ONE there is, above all others...

John Newton (1725–1807)

I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
A friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
Proverbs xvii. 24

ONE there is, above all others,
Well deserves the name of friend;
His is love beyond a brother’s,
Costly, free, and knows no end:
They who once his kindness prove,
Find it everlasting love!

Which of all our friends to save us,
Could or would have shed their blood?
But our Jesus dy’d to have us
Reconcil’d, in him to God:
This was boundless love indeed!
Jesus is a friend in need.

Men, when rais’d to lofty stations,
Often know their friends no more;
Slight and scorn their poor relations
Tho’ they valu’d them before.
But our Savior always owns
Those whom he redeem’d with grones.

When he liv’d on earth abased,
Friend of sinners was his name;
Now, above all glory raised,
He rejoices in the same:
Still he calls them brethren, friends,
And to all their wants attends.

Could we bear from one another,
What he daily bears from us?
Yet this glorious Friend and Brother,
Loves us tho’ we treat him thus:
Tho’ for good we render ill,
He accounts us brethren still.

Oh! for grace our hearts to soften!
Teach us, Lord, at length to love;
We, alas! forget too often,
What a Friend we have above:
But when home our souls are brought,
We will love thee as we ought.

—from Olney Hymns. Book I: On select Passages of Scripture.

Tell Them That Their Poor Brother Is In Flames!

Taken from Grace Gems
 (choice ELECTRONIC books, sermons & quotes)

"I beg you, father Abraham--send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment!" Luke 16:27, 28.

Observe the object of the rich man's solicitude--his "five brothers." They were perhaps younger than himself, though it is probable that he was comparatively young.

• They were still in the bright land of hope--and he was in the dismal region of despair!
• They were still under the kind reign of mercy--and he was under the iron rod of justice!
• He feared for them--for he knew in what state he had left them!

He feared for them--lest they should persevere in sin, and at length come to the same place of torment! He most ardently desired their salvation, and that they might escape the sure wrath that is coming. He despaired of their salvation by ordinary means, and therefore he petitioned that Lazarus may be sent--that he might testify to them.

Look at this lost soul in Hell--he remembers his brethren, and begs:

"Send Lazarus to my brothers!”

Lazarus is no longer a poor, ulcerated beggar--he will make a fit and suitable preacher! They know that he is dead. They will be greatly affected by his appearance among them, and by the change that has taken place in him. O, send Lazarus, and let him bear testimony to the reality of this place of torment--to the certainty of all impenitent sinners coming here, however rich or distinguished they were on earth. Let Lazarus testify as to the nature of this place of torment, and tell them that their poor brother is in flames--tormenting flames, inextinguishable flames! Tell them that I am denied one solitary drop of water, or anything which will in any way alleviate my dreadful sufferings! Let him assure them . . .

• That Hell is real,
• That the punishment is most intense,
• That the sufferers are immortal,
• That annihilation is a fiction, and
• That deliverance from this fearful agony is impossible!

Let, O let him tell them, that once here, they are here forever! Forever! Forever!

And, O let him warn them of the folly, the madness--of neglecting the soul and its salvation. Let him testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment! It is possible. It is probable. It is certain--if they live and die in sin as I did!"

That poor wretch dreaded their coming there, for if anything could add to his torments--it would be to see his own brothers under the same condemnation, in the same horrid place of punishment! He also dreaded it, as most probably by his own example, and by his influence--he had hardened them in sin, and encouraged them in their ungodly course. It would therefore be an aggravation of his woe, and cause the flame that tormented him to blaze more fiercely--to see their eternal sufferings as his own fault.

It must be dreadful--to be the cause or the occasion of another's soul being lost forever, and to have the sufferings of that soul constantly before our eyes!

O what a terrible thing, the exercise of a strong memory in Hell must be!

How is it with you? Inquire, inquire diligently, I beseech you! Is there any, even the most remote probability of your being sent into that place of torment? Think . . .

• of being tormented in flames of fire,
• of being tormented without the least alleviation,
• and of being so tormented forever and ever!

Think of going directly from the bright land of hope--to the dismal regions of despair!

Think of going from a land of light, of Bibles, of the means of grace--to suffer the vengeance of eternal fire!

Is not the thought dreadful!

If Hell was to be the doom of your greatest enemy--would you not try to prevent it? What, then, if it should be the doom of your brothers, your sisters, your husband, your wife, your father, your mother! Can you admit the possibility, without being determined to leave no means unused, which would be likely to prevent so fearful a calamity?

But what if Hell should be the destiny of your own soul? What if it should! It will be your certain doom--if you die unconverted. Perhaps there are some now in Hell, once related to you--who are now concerned for you. Are you as much concerned for yourself?

Have you not some dear ones on the road to Hell--for whom you should be especially concerned?

 

You might want to read the whole of James Smith's powerful short article, "The Lost Soul's Request!"

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

by Mike Ratliff
at the Possessing the Treasure Blog

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Galatians 3:10-11 ESV)

As has been clearly shown, the easy-believism “gospel” as well as any version of it that either calls for more works (i.e. piety) on the part of the believer over and above believing the Gospel and receiving Christ as Lord and Savior or suggests that the saving work of Christ on the Cross was not “sufficient enough” to cover the sins of the those He came to save, therefore they must somehow achieve perfection on their own or enter into some form of purgatory after death to make up for that, are perversions of what is clearly taught in God’s Word. They are based on the presupposition that God has created salvation in a man-centered, law-based, works-righteousness oriented way that is found nowhere in Sacred Scripture. The correct presupposition, being Biblically based, we will explore in this post and will focus primarily on Hebrews 10:1-18.

Here is Hebrews 10:1 from the ESV, 

“For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.”

Here is Hebrews 10:1 from the NA27 Greek text, “Σκιὰν γὰρ ἔχων ὁ νόμος τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν, οὐκ αὐτὴν τὴν εἰκόνα τῶν πραγμάτων, κατ᾽ ἐνιαυτὸν ταῖς αὐταῖς θυσίαις ἃς προσφέρουσιν εἰς τὸ διηνεκὲς οὐδέποτε δύναται τοὺς προσερχομένους τελειῶσαι·”

The word the ESV translates as “a shadow,” is the noun σκιὰν, which is the Accusative, Singular form of σκία or skia, “a shadow, a fore-shadowing, a vague outline. It is in distinction from a perfect image or delineation or reality.” The author of Hebrews and, therefore, the Holy Spirit, is telling believers that the law is not the reality that contains the good things, but only a foreshadowing of those good things. It is like the shadow of a person. The shadow is not the person, but only a vague outline of him or her. The person is the true person. So, God is telling us that the law is only but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of those realities. The law and its sacrifices were never intended to bring perfection to anyone, but only to be a foreshadowing of what is to come. Notice also in this verse the need and requirement. We do all have that desperate need to draw near unto God, but none of us can because we are not holy while God is. Only those who have been made perfect can draw near and the law and its sacrifices are unable to do that.

Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. (Hebrews 10:2-4 ESV)

In vv2-4 we see the clear reasoning that shows us why the law and it sacrifices were done away with when the Gospel came. The annual sacrifices did not cleanse anyone’s conscience. They did not do away with the need to repeating the need of the annual sacrifice and we see why in v4. What is needed instead of the blood of bulls and goats to take away our sins?

Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I aid, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’” When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:5-10 ESV

Here we see that Jesus Christ came to live a perfect, sinless life, that is, to do the will of the God, to become the perfect living sacrifice acceptable to God to be propititiation for those He came to save. In doing this, He did away with the need of the shadows. Through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all, the debt was paid. This is why heresies like purgatory are so heinous. I have also had people contact me and tell me that I have been preaching heresy and leading people on with all this Gospel stuff because, “What about when these people sin the next time?” Well, doesn’t Hebrews 10:10 settle that? That verse tells us that those who are justified by Faith (saved) are also sanctified (positionally) in Christ. That means they are holy in God’s eyes because they are hidden in Christ and posses His holiness not their own. His Holiness was imputed to their account.

And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. (Hebrews 10:11-18 ESV)

My brethren, carefully read this passage. Christ’s work is 100% finished. All that remains is coming in the fulfillment of His Kingdom until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet, but that work of redemption, the atonement on behalf of His people is DONE. There is no purgatory. There is no work of further redemption on their part they have to do. Yes, this passage does talk about our progressive sanctification, but that is talking about our spiritual growth and maturing in Christ and becoming more humble and less and less like the world. Notice also, that those in Christ do have God’s laws on their hearts and minds and they are totally forgiven. Therefore, there is no need for any temple with a sacrificial system where there are animals being slaughtered to cover our sins. That was only a shadow of what we have in Christ right now my brethren.

Therefore, as we share our faith we must have the correct presupposition of the Gospel and that is that the Law and its sacrifices were only a shadow. We use the Law to show us our need for a Savior and that need was totally fulfilled in Christ.

Shallow Small Group Bible Study

I came across an hysterical parody of the small group movement…from RightNowTraining.org and it is absolutely hysterical and is completely on target about the shallowness of the “Small Group” Bible Study movement.  From its’ description:

“Does being in a small group Bible study really change anything or is it just something to do? This funny video illustration is a challenge for small groups to use their combined time and talent to make a difference.

A Video Illustration for Church worship services, Bible Study groups, youth ministries, and Christian Business leaders.”

Does being in a small Group Really Change Anything?

Enjoy!

A Great Debt, Who Can Pay?

Reposted from the “Stand to Reason Website”

Harry Ironside used to tell about a young Russian soldier. Because his father was a friend of Czar Nicholas I, the young man had been made paymaster in one of the barracks.

The young man meant well, but his character was not up to his responsibility. He took to gambling and eventually gambled away a great deal of the government's money as well as all of his own.

In due course the young man received notice that a representative of the czar was coming to check accounts, and he knew he was in trouble.

That evening he got out the books and totaled up the funds he owed. Then he went to the safe and got out his own pitifully small amount of money. As he sat and looked at the two he was overwhelmed at the astronomical debt versus his own small change. He was ruined! He knew he would be disgraced.

At last the young soldier determined to take his life. He pulled out his revolver, placed it on the table before him, and wrote a summation of his misdeeds. At the bottom of the ledger where he had totaled up his illegal borrowings, he wrote: “A great debt! Who can pay?” He decided that at the stroke of midnight he would die.

As the evening wore on the young soldier grew drowsy and eventually fell asleep. That night Czar Nicholas I, as was sometimes his custom, made the rounds of the barracks. Seeing a light, he stopped, looked in, and saw the young man asleep. He recognized him immediately and, looking over his shoulder, saw the ledger and realized all that had taken place.

He was about to awaken him and put him under arrest when his eye fastened on the young man's message: “A great debt! Who can pay?”
Suddenly, with a surge of magnanimity, he reached over, wrote one word at the bottom of the ledger, and slipped out.

When the young man awoke, he glanced at the clock and saw that it was long after midnight. He reached for his revolver to shoot himself. But his eye fell upon the ledger and he saw something that he had not seen before. There beneath his writing: “A great debt! Who can pay?” was written, “Nicholas.”

He was dumbfounded. It was the Czar's signature. He said to himself, “The czar must have come by when I was asleep. He has seen the book. He knows all. Still he is willing to forgive me.”

The young soldier then rested on the word of the czar, and the next morning a messenger came from the palace with exactly the amount needed to meet the deficit. Only the czar could pay, and the czar did pay.

We compare [God's righteousness] with our own tawdry performance, and we ask the question: “A great debt to God! Who can pay?” But then the Lord Jesus Christ steps forward and signs His name to our ledger: “Jesus Christ.”

Only Jesus can pay, and He did.

Gandhi Needed a Savior Too…

[So many, in their time confused zeal to be “nice people” make terrible mistakes. Sometimes it is simply because they are very compassionate. Other times, however, it is because there are other things going on in their minds and lives. Over the past weeks and months there has been a great debate over recent book published by a man named Rob Bell, named “Love Wins”. The book ends up making virtually a bold face claim for pluralism as opposed to the orthodox position of Christianity. This piece from the Kairos Journal speaks to the issue very well.]

It is amazing how many celebrities wreck themselves trying to ride a motorcycle. The long list includes Bob Dylan, Ben Roethlisberger, Gary Busey, Liam Neeson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, T.E. Lawrence, Keanu Reeves, Duane Allman, and French actor Gerard Depardieu, who has been in over a dozen crashes, one of them breaking a leg in five places. But he keeps riding, saying he will never be able to give up the “feeling of freedom.”^[1]

The sight of professing Christians, indeed professing preachers, going goofy over Gandhi, can remind one of the amateur motorcycle enthusiasts enjoying the frisson (a sudden strong feeling of excitement or fear; a thrill: "a frisson of excitement”) of their first rides. Despite generous biblical warning, they jump on the Gandhi machine and roar down the road toward pluralism. No doubt it makes them feel good and the waves and cheers from the sidewalks can be intoxicating. But the cost is dreadful.

Which brings one to Rob Bell, author of the hot-seller, Love Wins.

He begins his book with an anecdote and some “penetrating” questions. His church held a “peacemaking” art show, and one of the pieces featured a quote from Gandhi. When someone attached a piece of paper saying, “Reality check: He’s in hell,” Bell headed to the Harley dealership:

• Really?
• Gandhi’s in hell?
• He is?
• We have confirmation of this?
• Somebody knows this?
• Without a doubt?
• And that somebody decided to take on the responsibility of letting the rest of us know?^[2]

First, it’s important to note what he doesn’t say. He might have attempted a conciliatory defense, something like this:

“Granted that Gandhi needed to accept Jesus as his Savior and that, without Christ, he did, indeed, face hell, we can still appreciate some of his words. And though this is a Church-sponsored show, it doesn’t hurt to draw from outside sources for wisdom. Indeed, all truth is God’s truth. Besides, the Mahatma might have privately turned to the Lord for salvation in the days or moments before his death. We’ll never know this side of the grave. We can only pray that he had a heart change which he didn’t have time to express.”

