiery Trial, Pt. 1" you can also download a mp3 file of this sermon as well.

Monergism Media

If you haven't been to Monergism.com lately then please take the time to check out their new Audio/Multimedia page which now links to over 1,000 free digital resources from some of todays greatest preachers, teachers and theologians.

The Solas

If your not familiar with the radio broadcast of the White Horse Inn, please take the time to add this broadcast to your podcast. They recently finished up talking about the Five Solas that was part of a series titled "A Time for Truth". These downloads cover mainly 4 of the 5 Solas as I missed the links to the first few on Sola Scriptura. Anyway enjoy!

...Sola Fide - Download
...Sola Scriptura - Download
...Sola Gratia - Download Part 1 / Download Part 2
...Solus Christus -Download
...Soli Deo Gloria - Download

Bonar on Self-Esteem

"Let us fling away self-esteem and high-mindedness, for it is the very essence of unbelief" —Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)

Quote of the Day

"If we are satisfied with vague ideas about Him (Christ) we shall find no transforming power communicated to us. But when we cling wholeheartedly to Him and our minds are filled with thoughts of Him and we constantly delight ourselves in Him, then spiritual power will flow from Him to purify our hearts, increase our holiness, strengthen our graces, and sometimes fill us 'with joy inexpressible and full of glory'." —John Owen (1616-1683)

Fundamental Error

(HT) Symphony of Scripture

The Bible-Driven Church

My pastors good friend Jeff Noblit who is the Senior Pastor/Teacher of First Baptist Church of Muscle Shoals, Alabama was recently in Wisconsin to speak at the annual VCY America rally held at the Waukesha Expo Center where he spoke about having a Bible Driven Church. This is a very powerful sermon geared at church leadership and a call to make true disciples by preaching the Word of God and to abandon the modern easy believism methods that are running rampant through out America. Thank you Pastor Noblit!!!

MP3 Download - The Bible-Driven Church

No Guile!

If you don't have a copy of the little book by Horatius Bonar titled Follow The Lamb please do yourself a favor and get a copy it is such a rich treasure of spiritual blessing that every Christian should read and meditate on it at least once a year.

Watch against special sins; or things that have 'the appearance of evil'; or things that lead into evil, and discredit 'that worthy name by which you are called' (1 Thess 5:22; James 2:7). If you have a bad temper, watch against that. If you have a rude way of speech, a cold, distant, repulsive manner, or are ill to please, look well to these, and 'be courteous' (1 Peter 3:8). If you are covetous in disposition, or shabby in your dwellings, or niggardly in your givings, take care; 'the love of money is the root of all evil.' If you are slovenly in your dress, or untidy in your person, or unpolite in your demeanour, set yourself to rectify these blemishes. If you are lazy, luxurious, given to the good things of this life, or selfish, disobliging, unneighbourly, rude, blunt, unbrotherly, look to your Pattern, and see if these things were in Him. If you are fickle, and frivolous, and flippant, greedy of jokes, carried away with immoderate laughter, be upon your guard. If you are romantic and sentimental, take care lest the indulgence of such a temperament should land you in peevishness, self-pity, and a cowardly avoidance of the common duties of life. If you are censorious, captious, fault-finding, proud, domineering, supercilious, and sulky, get the unclean spirit cast out forthwith. If you be a gossip, or a gadabout, or a busy-body in other men's matters, take care, for at such crevices Satan creeps in. If you be secretive and cunning, with a certain littleness or slyness in your nature, which never lets you forget your own interests, beware! Christ was not such; Paul was not such. Be frank, open, manly. Remember the summing-up of David's picture of the blessed man, 'in whose spirit there is no guile' (Psa 32:2). Be not 'Jacob,' a man of guile; but Israel, a noble prince—'an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile' (John 1:48). —Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)

Excerpt taken from "Follow the Lamb" by Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)

Unequally Yoked

How should a Christian in a miserable marriage deal with an unbelieving spouse? I know that there are many Christian people who's spouse is an unbeliever and how hard it is to remain in that situation and there are a lot of tough questions to be answered. I found this great resource by John MacArthur at http://www.gty.org/ titled "How to Win Your Unbelieving Spouse" you can download the mp3 for $3.00 or read the transcript for free, I believe this is a powerful tool to help those who are truly struggling in a marriage with an unbeliever.

