The Absolute Wonder

I just got home from a great time of fellowship and worship at the 2nd annual Men's Conference of Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church where tonight Bro. David Miller brought the Word of God with power and conviction. Bro. Miller preached without notes and completely from memory which is an amazing feat to behold as he quotes scripture without error. If you only download one sermon this year please consider this one. The text that Bro. Miller preached from was Malichi 1:1-5 and the title of this sermon is "The Absolute Wonder of God's Unconditional Love to Sinners". Bro. Miller made us laugh, cry, and think as he brought God's sovereign election of sinners in salvation to bear on the heart and mind until it manifest the awesomeness of the Grace of God. You can download this sermon for free HERE.

Polycarp

Discernment

This morning I uploaded some Grace To You Archives from 2006 to my iPod. I started with the Discernment series that John MacArthur preached titled A Call for Discernment, Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. You can download the mp3 radio versions for free below. If you have never heard these sermons, then brace yourself for a rude awaking of just what is really going on in our Church's across this nation.

A Call for Discernment, Part 1 (1 of 2)
A Call for Discernment, Part 1 (2 of 2)
A Call for Discernment, Part 2 (1 of 2)
A Call for Discernment, Part 2 (2 of 2)
A Call for Discernment, Part 3

"But you have today in the churches many preachers who do not pursue the discipline in the science of interpretation of Scripture. And as a result of that what they do is go lightly across the top of things, preach relationally, sort of a quasi Christian psychology or tell a lot of stories or whatever it might be, and as a result they're not ever really interpreting the Word of God." —John MacArthur

The Emergent Way?

The postmodern mind set has so invaded every area of society that it's almost impossible not to see it's effect everywhere I go. Below is actually my employer's company motto that they want us not to just work at but they even seem to want us to live by it, they call it The COMPANYNAME Way. I have had this new slogan staring at me for several months now, and I thought; you know there maybe a Emergent Church out there some where that could use some of these statements in their Church by laws, just change a few words around to suit your Church needs and presto, The Emergent Way.

Be Cross-Functional, Cross-Cultural: Be open and show empathy towards different views, welcome diversity.

Be Transparent: Be clear, be simple, no vagueness and no hiding.

Be a Learner: Be passionate, learn from every opportunity to help create a learning company.

Be Frugal: Achieve maximum results with minimum resources.

Be Competitive: No complacency, focus on the competition and continuous benchmarking.

No Obstacles, Please!

"It is wrong to suppose that there is so to speak a Word on the one hand and a Church on the other, and that it is the task of the preacher to take that Word into his hands and move it so as to bring it into the Church and apply it to the Church's needs. On the contrary, the Word moves of its own accord, and all the preacher has to do is to assist that movement and try to put no obstacles in its path." —Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945)

Excerpt taken from The Cost Of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, SCM Press Ltd. published 1959, p. 250, 253

What a Poor Gospel

I'm sure some of you are aware that I just love to read the writings of Horatius Bonar who was a 19th century Scottish Presbyterian Preacher. I just can't seem to get enough of his work into my hands and I find that his simple words are wise beyond their meaning and reveal such a gentle and humble spirit that I find very edifying and comforting. See for yourself.

"God has given us this gospel not merely for the purpose of securing to us life hereafter, but of making us sure of this life even now. It is a true and sure gospel; so that he who believes it is made sure of being saved. If it could not make us sure, it would make us miserable; for to be told of such a salvation and such a glory, yet kept in doubt as to whether they are to be ours or not, must render us truly wretched. What a poor gospel it must be, which leaves the man who believes it still in doubt as whether he is a child of God, an unpardoned or a pardoned sinner! Till we have found forgiveness, we cannot be happy; we cannot serve God gladly or lovingly; but must be in sore bondage and gloom." —Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)

Excerpt taken from "The Everlasting Righteousness" by Horatius Bonar first published 1874, Banner of Truth 1993, p143.

God's Electing Love

"God’s thus electing a certain definite number from among fallen men from all eternity, is a manifestation of his glory. It shows the glory of the divine sovereignty. God hereby declares himself the absolute disposer of the creature. He shows us how far his sovereignty and dominion extend, in eternally choosing some and passing by others, and leaving them to perish. God here appears in a majesty that is unparalleled. Those who can see no glory of dominion in this act, have not attained to right apprehensions of God, and never have been made sensible of his glorious greatness. And here is especially shown the glory of divine grace: in God’s having chosen his people to blessedness and glory long before they are born, in his choosing them out of the mass of mankind from whom they were not distinguished, and in his love to them being prior to all that they have or do, being uninfluenced by any excellency of theirs, by the light of any labors or endeavors of theirs, or any respect of theirs towards him.