Of course, Bell has no taste for this. He’s saying something else – that such a great, sensitive guy as Gandhi may well have gotten into heaven on some sort of great-sensitive-guy track.

Actually, he doesn’t quite have the umph to say this, so he goes the haughty-question route, which protects the “inquirer” from heresy charges, even elevating him above the merely orthodox to the higher plane of disinterested, non-parochial reflection. This approach is akin to that taken by those who want to slam something but they prefer to test the waters before they commit, as in, “What did you think of today’s chapel speaker?” A bit less than manly, one might say.

Bell needs to catch up on his reading. He might start with Richard Grenier’s 1983 book, The Gandhi Nobody Knows, a reaction to adulation generated by Richard Attenborough’s worshipful and Oscar-winning film, Gandhi.^[3] Or Andrew Roberts’ “Among the Hagiographers” in the March 26, 2011, Wall Street Journal. His review of the new Gandhi bio, Great Soul by Joseph Lelyveld, picks up on the book’s evidences that Gandhi was in no position to stand in the Judgment on his own merits.^[4]

These sources reveal that he was callous toward his wife and kids. He was contemptuous of God’s good gift of sexual intimacy within marriage while, at the same time, taking grotesque liberties in intimacy, even having his 17-year-old niece sleep nude with him to test his restraint. Though he softened his stance toward “untouchables,” renaming them “children of God,” he never rejected the Hindu classification system. He urged the English to surrender to Hitler, while he, himself, refused to surrender to Christ. And one can read the rest.

Of course, Gandhi was lucky that he took on Christendom’s Brits. His efforts would not have gone down so well had the colonialists been Muslim, Shinto, or Stalinist. And he has been very lucky to enjoy the adulation those inclined to declare him spiritually acceptable if not transcendent. But it is time for a reality check. As Jesus said, in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” That is true for Gandhi as well as for everyone else.

[As we have said many times before there is only One Name, given among men whereby we must be saved and that Name is the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Thanks again to the Kairos Journal for this edifying and greatly challenging article…]

___________________________________

^[1] Sandy Wood, “A Disturbingly Long List of Celebrity Motorbike Crash-ups,” Mental Floss, September 27, 2007, https://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/8265 (Accessed May 10, 2011).

^[2] Rob Bell, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived (New York: HarperOne, 2011), 1-2.

^[3] Richard Grenier, The Gandhi Nobody Knows (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983), 34. The essay first appeared in Commentary, March, 1983.

^[4] Andrew Roberts, “Among the Hagiographers,” Wall Street Journal, March 26, 2011, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703529004576160371482469358.html (Accessed May 10, 2011).

Capturing Every Thought for Christ

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments 5 and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

[I came across this very edifying and encouraging piece as a part of the Kairos Journal.  It speaks eloquently to the issue of military imagery in the Scripture.  So many voices today cry out against any kind of such imagery and give the impression that any such thinking is evil at its root and is therefore unacceptable in any spiritual setting.  This article does a wonderful job of underscoring for us how Paul uses such imagery to convey spiritual necessity.]

 

Contrary to those who wish to sterilize the Bible of its military images, the text of Scripture is suffused with military metaphors. Indeed, Christians are called to be faithful soldiers, even donning armor with swords and shields (cf. Eph. 6:10 ff). Nevertheless, it is important to remember who the enemies are and where the battle lines are drawn.

By the time the Apostle Paul wrote 2 Corinthians, enemies of the gospel of Christ had determined that the best means of attacking the gospel was to undermine the authority of God’s spokesmen. Paul’s epistle to the Corinthians is a rebuttal to his opponent’s arguments. Yet, in this text, the apostle points out that the true enemies are not other persons, but their arguments. Consequently, the way to do battle is shaped by understanding the real enemy.

Because the battle was not a “fleshly” battle, but a spiritual one, Paul trusted only spiritual weapons. Rather than appealing to the shallow desire of the Corinthians for persuasive rhetoric (1 Cor. 1:18-25) or outward appearances (2 Cor. 4:16-18), the apostle preferred the efficacy of divine power. As Paul explained earlier in 2 Corinthians 3, believers are those whose understanding is no longer darkened as if by a veil; they are “ministers of a new covenant.” Miraculously, “through the Lord who is the Spirit,” they see the world clearly - a stark contrast to “the unbelievers” whose “minds have been blinded by the god of this world” (2 Cor. 3:15-18; 4:3-4). If such people are going to be reached, it will require a power beyond earthly devices. Consequently, the Spirit goes to war on the Christian’s behalf.

Paul’s call for spiritual soldiering was no retreat from sound thinking, however. He spoke of arguments to be undermined and destroyed - those that oppose the knowledge of God. Paul faced a multitude of erroneous assertions - including that he was not a true apostle and was only passing himself off as one for self-aggrandizement. Thus, his strategy involved using Word - empowered reasoning to tear down barriers erected against the truth (cf. Acts 17:16-34; 18:4; 19:8-10). But Paul did not stop with the task of demolishing falsehood; his goal was “to take every thought captive to obey Christ” (v. 5). This remarkable phrase can be rendered “to take as prisoner of war.”[1] Every thought that is in rebellion to God must be made a prisoner of war and be made to submit to the authority of God in Christ Jesus as Lord.

The battle for the hearts and minds of men will be won on the battlefield of ideas. Bad arguments must be tracked down and brought into captivity to the lordship of Christ, because ideas capture minds and create worldviews. Mindless Christianity will be heartless Christianity. Heartless Christianity is deadly.

Being a Christian in the world means not doing battle the way the world does battle. By giving true spiritual wisdom, God helps the believer to love his enemy—at the same time he is deconstructing sinful ways of thinking. Since every thought is to be brought into captivity to Christ, believers are called to capture every arena of human endeavor for Christ. Christians should bring everything from architecture to zoology under His lordship. Urban planning, environmental science, politics, and international relations are worthy callings alongside church worship, evangelism training, or seminary teaching. Every domain of thought represents important territory to be occupied for Christ. Faithful soldiers of Christ engage the enemy with confidence and courage, remembering that ultimately “the battle is the Lord’s,” and He is already victorious!

---

[1]       Ralph P. Martin, 2 Corinthians, in Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 40 (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1986), 306.

               

Worldview Controls How One Interprets Events…

Philip Scott Andrews/The New York Times

I came across a very interesting article in the New York Times this morning.  That recounted the tale of a peace corps volunteer in Bangladesh.

Jess Smochek arrived in Bangladesh in 2004 as a 23-year-old Peace Corps volunteer with dreams of teaching English and “helping the world.” She left six weeks later a rape victim after being brutalized in an alley by a knife-wielding gang.

