Posts
"He is Risen" (Luke 24) 1. His risen body is necessary 2. His risen body is our hope of reconciliation 3. His risen body is eternal life 4. His risen body proves His Deity 1. His Risen Body was Necessary (1Cor 15:16-22) For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile (vain, empty, worthless); you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep (death in Christ, Old Testament saints, prophets, believers before the cross, and after) in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable (miserable). But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits (the beginning of sacrifice) of those who have fallen asleep (those who died) . For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die (physical death), even so in Christ all shall be made alive (born again believers who put their faith in Him alone)....
"Sin is naturally exceeding dear to us; to part with it is compared to plucking out our right eyes. Men may refrain from wonted ways of sin for a little while, and may deny their lusts in a partial degree, with less difficulty; but it is heart-rending work, finally to part with all sin, and to give our dearest lusts a bill of divorce, utterly to send them away. But this we must do, if we would follow those that are truly turning to God: yea, we must not only forsake sin, but must, in a sense, forsake all the world, Luke xiv.33 'Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.'" Jonathan Edwards
Grace
We tend to give an unbeliever just enough of the gospel to get him or her to pray a prayer to receive Christ. Then we immediately put the gospel on the shelf, so to speak, and go on to the duties of discipleship. The grace that brought salvation to you is the same grace that teaches or disciplines you. But you must respond on the basis of grace, not law. Jerry Bridges
The Sovereignty of God
"There is no attribute of God more comforting to His children than the doctrine of divine sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe troubles, they believe that Sovereignty hath ordained their afflictions, that Sovereignty overrules them, and that Sovereignty will sanctify them all. There is nothing for which the children of God ought more earnestly to contend than the dominion of their Master over all creation---the kingship of God over all the works of His own hands---the throne of God, and His right to sit upon that throne.On the other hand, there is no doctrine more hated by worldlings, no truth of which they have made such a football, as the great, stupendous, but yet most certain doctrine of the Sovereignty of the infinite Jehovah. Men will allow God to be everywhere except on His throne. They will allow Him to be in His workshop to fashion worlds and to make stars. They will allow Him to be in His almonry to dispense His alms and bestow His bounti...
It's His Gospel
The Lord enabled me to open my mouth boldly against unconverted ministers; for, I am persuaded, the generality of preachers talk of an unknown and unfelt Christ. The reason why congregations have been so dead is because they have had dead men preaching to them. O that the Lord may quicken and revive them! How can dead men beget living children?" George Whitefield "The New Testament continues the testimony to the radical depravity of man. In fact, when Paul seeks to present a systematic argument for the gospel to the Romans, he does not begin with 'Jesus loves you' or 'God has a wonderful plan for your life.' Showing that he would fail almost every evangelism class currently offered in seminaries in our land, Paul begins with a dreadfully long discussion of the universal sinfulness of man. Without a single poem, no funny illustrations or multimedia aids, the inspired Apostle drags on about the sinfulness of men, Jew and Gentile alike. It is no wonder this secti...
Pray for Rob Bell
New Rob Bell Video: We Are Co-Creators with God I received a full transcrip t of Rob Bell’s latest NOOMA video that will make its way into churches of every description. It’s entitled, “Open”. Here is an excerpt: …Now to understand why Jesus prays like this, we have to understand that Jesus took very seriously the creation poem Genesis, that the Bible begins with. And in this creation poem God creates, but God creates things that are capable of creating more, and so God creates trees but then gives trees the ability to create more. God creates animals and plants and fish but then empowers them to create more. And then God creates people, and gives them the ability to create more. So everything in creation is essentially unfinished, God leaves the world unfinished, and invites people to take part in the ongoing creation of the world. Now, when you create, you always run the risk that what you’ve created, won’t turn out how you wanted it to, it may go a different direction, it may not b...