The doctrine of election shows that if those who are converted have earnestly sought grace and holiness, and in that way have obtained it, their obtaining it is not owing to their endeavors, but that it was the grace and mercy of God that caused them earnestly to seek conversion, that they might obtain it. It shows also that faith itself is the gift of God, and that the saints persevering in a way of holiness unto glory, is also the fruit of electing love. Believers’ love to God is the fruit of God’s love to them, and the giving of Christ, the preaching of the gospel, and the appointing of ordinances, are all fruits of the grace of election. All the grace that is shown to any of mankind, either in this world, or in the world to come, is comprised in the electing love of God." —Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)

Are You Amazed?

Quote of the Day

Dare ye then to confess our blessed Master before men, and to shine as lights in the world, amidst a crooked and perverse generation? Let us not be content with following him afar off; for then we shall, as Peter did, soon deny him; but let us be altogether Christians, and let our speech, and all our actions declare to the world whose disciples we are, and that we have indeed "determined not to know any thing, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." —George Whitefield (1714-1770)

Tim Keller Plug

If you not familiar with the ministry of Tim Keller who is the senior pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, then I want to highly recommend him to you. He is a very insightful teacher, you can visit the church website at Redeemer.com and download some free sermons. I especially recommend the The Reason for God series where you will find the sermon titled The Prodigal Sons which is a must listen.

The Sinfulness of Sin

"The Christianity which is from the Holy Spirit will always have a very deep view of the sinfulness of sin. It will not merely regard sin as a blemish and misfortune, which makes men and women objects of pity, and compassion. It will see in sin the abominable thing which God hates, the thing which makes man guilty and lost in his Maker's sight, the thing which deserves God's wrath and condemnation. It will look on sin as the cause of all sorrow and unhappiness, of strife and wars, of quarrels and contentions, of sickness and death--the curse which cursed God's beautiful creation, the cursed thing which makes the whole earth groan and struggle in pain. Above all, it will see in sin the thing which will ruin us eternally, unless we can find a ransom,--lead us captive, except we can get its chains broken,--and destroy our happiness, both here and hereafter, except we fight against it, even unto death. Is this your religion? Are these your feelings about sin? If not, you should doubt whether your religion is authentic." —J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)

Excerpt taken from a sermon titled Authentic Religion by J. C. Ryle

You "Will" Know Them

Matthew 7:15-20 "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits."

Today's Christian television is for the most part broadcasting nothing more than false teachers 24/7, with a few exceptions. But to say this is often viewed as being judgemental, people to often come to the conclusion that discerning truth from error and judging others is one in the same. But it is not for we are commanded to not "cast our pearls before swine" (Matthew 7:6), but how can we do that if we don't know who the pigs are? We are also told that we will know them (wolves in sheeps clothing) by their fruits. It's interesting that the word used for the pharase "you shall know" in the King James Version is the greek word "epiginōskō" which means to become thoroughly acquainted with, to know thoroughly, to know accurately, to know well or to recognise by sight, hearing, of certain signs, to perceive who a person is, so it's not as if you might know who they are but as Christians you "will" know who these wolves are. So what is the standard fruit by which we are to discern true teachers of God and false ones? The two quotes below are amazing statements of Godly men from the past who I think so clearly describe every false teacher on TV today as having a low view of God and too high a view of man.

"The sum of the whole is, that ordinarily, and generally speaking, as men are, so are the doctrines they preach, and by them they may be known, and judged to be what they are. Christ here, and in the preceding verses, is speaking not of men of bad lives and conversations, who take upon them to teach others; for there is not so much reason to caution good men against these; they are easily detected, and generally discarded; but of men that put on sheep's clothing, who pretended to much holiness of life and conversation, and strictness of religion; and under that disguise delivered out the most corrupt and unwholesome doctrines; which tended greatly to depreciate him and his grace, and to do damage to the souls of men." —John Gill (1697–1771)

"It is a remarkable fact that all the heresies which have arisen in the Christian Church have had a decided tendency to dishonor God and to flatter man." —C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

The Best Jewel

"This being a grand article (Christ Deity) of our faith I shall amplify it. I know the Arians, Socinians, and Ebionites would rob Christ of the best jewel of his crown, his Godhead; but the Apostolic, Nicene, Athanasian creeds, affirm Christ's Deity. The Scripture is clear for it. He is called "the mighty God." "And in him dwells the fullness of the Godhead." He is of the same nature and essence with the Father. Is God the Father called Almighty? So is Christ. "The Almighty." Rev 1:8. Is God the Father the heart-searcher? So is Christ. "He knew their thoughts." John 2:25. Is God the Father omnipresent? So is Christ. "The Son of Man who is in heaven." John 3:13. Christ as God was then in heaven, when as man he was upon the earth.