When she returned to the United States, the reception she received from Peace Corps officials was as devastating, she said, as the rape itself. In Bangladesh, she had been given scant medical care; in Washington, a counselor implied that she was to blame for the attack. For years she kept quiet, feeling “ashamed and embarrassed and guilty.”

Today, Ms. Smochek is among a growing group of former Peace Corps volunteers who are speaking out about their sexual assaults, prompting scrutiny from Congress and a pledge from the agency for reform. In going public, they are exposing an ugly sliver of life in the Peace Corps: the dangers that volunteers face in far-flung corners of the world and the inconsistent — and, some say, callous — treatment they receive when they become crime victims.

It is very interesting how often the worldview of such organizations gets in the way of their treatment of their volunteers and even of those that they’re trying to serve.  The Peace Corp is a liberal world service organization that has dedicated itself to helping the poor and needy around the world.  They normally dedicate themselves to the support of any liberal cause that comes down to block.  One would think that they would be fully supportive of all “liberal” positions, and that this would include women’s rights and that they would take steps to see to it that the women in their units were not mistreated.

But that is not so.  This is not the first time that their volunteers have been “expendable”.  But it is the first time, that I know of, that the worldview of the “liberal” has been this clear.

Their reasoning goes something like this:

• The poor unfortunates in Bangladesh are there and in the condition that they are in because of poverty and circumstances.
• It might also be that the oppression of colonialism and the expansionism of Britain and the United States has played not a little part in both where they are and their mental and emotional and outlook.
• The expressions of their actions, therefore, are not their own fault.  Because after all, men are born basically good!  Behavior shown in their lives is the result of factors outside of themselves, and is not a result of their own nature.
• Because this is true, and of a real way first, they cannot help it.  Secondly, the real blame lies on: you guessed it!

How different this is that the way that the Scripture portrays the circumstances in which men live.  While the Bible does not ignore the fact that men sometimes live in horrible circumstances; it does not allow them to pass the blame for their behavior in those circumstances to others.  The Bible calls adult and rational human beings to be accountable for their own behavior.

Romans chapters 1 through 3 makes it very clear that all men in all places at all times and had it made clear to them that there is a God and that they are accountable to him. Romans 1:19 says:

because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.

God himself has shown

it to them.  He has not allowed it to remain in the hands of other human beings.  Man has an inner witness of the truth that there is a God and that he is accountable to that God.  The problem is, as that passage goes on to say very, very clearly, that man has universally rebelled against that knowledge and rejected it.

Because we know God is a just and faithful God, one that is true to His Word and to His Promises.  It is fair to say that should any man anywhere and anytime have responded to that inner witness in a positive fashion then God would have seen to it that they received the object of knowledge necessary to come to a saving knowledge of Christ.  We dare not come to the conclusion that any name for God in any culture would have been acceptable to Him.  Once again, the scripture is very, very clear.  In Acts 4:12 Luke said:

Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

There is no other name!

But that is not the way the unredeemed see it.  Of course, they don’t even see men in terms of being “unredeemed”.  Rather, they follow today after the example of men throughout history and see to set men up as his own “god”.  How desperately said and tragic!

More God, Less Crime - The Evidence is There

by Charles Colson
From the Breakpoint Website

In 1993, I received the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion at an award ceremony in Buckingham Palace. I represented the thousands upon thousands of Prison Fellowship volunteers and staff who are offering the hope of new life in Christ to prisoners around the world.

I was honored to stand next to Prince Philip when he gave me the medal. We were surrounded by dignitaries. Then the Prince asked me, “Mr. Colson, what can we do about juvenile crime here in England?” I told him: “Send more young British children to Sunday school.” He smiled, thinking I was joking. I think I shocked some of the dignitaries, who no doubt thought I was being a bit cheeky.

I was deadly serious. I told the Prince,

“Professor Christie Davies at the University of Reading conducted a study that showed when Sunday school attendance was highest in England, crime was lowest. Conversely, when Sunday school attendance declined, the crime rate increased.” So I said to him, “Send young boys to Sunday school so they can be taught the basics of Christian morality.”

“Pretty good idea!” Prince Philip replied.

A pretty good idea, indeed. And it’s an idea that is being proved right again and again. In yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, the eminent social scientist James Q. Wilson reviewed Baylor professor Byron Johnson’s new book, More God, Less Crime.

In researching his book, Johnson looked for every study “that measured the possible effect of religion on crime” published between 1944 and 2010. In case you were wondering, there were 273 of them.

Wilson noted that according to 90 percent of those studies “more religiosity resulted in less crime.” While Wilson cautioned that a lack of statistical controls makes these numbers hard to evaluate, Wilson wrote that the sheer number of studies showing the positive effect on religion offsets their potential weaknesses in methodology.

Wilson, the preeminent man in the field, pointed to a landmark 1986 study conducted by Harvard economist Richard Freeman, who found that “going to church is associated with substantial differences in how young men behave. More churchgoing, less crime, less alcohol and fewer drugs.”

And, Wilson suggests, among studies of actual prisoners the “strongest results” come from Prison Fellowship, particularly Johnson’s own study of our InnerChange Freedom Initiative in Texas.

When you compared a group of similar Texas prisoners to the InnerChange Freedom Initiative graduates, you see that after two years the post-release re-incarceration rate is 8 percent for our graduates against 20.3 percent for the matched comparison group.

These results, and the mountain of evidence showing that religion makes a difference, are enough for great scholars like Wilson to take notice.

Unsurprisingly enough, it’s not enough for many of our secularist, academic elite. Johnson was dismissed some years ago from the University of Memphis because his research on crime and religion -- and his Christian views -- meant that he “simply didn’t fit in.”

But what Johnson’s book More God, Less Crime shows so clearly, is that we’ve been right all along: The Gospel changes lives, and it’s the best hope for keeping men and women out of prison.

The evidence is clear, and it’s a great testimony. We just need eyes to see it.

[From Pastor Farrow - And isn’t that the problem? The unredeemed do not have eyes to see or ears to hear.  I very much appreciate what Mr. Colson says by there are places where he falls sadly short many times and this is one of those places - the area of apologetics - he embraces an Arminian apologetic - that is he believes (or his writings see to indicate that he does) that the right information can enable someone to do what is pleasing to God.  That is not what the Bible teaches; the Bible teaches that men are depraved and need the intercession of God and His Spirit; applying the preached or shared Word of God to change the nature in order to bring one to Salvation.

But that aside, Mr. Colson makes an excellent point here…secular programs cannot win the say in society.  They can only, ultimately make things worse.  No matter what their intentions, until men recognize their wicked natures  and cry out God for salvation, they’ll never go anywhere but downhill.]

