Tuesday, November 30, 2010
RUBBISH
Dr. Luther's thoughts about Erasmus "eloquent" defense of free-will: "I feel an indignation against the matter also, that such unworthy stuff should be borne about in ornaments of eloquence so rare; which is as if rubbish, or dung, should be carried in vessels of gold and silver;
"Does it follow from: 'turn ye' that therefore you can turn? Does it follow from "'Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart' (Deut 6.5) that therefore you can love with all your heart? What do arguments of this kind prove, but the 'free-will' does not need the grace of God, but can do all things by its own power...But it does not follow from this that man is converted by his own power, nor do the words say so; they simply say: "if thou wilt turn, telling man what he should do. When he knows it, and sees that he cannot do it, he will ask whence he may find ability to do it..." 164
"Does it follow from: 'turn ye' that therefore you can turn? Does it follow from "'Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart' (Deut 6.5) that therefore you can love with all your heart? What do arguments of this kind prove, but the 'free-will' does not need the grace of God, but can do all things by its own power...But it does not follow from this that man is converted by his own power, nor do the words say so; they simply say: "if thou wilt turn, telling man what he should do. When he knows it, and sees that he cannot do it, he will ask whence he may find ability to do it..." 164
ONLY CHRIST
"Ministers may set the food of the word before you, and carve it out to you; but it is only Christ can cause you to taste it"(Watson, Gleanings , 93).
ALWAYS CARRY
We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." ~ 2 Corinthians 4:10
Monday, November 29, 2010
LIVE IN THEE
"Lord, as formerly I lived without Thee in the world, so now let me live without the world in Thee. If we did but love God as well as a worldly man doth love his wealth and riches, we should be so taken up with the love of God as quite to forget the world; for the world makes them forget God"
- unknown Puritan
- unknown Puritan
Sunday, November 28, 2010
LOOK BEYOND
"We shall never be fit for service of God, if we look not beyond this fleeting life"-John Calvin
DISHONOR AND HONOR
In Christ you can't lose. You have the joy of losing your honor as you are scorned by scoffers, so that you can dispaly that the honor of Christ is the most important aim of your life.
(Dishonor me if you must, I am immaterial. Honor Christ, He is paramount. Dishonor me, I am expecting. The Cross of My Master, was a scorn to the world, and it is in His Cross I boast.)
Why do I (we) think the Christian will take up his cross, and yet be given esteem or attention or an audience by the world, media, government, society? How often does 'Regis and Kelly' host interviews on Charles Manson, when he is a person of scorn. How often do politicians make platforms and policies by quoting Charles Manson, when He is a person of scorn. The Cross was a place of Scorn. Christ was hated. He was not esteemed. Yet we are puzzled and boggled that the church is not given a proper voice in the nation and culture. Do not be surprised. (John 15 and 16 and Matthew 10)
Congregations stoop to absurd levels to make the cross appealing. Come to our skeet shooting event, the Cross will follow. Come to our ski trip, beach trip, mountain trip, lock-in, concert, cookout, barbeque, cowboy church, Race-track church, flip-flop church, bagel, cream cheese and coffee church....the Cross will follow.
(Dishonor me if you must, I am immaterial. Honor Christ, He is paramount. Dishonor me, I am expecting. The Cross of My Master, was a scorn to the world, and it is in His Cross I boast.)
Why do I (we) think the Christian will take up his cross, and yet be given esteem or attention or an audience by the world, media, government, society? How often does 'Regis and Kelly' host interviews on Charles Manson, when he is a person of scorn. How often do politicians make platforms and policies by quoting Charles Manson, when He is a person of scorn. The Cross was a place of Scorn. Christ was hated. He was not esteemed. Yet we are puzzled and boggled that the church is not given a proper voice in the nation and culture. Do not be surprised. (John 15 and 16 and Matthew 10)
Congregations stoop to absurd levels to make the cross appealing. Come to our skeet shooting event, the Cross will follow. Come to our ski trip, beach trip, mountain trip, lock-in, concert, cookout, barbeque, cowboy church, Race-track church, flip-flop church, bagel, cream cheese and coffee church....the Cross will follow.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
ALL HIS OFFSPRING
Romans 4:13-16 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. 16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be *guaranteed to all his offspring*--not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all...
Does this not smack of particularity? I mean, the promise resting on grace as a GUARANTEE to ALL of Abraham's offspring? Hmmm :) Well, the particularity being seen more in that the promise is guaranteed to all his "offspring."
-- good point by good FB friend, Andrew Johnson
Does this not smack of particularity? I mean, the promise resting on grace as a GUARANTEE to ALL of Abraham's offspring? Hmmm :) Well, the particularity being seen more in that the promise is guaranteed to all his "offspring."
-- good point by good FB friend, Andrew Johnson
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
OT ATONEMENT SERIES PART 1
Neither God nor the Priests were waiting for the altar, house, or Holy Place to "exhibit faith" for the atonement itself to be "applied"; rather, it is conveyed that to make the atonement is to effect the atonement without being dependent on the faith of the altar, house or Holy Place.