You see, a non‑Christian man married to a Christian woman doesn't know how fortunate he is because she's a child of God and God is pouring out blessing on her because she is so blessed and she is so enriched, he benefits. It doesn't mean he gets salvation through that means, it simply means outwardly in this life he is blessed.

He doesn't tell the woman to leave. Don't rebel, don't leave...stay and do all you can to win that husband. But if that husband wants out and leaves you, you're not under bondage anymore, the marriage is broken. Don't fight tooth and nail to hold it together thinking you're going to lead him to Christ in an uncomfortable, chaotic confused warlike environment. That's not productive.

The Gospel of You?

Dr. Michael Horton of Westminster Seminary California and host of the White Horse Inn has written an excellent review of the new book Become a Better You by Joel Osteen. This is a must read for anyone who believes that Joel is a preacher of the Gospel. (Read Full Review)

Once upon a time, conservative Protestants imagined that theological liberalism was the greatest threat to authentic Christianity in our time. With liberalism almost completely irrelevant as an active school or movement, Osteen's success confirms my suspicions that evangelicalism itself is becoming a more serious obstacle to evangelical faith and practice today.

Established With Grace

Hebrews 13:9a "Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace;"

When I read this verse I am concerned at how many people watch the blasphemies being propagated by these so called televangelists all across this country and how we are commanded by this verse not to even entertain the doubting opinions of those who claim a new knowledge but rather have your mind fixed on the doctrine of God (John 7:16), that doctrine which elevates the grace of God and turns your knowledge and affection to Christ. Let your heart be fixed firmly on the doctrines of grace which comes from above but avoid man-centered teachings that tend to elevate man and diminishes the Sovereignty of God.

The Superior Will

"I do not deny that in conversion man himself wills. In everything that he does, thinks, feels, he of necessity wills. In believing he wills; in repenting he wills; in turning from his evil ways he wills. All this is true. The opposite is both untrue and absurd. But while fully admitting this, there is another question behind it of great interest and movement. Are these movements of man's will towards good the effects of the forthputting of God's will? Is man willing, because he has made himself so, or because God has made him so? Does he become willing entirely by an act of his own will, or by chance, or by moral suasion, or because acted on by created causes and influences from without?

I answer unhesitatingly, he becomes willing, because another and a superior will, even that of God, has come into contact with his, altering its nature and its bent. This new bent is the result of a change produced upon it by Him who alone, of all beings, has the right, without control, to say, in regard to all events and changes, 'I will'. The man's will has followed the movement of the Divine will. God has made him willing. God's will is first in the movement, not second. Even a holy and perfect will depends for guidance upon the will of God. Even when renewed it still follows, it does not lead. Much more an unholy will, for its bent must be first changed; and how can this be, if God is not to interpose His hand and power?" —Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)

Excerpt taken from God's Will and Man's Will by Horatius Bonar

Five Points of Arminianism

The Five Points of Arminianism (numbered below) were presented to the State and a National Synod of the church was called to meet in Dort in 1618 to examine the teaching of James Arminius in the light of the Scriptures. The Synod of Dort sat for 154 sessions over a period of seven months, but at the end could find no ground on which to reconcile the Arminian viewpoint with that expounded in the Word of God. Reaffirming the position so unmistakably put forth at the Reformation, and formulated by the French theologian John Calvin, the Synod of Dort formulated its Five Points of Calvinism to counter the Arminian system. These are sometimes set forth in the form of an acrostic on the word 'TULIP'. Please note that John Calvin died in 1564.

1. Free will, or human ability. This taught that man, although affected by the Fall, was not totally incapable of choosing spiritual good, and was able to exercise faith in God in order to receive the gospel and thus bring himself into possession of salvation.

2. Conditional election. This taught that God laid His hands upon those individuals who, He knew - or foresaw - would respond to the gospel. God elected those that He saw would want to be saved of their own free will and in their natural fallen state — which was, of course, according to the first point of Arminianism, not completely fallen anyway.

3. Universal redemption, or general atonement. This taught that Christ died to save all men; but only in a potential fashion. Christ's death enabled God to pardon sinners, but only on condition that they believed.