Rejoice in the Murder of Jesus

by Joel Taylor
From the 5 Pt. Salt Blog

[From Pastor Bill - We talked in our morning service this past Sunday about “What Justice Looks Like” and took some time to discuss the problem of believers rejoicing over the demise of any wicked person, no matter what they have done, no matter what their actions, as their death ushers them into God’s presence and thus into His judgment for all eternity.  Though we can surely be glad that such a terror is gone, and rejoice that he will no longer do or inspire the horrible things that he and his organization did (not that others may not pick up where he left off…); we ought to be sober and think with a kind of sadness, as Jesus did when looking and weeping over Jerusalem, when we think of the hardness of heart and the deception that blinded this man’s eyes to the very end. 

When we see men rejoicing over his killing, as Biblical Christians, we ought to be conflicted.  There are some who are saying that our Seals went in and executed bin Laden, and while I am not by any means a legal mind, it seems to me that is not far from the truth.  It is also not far from the truth that he (bin Laden) badly needed and deserved executing.  Hidden and protected where he was; ill and feeble (apparently as accounts tell us) it is clear that he would never be brought to conventional justice. And so, much as I dislike our President, I give him credit for acting when he had the opportunity.

As I watched the various groups rejoicing over the news of bin Laden’s killing, one of things I couldn’t help thinking of was the killing our Lord on that day so long ago. Joel Taylor over at the 5 Point Salt Blog talked about this very ably:]

  

The Murder of Jesus

If Jesus died merely to set an example, what example would that be? If His death was some kind of humanitarian lesson, what was that lesson? He was murdered. Executed. His death was a death of capital punishment. He died the death of traitors, murderers and robbers. Why wouldn’t we be angry that an innocent man died such an unjust death? If that was all it amounted to, it is the ultimate act of social injustice. His moral teaching was rejected by everyone, as was demonstrated by His crucifixion. A murderous rebel was asked to be released in His place. But in this we see what He actually was accomplishing at the cross. Jesus didn’t die merely to set an example of selflessness; He died as the selfless Savior in the place of selfish man. As Isaiah explained 730 years before,

“He was wounded for our transgressions; bruised for our iniquities…by His stripes we are healed”
(Isaiah 53).

Christians rejoice in the death of Jesus because He was sacrificed in their place. He, Himself, took the wrath of God that we deserve for our sin. Far from being something that we should mourn over, the murder of Jesus is the greatest cause of rejoicing. Its efficacy is attested to in His resurrection from the dead. God the Father accepted the sacrifice of Christ as a suitable sacrifice for the sins of His people. When the Father saw the blood of His infinitely beloved Son poured out at Calvary, His just wrath was satisfied. He gave proof of this by raising Him from the dead.

Innumerable voices tell us to leave the supernatural out of the Bible; but, to do so is to divest Christ’s death of all meaning. It is to rob Jesus of all glory and power; and make His death a meaningless act of stupidity for which we ought to mourn. If no one gets saved by the death of Jesus, it was all in vain. It also makes the ethical teachings of Jesus the most pathetic attempt at reform the world has ever seen. If Jesus was merely a man, why would anyone listen to Him. His message was essentially: “You must be perfect. You’re all messed up. I’m perfect. Come to me and I’ll heal you.” But, as God manifest in the flesh, we find in His death the complete eternal salvation of all who believe in Him. So to all the people in the world today who are burdened by the weight of your failure to live up to the ethical standard of perfection, rejoice in the murder of Jesus. Mourn over your sin, while you joyfully look to the one who is “Just and the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

[Pastor Bill Farrow - How very different the death of this killer who, for years now has had to hide caves and secret places to avoid the punishment he deserved, from the Son of God who came and sought out the authorities and presented Himself to them – freely and openly – challenging them saying

“No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” (John 10:18)

We that God for One Who came and gave Himself for His people, rather than requiring them to give themselves for his purposes he lives in some splendid place…Amen?]

Shake Yourself From the Dust & Arise

God’s people are stirred up to appear vigorous for their own deliverance, v. 1, 2. They had desired that God would awake and put on his strength, ch.51:9. Here he calls upon them to awake and put on their strength, to bestir themselves; let them awake from their despondency, and pluck up their spirits, encourage themselves and one another with the hope that all will be well yet, and no longer succumb and sink under their burden. Let them awake from their distrust, look above them, look about them, look into the promises, look into the providences of God that were working for them, and let them raise their expectations of great things from God. Let them awake from their dullness, sluggishness, and incogitancy, and raise up their endeavours, not to take any irregular courses for their own relief, contrary to the law of nations concerning captives, but to use all likely means to recommend themselves to the favour of the conqueror and make an interest with him.

1 Awake, awake,
put on your strength, O Zion;
put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city;
for there shall no more come into you
the uncircumcised and the unclean.
2 Shake yourself from the dust and arise;
be seated, O Jerusalem;
loose the bonds from your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion. (Isaiah 52:1-2)

[Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem] - A call is given for Zion to awake from drunkenness and clothe herself in garments of honor and dignity provided by the Lord. Foreign invaders will no longer control the city at the time of her final restoration. The pinnacle of Zion is told to put on thy strength, and the city of Jerusalem is told to put on her beautiful garments (robes). She shall no longer be a servant girl, trodden underfoot by the gentile nations; but she shall once again be the holy city. Zion and Jerusalem, the holy city, are the subjects here, not Samaria and the destroyed ten tribes. They are to put off their garments of sackcloth, the ashes, and all signs of mourning, slavery and captivity, and put on prosperity.

[beautiful garments.] Jerusalem is pictured as magnificently dressed as a royal wife (61:10; Rev. 3:4, 5, 18; 4:4; compare 47:1–3).

[the holy city] There are two holy cities in Scripture:

1. Earthly Jerusalem ( Isa. 52:1 ; Dan. 9:24 ; Rev. 11:2 )
2. Heavenly Jerusalem ( Heb. 12:22 ; Rev. 21:2 ; 22:19 )

[holy city] Earthly Jerusalem is called holy because of being chosen and set apart as the location of divine worship ( Zech. 14:16-21 ) and the sacred capital of the Messiah for all eternity ( Isa. 2:2-4 62:7 ; 1Chr. 23:25 ; Ps. 102:21 ; Jer. 3:17 ; Ezek. 43:7 ; 48:35 ).

[no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean] This proves a future fulfillment beyond doubt ( Isa. 35:8-10 Zech. 14:16-21 ).

[the uncircumcised and the unclean.] The wicked will have no share in the city of God (48:22; Nah. 1:15; Rev. 21:27; 22:14, 15).

Verse 2
When he says [shake off your dust,] let us not on that account think that our liberty is in our power, so that we can obtain it whenever we think fit; only God can raise us from the dust or lift us up when we are prostrate and, by breaking or loosing our chains, set us at liberty. Why then does the prophet use the imperative? It is unreasonable to demand what we cannot perform. The answer is that the imperative form of address has a much more powerful tendency to arouse than if he had employed plain narrative; therefore he declares that when God has restored her to her former freedom, she will come out of the mire.