1. ALTAR: Exodus 29:36-37 and every day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement. Also you shall purify the altar, when you make atonement for it, and shall anoint it to consecrate it. [37] Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, and the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall become holy.
2. ALTAR: Leviticus 8:15 And he killed it, and Moses took the blood, and with his finger put it on the horns of the altar around it and purified the altar and poured out the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it to make atonement for it.
3. HOUSE: Leviticus 14:48-53 (KJV) And if the priest shall come in, and look upon it, and, behold, the plague hath not spread in the house, after the house was plaistered: then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed. [49] And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: [50] And he shall kill the one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water: [51] And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times: [52] And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet: [53] But he shall let go the living bird out of the city into the open fields, and make an atonement for the house: and it shall be clean.
4. and 5. HOLY PLACE AND ALTAR: Leviticus 16:16-18 Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. [17] No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel. [18] Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around.
6. ALTAR: Ezekiel 43:20 (ESV) And you shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the ledge and upon the rim all around. Thus you shall purify the altar and make atonement for it.
7. ALTAR: Ezekiel 43:26 (ESV) Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and cleanse it, and so consecrate it.
8. This should be a clear example that the people were not in a state of "faith to God" while the atonement was made, applied, and effective in staying the plague.
******Numbers 16:46-50
And Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer, and put fire on it from off the altar and lay incense on it and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the Lord; the plague has begun." [47] So Aaron took it as Moses said and ran into the midst of the assembly. And behold, the plague had already begun among the people. And he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. 48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. [49] Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah. [50] And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.
1. ALTAR: Exodus 29:36-37 and every day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement. Also you shall purify the altar, when you make atonement for it, and shall anoint it to consecrate it. [37] Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, and the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall become holy.
2. ALTAR: Leviticus 8:15 And he killed it, and Moses took the blood, and with his finger put it on the horns of the altar around it and purified the altar and poured out the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it to make atonement for it.
3. HOUSE: Leviticus 14:48-53 (KJV) And if the priest shall come in, and look upon it, and, behold, the plague hath not spread in the house, after the house was plaistered: then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed. [49] And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: [50] And he shall kill the one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water: [51] And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times: [52] And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet: [53] But he shall let go the living bird out of the city into the open fields, and make an atonement for the house: and it shall be clean.
4. and 5. HOLY PLACE AND ALTAR: Leviticus 16:16-18 Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. [17] No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel. [18] Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around.
6. ALTAR: Ezekiel 43:20 (ESV) And you shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the ledge and upon the rim all around. Thus you shall purify the altar and make atonement for it.
7. ALTAR: Ezekiel 43:26 (ESV) Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and cleanse it, and so consecrate it.
8. This should be a clear example that the people were not in a state of "faith to God" while the atonement was made, applied, and effective in staying the plague.
******Numbers 16:46-50
And Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer, and put fire on it from off the altar and lay incense on it and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the Lord; the plague has begun." [47] So Aaron took it as Moses said and ran into the midst of the assembly. And behold, the plague had already begun among the people. And he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. 48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. [49] Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah. [50] And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.
FLESH WILL FAIL
The arm of flesh will fail you. In justification, sanctification, and regeneration. Ye dare not trust your own;
Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, Were not the right Man on our side, the man of God's own choosing. Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He; Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.
John 6:63 (KJV)
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
John 3:6 (ESV)
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, Were not the right Man on our side, the man of God's own choosing. Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He; Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.
John 6:63 (KJV)
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
John 3:6 (ESV)
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
UTTER DESPAIR
For when man through repentance has come to the knowledge of himself, he finds nothing but utter despair. Hence, wholly distrusting himself, he is forced to take refuge in the mercy of God. But when he has begun to do that, justice makes him afraid. Then Christ appears, who has satisfied the divine justice for our trespasses. When once there is faith in Him, then salvation is found; for He is the infallible pledge of God’s mercy.
– Ulrich Zwingli
– Ulrich Zwingli
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
ACCOMPLISHMENT
Our first postulate is that because God is God,He does as He pleases, only as He pleases, always as He pleases; that His great concern is the accomplishment of His own pleasure and the promotion of His own glory; that He is the Supreme Being, and therefore Sovereign of the universe.
AW Pink. Sov. of God. page 13
AW Pink. Sov. of God. page 13
BLANK ATHEISM
How different is the God of the Bible from the God of modern
Christendom! The conception of Deity which prevails most widely today,
even among those who profess to give heed to the Scriptures, is a
miserable caricature, a blasphemous travesty of the Truth. The God of the
twentieth century is a helpless, effeminate being who commands the
respect of no really thoughtful man. The God of the popular mind is the
creation of a maudlin sentimentality. The God of many a present-day pulpit
is an object of pity rather than of awe-inspiring reverence.f1 To say that
God the Father has purposed the salvation of all mankind, that God the
Son died with the express intention of saving the whole human race, and
that God the Holy Spirit is now seeking to win the world to Christ; when,
as a matter of common observation, it is apparent that the great majority of
our fellow-men are dying in sin, and passing into a hopeless eternity: is to
say that God the Father is disappointed, that God the Son is dissatisfied,
and that God the Holy Spirit is defeated.