Is Christ eternal? Christ is the everlasting Father, Isa 9:6, may be urged against the Cerinthian heretics, who denied the pre-existence of Christ's Godhead, and held that Christ had no being until he derived it from the Virgin Mary.

Does divine worship belong to the first person in the Trinity? So it does to Christ. John 5:23. "Let all the angels of God worship him." Heb 1:6. Is creation proper to the Deity? this is a flower of Christ's crown. "By him were all things created." Col 1:16. Is prayer proper to the Deity? this is given to Christ. "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Is faith and trust peculiar to God the Father? this is given to Christ. "You believe in God, believe also in me." Christ must needs be God, not only that the divine nature might support the human from sinking under God's wrath—but also to give value and weight to his sufferings.

Christ being God, his death and passion are meritorious. Christ's blood is called sanguis Dei, the blood of God, in Acts 20:28, because the person who was offered in sacrifice was God as well as man. This is an invincible support to believers; it was God who was offended, and it was God who satisfied. Thus Christ's person is in two natures." —Thomas Watson (1620-1686)

Excerpt taken from the Body of Divinity by Thomas Watson

Fantasy Gospel

"In the most popular Christian book, The Purpose Driven Life, you will look long and hard in this book on the purpose driven life to find the gospel. Now I don't know how you could ever live a purpose driven life if you didn't know how to get into the Kingdom of God, or how to be saved. And as I went through the book, this is the gospel presentation, the only one that I found. "First believe, believe God loves you and made you for His purposes. Believe God has chosen you to have a relationship with Jesus who died on the cross for you. Believe that no matter what you've done, God wants to forgive you. Second, receive Jesus into your life as your Lord and Savior. Receive His forgiveness for your sins." Is there anything missing there? What might be missing there? Repentance. "So I invite you to bow your head and quietly whisper the prayer that will change your eternity. Jesus, I believe in You and I receive You." What Jesus? Who did what? Where's the resurrection? It goes on. "If you sincerely meant that prayer, congratulations, welcome to the family of God." How does he know who's in the family of God? No repentance, no judgment, no hell, no heaven, no self-denial, no discussion of sin, no laying down of the Law of God against which the sinner is broken, no sense of guilt, no sense of condemnation, no fear of eternal torment. That is an inadequate gospel. That is a gospel that I will tell you will contribute to apostasy. It will contribute to defection because people are going to come to that which they think is the saving message and when it doesn't do anything, they're gone. A shallow gospel presentation that doesn't present the reality of eternal judgment, the reality of the Law of God, the reality of condemnation, eternal hell, does not warn of God's wrath, that does not crush the sinner under the weight of his violation of the Law of God, that does not make him stand before God guilty. The gospel presentation that doesn't do that isn't a faithful gospel presentation. And then to tell somebody, "Welcome to the family," as if you knew. This is fantasy." —John MacArthur

Excerpt taken from a sermon titled Apostates, Be Warned - Part 2 by John Macarthur

Evil Disputings

Mark 7:20-23 “And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”

“Carefully notice the range which this catalogue takes. It is a very singular one, for it begins with thoughts, and then it runs on until it lands us in utter want of thought, or foolishness. Matthew Henry says, “Ill-thinking is put first, and unthinking is put last.” Sin begins with “evil thoughts,” but ends in foolishness. The word rendered “evil thoughts” may be translated evil disputings, evil dialogues. Now this is thought by some to be almost a virtue, certainly a manly exercise. To be able to dispute, to be a questioner, a caviller, a perpetual and professional doubter; that, I say, is highly esteemed among men. What is modern thought but evil thought? David says, “I hate vain thoughts;” and all thoughts which run counter to the revelation of God are vain. In this instance I may quote the Psalmist: “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men, that they are vanity.” Thoughts which are devout and reverent towards the sacred oracles are to be cultivated; but the thoughts which cavil at revealed truth, and would improve upon the infallible declarations of Jehovah, are evil and vain thoughts. All manner of mischief may come out of thinking in opposition to God; hence it is said, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts.” Thinking contrary to God’s mind, and disputing with the clear statements of God’s own word, may be the first step in a descent which shall end in everlasting destruction.