[bands of thy neck] The bands of the neck could only refer to the chains by which conquered people were led into captivity. They were chained together in long lines until they reached their destination where they were sent into slavery or otherwise disposed of.

Charles Spurgeon notes a couple of things of good value here:
The first is that they should be reformed by their captivity: There shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean (v. 1); their idolatrous customs should be no more introduced, or at least not harboured; for when by the marriage of strange wives, in Ezra’s time and Nehemiah’s, the unclean crept in, they were soon by the vigilance and zeal of the magistrates expelled again, and care was taken that Jerusalem should be a holy city. Thus the gospel Jerusalem is purified by the blood of Christ and the grace of God, is purified by the blood of Christ and the grace of God, and made indeed a holy city.

Next, that they should be relieved and rescued out of that captivity, that the bands of their necks should be loosed, that they should not now be any longer oppressed, indeed, that they should not be any more invaded, as they had been: There shall no more come against thee (so it may be read) the uncircumcised and the clean. The heathen shall not again enter into God’s sanctuary and profane his temple. (Ps. 79:1)

This must be understood with a condition. If they keep close to God, and keep in with him, God will keep off, will keep out of the enemy; but, if they again corrupt themselves, Antiochus will profane their temple and the Romans will destroy it. However, for some time they shall have peace. And to this happy change, now approaching, they are here called to accommodate themselves.

• First, let them prepare for joy:

“Put on thy beautiful garments, no longer to appear in mourning weeds and the habit of thy widowhood. Put on a new face, a smiling countenance, now that a new and pleasant scene begins to open."

The beautiful garments were laid up then, when the harps were hung on the willow trees; but, now there is occasion for both, let both be resumed together.

“Put on thy strength, and, in order to that, put on thy beautiful garments, in token of triumph and rejoicing."

Note, The joy of the Lord will be our strength (Neh. 8:10), and our beautiful garments will serve for (Neh. 8:10), and our beautiful garments will serve for armour of proof against the darts of temptation and trouble. And observe, Jerusalem must put on her beautiful garments when she becomes a holy city, for the beauty of holiness is the most amiable beauty, and the more holy we are the more cause we have to rejoice.

• Also, he says to let them prepare for liberty:

“Shake thyself from the dust in which thou hast lain, and into which thy proud oppressors have trodden thee (ch.51:23), or into which thou hast in thy extreme sorrow rolled thyself."

Arise, and set up; so it may be read.

“O Jerusalem! prepare to get clear of all the marks of servitude thou hast been under and to shift thy quarters: Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck; be inspired with generous principles and resolutions to assert thy own liberty."

The gospel proclaims liberty to those who were bound with fears and makes it their duty to take hold of their liberty. Let those who have been weary and heavily laden under the burden of sin, finding relief in Christ, shake themselves from the dust of their doubts and fears and loose themselves from those bands; for:

if the Son make them free, they shall be free indeed.

I Can Go On With My Work...

  

I am not certain of the source of this, but it is surely worth repeating…

As I was studying this week, in preparation for the sermon I preached this morning, I came across some interesting quotes from John MacArthur. MacArthur has been preaching about Genesis 3:16 and the consequence of the woman’s sin. And along the way he pauses to celebrate the impact of godly mothers. This seemed rather appropriate for Mother’s Day. So here it is.

I think about Susanna Wesley, wife of a pastor and mother of 19 children. She’s gone down in Christian history as one of the greatest mothers. Here are some of her rules. Here are the rules she kept.

1. No child was to be given a thing because he cried for it. If a child wanted to cry, cry softly. Nineteen children and it says, in her house was rarely heard loud cries.
2. Second rule, no eating and drinking between meals except when sick.
3. Rule number three, sleeping was also regulated. When very small the child was given three hours in the morning and three in the afternoon. This was shortened until no sleeping was allowed during the daytime to be productive.
4. Four, punctually the little ones were laid in the cradle and rocked to sleep. At seven P.M. each child was put to bed, at 8 P.M. she left the room. She never allowed herself to sit by the bed until the children went to sleep.
5. The little ones, fifthly, had their own table near the main table. When they could handle fork and knife they were promoted to the family table. That is a great idea.
6. Sixth, each one must eat and drink everything before him.
7. Seventh, children must address each other as sister and brother.
8. Eighth, she never allowed herself to show through her ill temper or by scolding, she would always explain and explain.
9. Listen, she spent one hour each day shut up with God alone in her room praying for every one of her children, and her two sons under God brought revival to England while France was bathed in a bloody war. We know about John Wesley, but maybe behind all of that was a godly mother, surely that’s true.

G. Campbell Morgan, that great preacher said, quote:

“My dedication to the preaching of the Word was maternal. Mother never told it to the baby or the boy, but waited. When but eight years old I preached to my little sister and to her dolls arrayed in orderly form before me, my sermons were Bible stories which I had first heard from my mother.”

And G. Campbell Morgan, by the way, had four sons, all four of whom became preachers. And on one occasion when G. Campbell Morgan was explaining all the preachers in his family, someone said to him, “Who is the greatest preacher in your family?” And he replied without hesitation, “My mother.”

Joseph Parker once said that when Robert Moffat was added to the Kingdom of God, a whole continent was added as well and a mother’s kiss did it.

Charles Spurgeon’s father once told Dr. Ford, an American minister, how when he had been taken away from home a good deal trying to build up congregations, there came a conviction that he was neglecting the religious training of his own children. So he decided that he would preach less. On returning home he opened the door and was surprised to find none of the children around the hall. Ascending the stairs he heard his wife’s voice and knew that she was engaged in prayer. One by one she named the children. When she had finished her petition and instruction, Spurgeon said, “I can go on with my work, the children are well cared for.”

Will You Waste Your Life?

John Sampson over at Effectual Grace has put out a great Sermon Jam - a collection of sermon bits from a number of preachers that urges us to take the horns of our lives and move forward be the men and women that God desires us to be! It is a marvelous listen and as challenging a piece of preaching as I heard in a while... Let's go and be what desires us to be!

He Is No Fool...

This is a clip from the notebook of Missionary Jim Elliot, written just a bare 2 months before he was martyred by the Waodani as he shared the gospel with them in South America.
It has become one of the best known and truest bywords and fundamentals for Christian living that we know of today.

“He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose…”

Note that he ties it to Luke 16:9:

9 “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home."

I love his next comment - musing over the priest who, reasoning that the 30 pieces of silver were “unfit” for the treasury, made sure he had all thirty, because they were fit for philanthropy - to bury strangers in! His conclusion about the coldness and without feeling and obdurate man’s heart is is right on target!

William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy and Margaret of Scotland

According to tradition, following the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, captured the English throne. As a result, Edgar the Atheling of England was unable to secure his rightful claim to the English crown and thus decided to return to Hungary, where he had lived previously with his exiled father. Joined by his sister, Margaret, Edward set sail from England for the continent. However, a storm forced their ship north to the rocky shores of Scotland. The king of Scotland, Malcolm III (d. 1093), extended hospitality to the English family and, in time, took Edward’s sister, Margaret, to be his wife. While Edgar continued his struggle for the English throne, Margaret dedicated herself to her husband and to the people of Scotland.