We have stated the issue baldly, but there is no escaping the conclusion. To argue that God is “trying His best” to save all mankind, but that the majority of men will not let Him save them, is to insist that the will of the Creator is impotent, and that the will of the creature is omnipotent. To throw the blame, as many do, upon the Devil, does not remove the difficulty, for if Satan is defeating the purpose of God, then, Satan is Almighty and God is no longer the Supreme
Being.
To declare that the Creator’s original plan has been frustrated by sin, is to
dethrone God. To suggest that God was taken by surprise in Eden and that
He is now attempting to remedy an unforeseen calamity, is to degrade the
Most High to the level of a finite, erring mortal. To argue that man is a free
moral agent and the determiner of his own destiny, and that therefore he
has the power to checkmate his Maker, is to strip God of the attribute of
Omnipotence.
In a word, to deny the sovereignty of God is to enter upon a path which, if
followed to its logical terminus, is ....to arrive at blank atheism.
AW Pink, Sov. of God. page 17
Christendom! The conception of Deity which prevails most widely today,
even among those who profess to give heed to the Scriptures, is a
miserable caricature, a blasphemous travesty of the Truth. The God of the
twentieth century is a helpless, effeminate being who commands the
respect of no really thoughtful man. The God of the popular mind is the
creation of a maudlin sentimentality. The God of many a present-day pulpit
is an object of pity rather than of awe-inspiring reverence.f1 To say that
God the Father has purposed the salvation of all mankind, that God the
Son died with the express intention of saving the whole human race, and
that God the Holy Spirit is now seeking to win the world to Christ; when,
as a matter of common observation, it is apparent that the great majority of
our fellow-men are dying in sin, and passing into a hopeless eternity: is to
say that God the Father is disappointed, that God the Son is dissatisfied,
and that God the Holy Spirit is defeated.
We have stated the issue baldly, but there is no escaping the conclusion. To argue that God is “trying His best” to save all mankind, but that the majority of men will not let Him save them, is to insist that the will of the Creator is impotent, and that the will of the creature is omnipotent. To throw the blame, as many do, upon the Devil, does not remove the difficulty, for if Satan is defeating the purpose of God, then, Satan is Almighty and God is no longer the Supreme
Being.
To declare that the Creator’s original plan has been frustrated by sin, is to
dethrone God. To suggest that God was taken by surprise in Eden and that
He is now attempting to remedy an unforeseen calamity, is to degrade the
Most High to the level of a finite, erring mortal. To argue that man is a free
moral agent and the determiner of his own destiny, and that therefore he
has the power to checkmate his Maker, is to strip God of the attribute of
Omnipotence.
In a word, to deny the sovereignty of God is to enter upon a path which, if
followed to its logical terminus, is ....to arrive at blank atheism.
AW Pink, Sov. of God. page 17
YOUR CHILDREN
Matthew 23:37
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered YOUR CHILDREN together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!
>>Arminians reword "your Children" to "you".
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered YOUR CHILDREN together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!
>>Arminians reword "your Children" to "you".
Monday, November 22, 2010
FINE FREEDOM
Why all this boasting about free-will and the power of a man, about the natural ...light of reason? What is but blindness and darkness. Can it do anything than fight against the true faith and Gods word. This is why I reject and condemn as nothing but falsehood every doctrine that lauds our free will. For since apart from Christ, death and sin are our master and the devil is our god and prince, there can be neither power nor might neither wit or wisdom, by which we may prepare our selves for righteousness and life or search for them. On the contrary we are bound to be blinded captives of the devil and slaves to sin, to do and to think whatever our master satan wishes and is opposed to God with his commandments. Ah, what a fine freedom that is!
– Martin Luther
– Martin Luther
IDOL OF FREEDOM
Great quote, "My god was freedom, my God was not Christ; I made an idol out of freedom." The person continually failed in sanctification with this approach;;; {Seeking elusive freedom will not bring you to Christ, but being granted Christ will bring you to freedom.}
Friday, November 19, 2010
OBSCURITY
"The Church is always tempted toward a church of glory, whether that takes the form of grand buildings, political influence, global structures, charismatic personalities, or megachurches. But an approach to the church consistent with the gospel of Christ crucified and discipleship shaped by the gospel is an ecclesiology of the cross. That means power in weakness, wisdom in folly, and glory in shame. It means we must put our confidence in Christ's little flock and the sovereign rule of God. It means we must put our energies into the church of the cross even if that means obscurity."
Total Church by Chester and Timmis
Total Church by Chester and Timmis
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