Rising in evil thought, sin flows through a black country full of varying immoralities, until it falls into the Dead Sea of “foolishness.” How often have I heard it said of a vicious life, when it has ripened into horror: “The man must have been mad! He was not only wicked, but what a fool he must have been! The devil himself seems to have forsaken him. He acted craftily enough at one time; but afterwards he went against his own interests, and insured his own destruction.” Yes, men begin with the thought that they know better than their Maker, and at last they reach utter thoughtlessness, stolidity of conscience, and stupidity of mind. In the end they refuse to think at all, and nothing can save them from reckless defiance of common prudence. They are given over to judicial senselessness. Though God himself should speak, they have no ears for him: their sin has brought on them the punishment of utter hardness of heart. They have made themselves to be as the adder, which will not hear the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely. This is the way of sin — to begin with fancied wisdom, and end with foolishness. The man who thought himself more than a man, at last ends as a brute beast devoid of reason. What a range, my brethren, there is between these two points! Read the words again, and see what a terrible zig-zag path lies between wrong thought and no thought at all.” —C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Excerpt taken from A sermon delivered on Lord's-Day morning, July 25th, 1886, by C. H. Spurgeon titled Hidenous Discovery.

Lost Hymns

How Deep The Father's Love

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure,
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss –
The Father turns His face away,
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory.

Behold the man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders;
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life –
I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything,
No gifts, no power, no wisdom;
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer;
But this I know with all my heart –
His wounds have paid my ransom.

Quote of the Day

"Those who are still afraid of men have no fear of God, and those who have fear of God have ceased to be afraid of men." —Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945)

Living in Sin

"Living in any known sin is a great impediment to a heavenly life. If this be your situation, I dare say that heaven and your soul are strangers. These beams in your eye (Matthew 7:4) will not let you look to heaven. They will be a cloud between you and God. When you attempt to study eternity and gather refreshment from the life to come, your sin will look you in the face and say, "These things do not belong to you." How can you take comfort from heaven when you take so much pleasure in the lusts of the flesh? Every intentional sin will be to your happiness as water to the fire. It will quench your joy. It will disable you, so that you can no more ascend in divine meditation than a bird can fly with clipped wings. We surely need to pray daily, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" (Matt. 6:13)." —Richard Baxter (1615-1691)

Excerpt taken from The Saints' Everlasting Rest by Richard Baxter

Absolutely Exclusive

In light of the recent Davos World Economic Open Forum where Rick Warren was supposed to represent Evangelical Christians, I would just like to share a quote by John MacArthur that Mr. Warren should be aware of the next time he ventures into the world of "Religious Pluralism".

"The idea that the Christian gospel can mix with or blend with any other religious system in any way is absolutely wrong. You cannot mix the gospel with Roman Catholic or orthodox sacramentalism. You cannot mix the gospel with liberalism. You can't mix the gospel with Mormonism, or the religion of the Jehovah's Witness, or Christian Science or any other religion. You cannot mix the gospel even with the religion of Judaism. The gospel is absolutely exclusive. It mingles with no other religion. It accommodates no other religion. In fact, it replaces all other religion. The gospel is absolutely exclusive. Now this needs to be emphatically understood in a time which exalts diversity of belief, tolerance of religion, pluralism, inclusivism and even universalism which essentially says we're all headed the same direction. Now we know there is one God, there is one authoritative book, the Bible. There is one Redeemer of souls, the Lord Jesus Christ. There is one gospel, the gospel of grace and faith. And that singularity of the Christian gospel means that any intrusion that mixes or alters the singularity of the gospel renders it void, nullifies it. It stands alone." —John MacArthur

Excerpt taken from a sermon titled The Uniqueness of the Gospel by John MacArthur.

Shoulders of the Shepherd

"The Gospel Of The Grace Of God leaves no room whatever for human merit. It just brushes away all man's pretension to any goodness, to any desert excepting judgment. It is the Gospel of grace, and grace is God's free unmerited favor to those who have merited the very opposite. It is as opposite to works as oil is to water." If by grace," says the Spirit of God, "then it is no more works. . . but if it be of works, then is it no more grace" (Rom.11:6). People say, :But you must have both." I have heard it put like this: there was a boatman and two theologians in a boat, and one was arguing that salvation was by faith and the other by works. The boatman listened, and then said, "Let me tell you how it looks to me. Suppose I call this oar Faith and this one Works. If I pull on this one, the boat goes around; if I pull on this other one, it goes around the other way, but if I pull on both oars, I get you across the river." I have heard many preachers use that illustration to prove that we are saved by faith and works. That might do if we were going to Heaven in a rowboat, but we are not. We are carried on the shoulders of the Shepherd, who came seeking lost sheep When He finds them He carries them home on His shoulders." —H. A. Ironside (1876-1951)

Reconciliation Without Repentance?