Queen Margaret of Scotland (c. 1045–1093) is barely mentioned in the annals of church history. Nevertheless, she was used of God mightily in eleventh-century Scotland. While the first crusade raged, while schism rent the church in the East, and while Anselm ministered in her homeland of England, Margaret was on her knees praying earnestly for her husband, the king of Scotland. Legend has it that as a new queen, Margaret would quietly slip out at night to a nearby cavern to pray for her husband’s conversion to Christ. At first, she was suspected of treason in plotting against her husband’s kingdom; however, she was vindicated in time as King Malcolm was converted and transformed, which, in turn, brought about transformation of his royal court and, ultimately, the nation of Scotland.

Margaret was a pious woman whom God set forth as an example of Christian character, holiness, and worship. The ladies of her court and many ladies of Scotland esteemed her highly and imitated her example of humility, prayer, and service. Margaret was a woman of the Word who immersed herself in the Gospel accounts of Jesus Christ. (Incidentally, her book of the Gospels remains one of England’s great treasures to this day, as it stands on display at Oxford’s Bodleian Library.)

In addition to her own eight children, she adopted and raised nine orphans. She had a passion for the church, as she personally sponsored the construction and ministries of countless new churches and the revitalization of dilapidated churches. By her own consistent pattern of Lord’s Day worship and rest, the king and court eventually followed suit, and Sunday once again became a day of worship, rest, and service. Margaret was a reformer before the Reformation and an example to us all as she lived justly, loved kindness, and walked humbly before the face of God.

Urban Legends - The Biblical Edition

Those of us who are entrusted with the task of expositing the Scriptures in a local church must take care to verify our sources, illustrations, and stories. No matter how helpful an illustration may be, it is dishonoring to God if it is untrue.

Here are a number of urban legends that get repeated in sermons. Some are more pervasive than others, even appearing in commentaries and scholarly works.

1. The “eye of the needle” refers to a gate outside Jerusalem.

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God,” says Jesus in Mark 10:25. Maybe you’ve heard of the gate in Jerusalem called the “eye of the needle.” The camel could pass through it only after stooping down and having all its baggage taken off.

The illustration is used in many sermons as an example of coming to God on our knees and without our baggage. The only problem is… there is no evidence for such a gate. The story has been around since the 15th century, but there isn’t a shred of evidence to support it.

2. The high priest tied a rope around his ankle so that others could drag him out of the Holy of Holies in case God struck him dead.

Various versions of this claim have been repeated by pastors, but it is a legend. It started in the Middle Ages and keeps getting repeated. There is no evidence for the claim in the Bible, the Apocrypha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Josephus, the Pseudepigrapha, the Talmud, Mishna or any other source. Furthermore, the thickness of the veil (three feet) would have precluded the possibility of a priest being dragged out anyway.

3. Scribes took baths, discarded their pens, washed their hands, etc. every time they wrote the name of God.

As a way of getting across the reverence of the Jewish and Christian scribes toward God, preachers like to describe the honor given to God’s name. Unfortunately, there’s no evidence that scribes did these sorts of rituals every time they came across the name of God.

4. There was this saying among the sages: “May you be covered in your rabbi’s dust.”

This is one of the most pervasive and fast-spreading stories to flood the church in recent years. The idea is that as you walked behind your rabbi, he would kick up dust and you would become caked in it and so following your rabbi closely came to symbolize your commitment and zeal. Joel Willitts explains:

This is powerful stuff isn’t it? Well the only problem is that it just sn’t true… The context in which it is given in Mishnah Aboth 1:4 is expressly not what is assumed by those who promulgate this idea.

5. Voltaire’s house is now owned by a Bible-printing publisher.

Voltaire was famous for saying, “One hundred years from my day there will not be a Bible in the earth except one that is looked upon by an antiquarian curiosity seeker.” There is a myth out there that within 50 years of Voltaire’s death, his house was owned by a Bible society that used his own printing press to make Bibles. Sounds like a great story, but it’s not true. Regardless, Voltaire’s prediction of the demise of the Bible was vastly overstated.

6. Gehenna was a burning trash dump outside Jerusalem.

I’ve used this illustration many times. But there isn’t evidence to support this idea. Still, because it seems like a reasonable explanation for the origin of the Hinnom Valley as “hell,” commentators and preachers have accepted it. It’s possible that the verdict may still be out on this one, but not if Todd Bolen is right:

“The explanation for the ‘fire of Gehenna’ lies not in a burning trash dump, but in the burning of sacrificed children. Already in Old Testament times, the Valley of Hinnom was associated with the destiny of the wicked. That the valley was just outside the city of Jerusalem made it an appropriate symbol for those excluded from divine blessing.”

7. NASA scientists have discovered a “missing day” which corresponds to the Joshua account of the sun standing still.

Please don’t repeat this myth. There has been no “missing day” discovered, and the legend has been circulating longer than NASA has been in existence, with different scientists playing the part. Likewise, we might mention the persistent story of Darwin recanting on his deathbed…

8. The Eagle, the Sheep, and the Frog

How many sermons or illustrations have we heard revolving around the parenting skills of the eagle? The eagle teaching the maturing eaglet to fly by carrying it on its back, dropping it, catching it, dropping it, etc until the baby gets it. Or the teaching that shepherds break the legs of wandering sheep and carry them on their shoulders and the sheep love them for it? (It is my understanding that Bedouin shepherds look at you like you are crazy when you ask if they break the legs of runaway sheep. They simply don’t do it.) Neither has any basis whatsoever in truth. Neither has the frog in boiling water analogy. From everything that I have been able to find out, that isn’t true.

9. The Secret service and the Truth

We’ve all heard the one about how the Secret Service doesn’t train it’s agents to recognize forged money, it only trains them on what the real thing looks like. The moral of the story is usually something like, “Don’t worry about false teaching; just focus on the truth.” Well, it’s hooey! There is an extensive course that that the Service goes through (those who are at that end of the agency) in how to spot forged money - sorry. Makes a nice illustration though.

10. This “Body of Death” in Romans 7

It is often said that the Romans would punish murderers by tying the dead corpse to the back of the murderer and making them go around with the dead body on their back. This was supposed to be the background for the “body of death” in Romans 7. Sorry - no basis whatsoever either in the Bible or in history. (But once again - nice illustration!

11. One Taken and One Left Behind…

Much as I’d like this one to support what I believe…it don’t. When Jesus said, “just in the days of Noah, one will be taken, one will be ‘left behind’”, if you read the text in Genesis, you actually WANT to be left behind because the ones left behind are the ones saved, the others are taken into judgment. It is very, very easy to wreak havoc on the Bible according to one’s presuppositions if one is not very careful…

12. Oh My “Abba”

We read our 20-21st century informality in family relationships back into the first century and impose them on the word that Jesus applies to our Heavenly father. We think because we can informal and hip with our Daddy we can be thus with our Heavenly Father as well…not the case. There is wonderful relationship there, but is not the corrupted 21st century kind of relationship that often see.

Jeshurun Whom I Have Chosen

1 “But now hear, O Jacob my servant,
Israel whom I have chosen!
2 Thus says the Lord who made you,
who formed you from the womb and will help you:
Fear not, O Jacob my servant,
Jeshurun whom I have chosen.
3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.
4 They shall spring up among the grass
like willows by flowing streams.
5 This one will say, ‘I am the Lord's,’
another will call on the name of Jacob,
and another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord's,’
and name himself by the name of Israel.” (Isaiah 44:1-5)

Isaiah has been in the midst of the section of his book that has been reassuring Israel that, though God willing indeed judge them, that judgment will not be final. He will come to them, and He will restore them and revisit them. Given that terrible nature of Israel's crime, and the persistent nature of Israel's offense, we can only be amazed at the wonder of such a promise!

Further, when we look at passages like this, we are always moved to ask just who the full nature of "Israel" is that Isaiah is speaking? There are many who would maintain that the Israel of whom God, by means of Isaiah, speaks in these passages is not National Israel but rather is the "Spiritual Israel" of the New Covenant. They would argue that the Israel of the Old Testament, the National entity, forsook God and embraced idolatry, and that God gave them chance after chance. They might proclaim that this national entity was really only a picture of the coming spiritual entity to begin with. They would argue that real believers were taken from out of that national entity all along. They would point us to the promises of our Lord Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of these passages and tell us that National Israel has no part in the fulfillment of these wonderful passages.God cast them aside because of there sin and is finished with them, never to take up dealing with them again. The only part that any Israelite can have in the things of Christ then, would be to come to Christ personally and to partake of those things individually.

Now, first of all we want to affirm, that in this age everyone, and that does indeed mean everyone, must indeed come to God individually by means of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other name, under God, given among men whereby we must be saved! Christ's work is the only sufficient work upon which men come to Christ. There can be no question about this whatsoever. This includes Hindus, Americans, Japanese, and, of course, Israelites. There is no other name given among men…

But that does not help us with the numerous, numerous passages in both the Old and the New Testaments that seem to indicate that there will be a time when God returns to dealing with national Israel. This is one of those passages. Taken alone, by itself, one might be able to imply that this is simply speaking of coming to Christ. But when laid alongside all the numerous other passages that speak of a National Entity dealt with in the New Covenant we begin to see that this is not speaking of the salvation of an individual but of God's dealing with His nation as a group.

The language in verse one and two of this chapter is typical of Isaiah's language in speaking of Israel and affectionate terms. He uses the historic names for the nation, Israel and Jacob. He speaks of "having formed them" and of having "made them in the womb". He speaks of "Jeshurun whom I have chosen...". Jeshurun was a poetical name for the people of Israel, used as a token of affection, meaning, "the dear upright people". It was used sarcastically in Deuteronomy 32:15:

“But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked;
you grew fat, stout, and sleek;
then he forsook God who made him
and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation."

There "Jeshurun", the beloved of God is used sarcastically, pointing out that Israel, the beloved, the ones God had released from bondage in Egypt and had shepherded through the land had grown fat on the blessing of God and had kicked and rebelled against His authority.

In Deuteronomy 33:5 Moses reminds Israel in his final address that after God had released Israel from Egypt and led them through the wilderness that God established them as a nation and established Himself as their King:

Thus the Lord became king in Jeshurun,
when the heads of the people were gathered,
all the tribes of Israel together.

(Note, He was their King, but this relationship was also underscored by the affection implicit in the word "Jeshurun"!)It is also used in Deuteronomy 33:26

“There is none like God, O Jeshurun,
who rides through the heavens to your help,
through the skies in his majesty.

Isaiah is telling us that God has not and will not abandoned His beloved "Jeshurun". Though He has disciplined him, He will not abandon him. There will come a day, though that day, from the nation's standpoint, is long in the future, when God will return and deal with His "Jeshurun" again.

3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.
4 They shall spring up among the grass
like willows by flowing streams. (Isa. 44:3-4)

This seems to be born out by verses three and four. Isaiah, speaking for God, talks about Israel "coming back to life". Admittedly, this is very "New Testament" language. But there is no reason to argue that because this is "New Testament" language that it is not also a fulfillment of Old Testament promise. What I mean to say is that simply because God has, in the New Covenant, graciously extended mercy to the Gentile does not mean that He will not return, at the time of the end, and, fulfilling those promises made, save His national people Israel.Of course, all men come to Christ in this current age, including Israelites, in the same fashion - we have already said that. But it is the teaching of the Scripture that there will come a time when God will return to dealing with His national people and fulfill those promises that He made to His national people. He will not do this on an "Old Covenant" basis, (not to imply that men were saved by anything other than by faith in the OT) but rather on a "New Covenant" basis, of course. There will be no returning to Temple worship, etc. Many speculate and say ridiculous things. Christ has died, his work is forever done, He is our High Priest and there is no other Name given among men whereby we must be saved! That will never change, mechanisms will not alter, no matter what our more insistent dispensational friends say.

But the language here is not individual. It is "group". It is speaking, not so much on one person coming to Christ, but of the nation as a unit being drawn to Christ. It is speaking not so much of an individual softening their heart, repenting of there sin, and flinging themselves to the ground, on their face before they're God; but of the entire nation doing so!

Note the tenor of the language. This happens, not because Israel softens themselves, but because God does it for them. "I will pour water...I will pour my Spirit... and as a result in verse 4...They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams". Verses like this are a constant problem (not to mention the constant irritation for Arminians and Pelagians. Israel, nationally, will remain in unbelief until the time that God chooses to draw them out of unbelief. Now, no one has a problem with that, until we stop and think about the truth that Israel nationally is made up of people. Duh! That means that at some point. God will "pour out water" on people and they will come to faith. He is the operator and they are the responder. They are not the initiator, He is. That is NOT the popular view, nor is it the theologically "correct view these days. But it is Isaiah's view, and it is the Bible's view.

This one will say, ‘I am the Lord's,’
another will call on the name of Jacob,
and another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord's,’
and name himself by the name of Israel.” (Isaiah 44:5)

The end result will be that they call on the Name of the Lord, and not on the name of other gods...finally! MacArthur comments:

"In the future golden age of Israel, belonging to the Lord and belonging to God’s chosen people will be synonymous, and it will be a badge of honor gladly worn without fear."

The repatriated would proudly identify themselves with the Lord whereas before they sought every opportunity to associate themselves with other gods, whether publicly or, most often, privately. In the age to come, this will no longer be the case. It the current age, they do not seek idols, but the serve the idol of self...but in the age to come, they will serve the Lord - publicly and unashamedly!