4. The work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration limited by the human will. This taught that the Holy Spirit, as He began to work to bring a person to Christ, could be effectually resisted and His purposes frustrated. He could not impart life unless the sinner was willing to have this life imparted.

5. Falling from grace. This taught that a saved man could fall finally from salvation. It is, of course, the logical and natural outcome of the system. If man must take the initiative in his salvation, he must retain responsibility for the final outcome.

Excerpt taken from The Five Points of Calvinism by W.J. Seaton

The Comforts of Calvinism

I hear the cry of many Arminians today within the church who say things like "Calvinism is very dangerous" or "The God of Calvinism scares me". Well "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10) so maybe they are on the right track, or maybe not. But you know what really scares me? It scares me to think that people are comforted by the idea that there is a god in Heaven who is dependent upon man for anything, that terrifies me. Most Arminians never seem to struggle with all five points of Calvinism but mainly just the .U. in T.U.L.I.P. which stands for Unconditional Election which basically means that God chooses who He will have saved and that men don't chose God without God first choosing them.

Now I find comfort in this doctrine where others chose to find fear, why? It's simple! You see I am the father of a 25 year old son who has rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ and at this very moment he is lost and headed to Hell. You say what's comforting about that? Well you see I am not depending upon my son to make that choice but rather I am trusting in the providential work of God that it is in His plans to bring about salvation for my son from eternity past (at least that's my prayer). You see for me to have hope in some superficial program to help my son feel more comfortable in church and somehow induce him to come to Christ really doesn't give me much hope of him ever coming to a saving faith. Nor am I convinced that the mental capacity of most evangelicals today are articulate enough to convince my son of his need of salvation and to believe the truth of the gospel, that you see I am trusting the Lord to do by the work of His Holy Spirit and He has chosen the foolishness by which He will do this work and it is by the preaching of the Gospel (Romans 1:16).

You see I find no comfort in the free-willers doctrine because then I am left to trust my son to make the right decision, and I find no comfort trusting him to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ on his own. But oh what comfort I do find in God's sovereign election to save hell-bound sinners by choosing them to be born again. Glory be to God!

"Man is nothing: he hath a free will to go to hell, but none to go to heaven, till God worketh in him to will and to do his good pleasure" —George Whitefield

The Literary Curse

"Let us read and re-read the Scriptures, meditating on them day and night. They never grow old, they never lose their sap, they never run dry. Though it is right and profitable, as I have said, to read other books, if they are true and good, yet beware of reading too many. Do not let man's book thrust God's book into a corner. Do not let commentaries smother the text; nor let the true and the good shut out the truer and the better.

Specially beware of light reading. Shun novels; they are the literary curse of the age; they are to the soul what ardent spirits are to the body. If you be a parent, keep novels out of the way of your children. But whether you be a parent or not, neither read them yourself, nor set an example of novel-reading to others. Don't let novels lie on your table, or be seen in your hand, even in a railway carriage. The 'light reading for the rail' has done deep injury to many a young man and woman. The light literature of the day is working a world of harm; vitiating the taste of the young, enervating their minds, unfitting them for life's plain work, eating out their love of the Bible, teaching them a false morality, and creating in the soul an unreal standard of truth, and beauty, and love. Don't be too fond of the newspaper. Yet read it, that you may know both what man is doing and what God is doing; and extract out of all you read matter for thought and prayer. Avoid works which jest with what is right or wrong, lest you unconsciously adopt a false test of truth and duty, namely, ridicule, and so become afraid to do right for right's sake alone; dreading the world's sneer, and undervaluing a good conscience and the approving smile of God. Let your reading be always select; and whatever you read, begin with seeking God's blessing on it. But see that your relish for the Bible be above every other enjoyment, and the moment you begin to feel greater relish for any other book, lay it down till you have sought deliverance from such a snare, and obtained from the Holy Spirit an intenser relish, a keener appetite for the Word of God (Jer 15:16; Psa 19:7-10)."

Excerpt taken from "Follow the Lamb" by Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)

Hagee's Slip of The Pen

Richard McGough over at the Bible Wheel has posted a review of John Hagee's new book In Defense of Israel, you should take the time to read the entire article here.