Chris Rosebrough of ExtremeTheology has posted a sound biblicial response to Rick Warren's call to be reconciled with evangelical liberals. No repentance, no reconciliation is his cry and I whole heartily agree!

"I do not care how well meaning the liberal social causes may be. If there is ever to be reconciliation then they will have to repent of their rebellion against God and His Word, defrock their homosexual and female ministers, abandon all their 'scholarship' that claims the Bible is a human product, confess Jesus' bodily resurrection, confess that Jesus died for our sins as our substitute and confess that Jesus is the ONLY way of salvation. Then and only then will I believe that we share the same savior." (Read Full Article)

The Glory of God is the Treasure!

"When the glory of God is the treasure of our lives, we will not lay up treasures on earth, but spend them for the spread of his glory. We will not covet, but overflow with liberality. We will not crave the praise of men, but forget ourselves in praising God. We will not be mastered by sinful, sensual pleasures, but sever their root by the power of a superior promise. We will not nurse a wounded ego or cherish a grudge or nurture a vengeful spirit, but will hand over our cause to God and bless those who hate us. Every sin flows from the failure to treasure the glory of God above all things. Therefore one crucial, visible way to display the truth and value of the glory of God is by humble, sacrificial lives of service that flow only from the fountain of God’s all satisfying glory." —John Piper

Quote taken from a sermon titled Why Expositional Preaching is Particularly Glorifying to God you can download it here.

Quote of the Day

"Nobody can call himself a Christian who does not worship Jesus. To worship him, if he is not God, is idolatry; to withhold worship from him, if he is, is apostasy." —John R. W. Stott

At The Cross

This morning my preacher Bro. Jono Sims brought forth a very powerful message on the Cross of Jesus Christ. I highly recommend that every believer download and listen, it is sure to bless your heart! It's titled We Stand Forgiven at The Cross, it was preached Sunday morning Feb 3rd, 2008 and it was taken from the text found in Matthew 27:33-54 it's only 5.8 MB and has a 50:26 runtime. Enjoy!

5 Simple Truth's of Salvation

This is my pastor Jonathan W. Sims preaching on John 3:16, it's the complete sermon. This is actually a very short sermon for him but a very powerful message. I suggest sending this to anyone who is asking questions about Christ and salvation. You can view the chruch website at http://www.smbconline.com/.

Monologue or Exposition?

The sermon today has taken on something of the role of the monologue of a late-night talk show host, but not as funny. Its purpose seems to be to sustain a dialogue between the pastor and the congregation for the purpose of building relationships, fostering group identity and comity, and providing a port-of-entry for newcomers. If the dialogue is interesting, pleasant, and generally uplifting, the partners will continue their conversation for the foreseeable future. Church members might even be encouraged to invite their friends to join in, and visitors will be made to feel right at home from the get-go. And because the sermon is only a dialogue, a context for congregational conversation, it can’t be expected to carry much of the “disciple-making” weight. So the church multiplies programs, staff, and training contexts, cafeteria-like, so that members can pursue their interests and needs in as many ways as possible.

If the quote above describes the type of church you are currently attending I would suggest that you pray for God to guide you to a church that is more like the quote below.

The sermons of those early American preachers followed the format laid down by their forebears: careful exposition of words and phrases in their context; detailed explanation and theological argument; spare and strictly impersonal illustration (Jonathan Edwards seems never to have told a personal anecdote concerning himself or his family); specific and unapologetic application to the circumstances of the congregation; and a call for submission to the evangelical demands of the text. These colonial preachers were eloquent, passionate, learned men; they expected their congregations – largely comprised of unschooled farmers, shop owners, tradesmen, and a handful of learned professionals – to understand their meanings and bring their lives into line with the demands of Scripture. And, to their credit, those church members, by and large, did.

Quotes taken form an article that appeared at Crosswalk.com titled Recovering Preaching from Adequacy by T. M. Moore

Quote of the Day

"Religion today is not transforming the people - it is being transformed by the people. It is not raising the moral level of society - it is descending to society's own level and congratulating itself that it has scored a victory because society is smiling accepting its surrender." —A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)