"In his book In Defense of Israel (2007), beginning in the section called "The Jews did not Reject Jesus as Messiah" (p. 132) John Hagee relentlessly twisted Scripture in his attempt to prove that Jesus Christ did not come "to be Messiah to the Jews." His denial of Jesus as the Christ (Messiah) cannot be overlooked as a mere "slip of his pen" because he repeated his assertion "seven ways from Sunday" as seen in this sample of seven quotes from his book:"

If God intended for Jesus to be the Messiah of Israel, why didn't he authorize Jesus to use supernatural signs to prove he was God's Messiah, just as Moses had done? (p. 137)

Jesus refused to produce a sign ... because it was not the Father's will, nor his, to be Messiah. (p 138)

If Jesus wanted to be Messiah, why did he repeatedly tell his disciples and followers to "tell no one" about his supernatural accomplishments? (p. 139)

The Jews were not rejecting Jesus as Messiah; it was Jesus who was refusing to be the Messiah to the Jews. (p. 140)

They wanted him to be their Messiah, but he flatly refused. (p. 141)

He refused to be their Messiah, choosing instead to be the Savior of the world (p. 143)

Jesus rejected to the last detail the role of Messiah in word or deed. (p. 145)

Iron Tonic

"Present-day conditions call loudly for a new examination and new presentation of God’s omnipotency, God’s sufficiency, God’s sovereignty. From every pulpit in the land it needs to be thundered forth that God still lives, that God still observes, that God still reigns. Faith is now in the crucible, it is being tested by fire, and there is no fixed and sufficient resting-place for the heart and mind but in the Throne of God. What is needed now, as never before, is a full, positive, constructive setting forth of the Godhood of God. Drastic diseases call for drastic remedies. People are weary of platitudes and mere generalizations—the call is for something definite and specific. Soothing-syrup may serve for peevish children, but an iron tonic is better suited for adults, and we know of nothing which is more calculated to infuse spiritual vigor into our frames than a scriptural apprehension of the full character of God." It is written, "The people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits" (Dan. 11:32). —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Excerpt taken from The Sovereignty of God by Arthur W. Pink

Soul-Destroyers

“The churches of our day are in the shape they are in because the teachers, preachers and religious leaders of our day are self-serving false prophets who fleece the sheep rather than feeding the sheep, men who serve their own lusts and line their own pockets, sacrificing the souls of men to the idols they serve. The contemptible religion practiced in our day (And the religion of our day is contemptible!) is the result of blind men following blind preachers in the practice of idolatry. These “diviners,” as God calls them, are men of whom God speaks plainly. He tells us that they are blind, without understanding. They turn each to their own way, each one seeking his own gain. They care nothing for the flock, but make merchandise of the souls of men. They pretend to be great soul-winners, but are really soul-destroyers. They do not search for lost sheep, but for unsuspecting souls that can be easily duped. They do not seek the salvation of men’s souls, but the money in their pockets. Feeding themselves, they fleece the sheep, and heal their wounds slightly, saying, “Peace, peace, when there is no peace!” They willingly distort the Revelation of God and proclaim as the truth of God the false dreams of their own depraved hearts.” —Don Fortner

Don Fortner is the senior pastor at Grace Baptist Church in Danville, Ky. Excerpt taken from a sermon titled False Dreams and Vain Comforts.

Double Talk

I know I am about four days behind on this post but if you haven't taken the time to listen to the October 22nd broadcast of Way of the Master Radio with Todd Friel interviewing Doug Pagitt, emergent church leader and pastor of Solomon's Porch in Minneapolis, MN. You may not want to eat before listening or else it may come back up as you hear what its like trying to nail jello to the wall. You dear folks who attend Solomon's Porch and have to listen to Doug on a regularly basis I have some words of advice for you, RUN away from this man as fast as you can and don't look back your eternal destiny depends on it, not to mention your present sanity. Is it just me or does Mr. Pagitt seem to talk out of both sides of his mouth at the same time?

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Psalm 36:3 "The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good."

Proverbs 10:14 "Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction."

Ecclesiastes 10:13 "The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness."

Matthew 5:37 "But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil."

1 Timothy 6:4 "He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,"

2 Timothy 2:16 "But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness."

Jude 1:16 "These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage."