vassal of the King

The greatest thing about heaven I have been thinking much on hell lately because of the recent Resolved conference. But it’s not only the Resolved conference that has sparked my thinking on the all too true reality of hell. I have been thinking on hell and God’s judgment much in recent months because of a startling realization of the lack of teaching on hell and God’s judgment that has swept across churches around the globe. I am almost done with two books and then I’m eager to get to my next book (which I literally am excited [can I use that word with this kind of topic] about reading the book by Jonathan Edwards, The Torments of Hell: Jonathan Edwards on Eternal Damnation ). I pray that this will spark many conversations on my bus rides to and from seminary. At any rate, this morning after singing our last song in our worship service I prayed a prayer that focused on another place where people will spend eternity, namely, heaven. We finished our music set by singing Shout to the Lord

Here is why the Scripture ascribes justification to faith alone: Namely, because in faith it is more manifested that man is justified not by his own virtue, but by the merit of Christ. For as in beholding the serpent God placed healing in the desert, because the looking indicated more than the men were healed by the virtue of the serpent, not of any personal work or medicine; so faith shows that sinners are justified by the virtue and merit of Christ, in whom believing they are saved, not by any virtue and merit of their own. And it is the reason why justification is ascribed to faith especially by Paul, who strives to exclude from justification the works of the law, and human merit or efficacy, and to place it in the virtue and merit of Christ alone. Therefore he makes mention of faith in Christ . This neither repentance, nor love, nor hope have, for faith is carried more immediately and distinctly to it, by whose virtue we are justified. -- Toletus in Turretin , Francis. Justificati

Sobering (and accurate) thoughts from one of my mentors and heroes in ministry... As long as there is a strong emphasis on church membership rather than on Christian witness and sacrifice… As long as the book of Acts is ignored in favor of books on church growth and mission strategy… As long as worship is something we attend rather than something we do… As long as the focus is on “missionaries” rather than on the whole people of God… As long as the gathered church refuses to be the scattered church… As long as Christians believe that church is a place of solace rather than a place of work… As long as planning and decision-making is entrusted solely to the leadership… As long as interest in humanity and the world is replaced by self-interest… As long as we identify “minister” with clergy status… As long as the pastor remains “the answer man”… As long as we refuse to acknowledge that the Old Testament distinction between priest and people has come to an end… As long as we love our church

From the Daily Spurgeon archive : Any theology which offers the pardon of sin without a punishment, ignores the major part of the character of God. God is love, but God is also just — as severely just as if he had no love, and yet as intensely loving as if he had no justice. To gain a just view of the character of God you must perceive all his attributes as infinitely developed; justice must have its infinity acknowledged as much as mercy. Sin must be punished. This is the voice which thunders from the midst of the smoke and the fire of Sinai — “The soul that sinneth it shall die;” “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” “Sin must be punished” is written on the base of the eternal throne in letters of fire; and, as the damned in hell behold it, their hopes are burned to ashes. Sin must be punished, or God must cease to be.The testimony of the Gospel is not that the punishment has been mitigated or foregone, or that ju

Yes, it's true folks, CJ Mahaney is not onlya great preacher, but he's also a very talented drummer ...

Sit back with your coffee and enjoy Romans 8 this morning... HT: Warnock

I decided to blog on a simple topic this morning ( haha ). Listen to a nice quote from A.W. Tozer : The matter of man's free will versus God's sovereignty can be explained in this way: God's sovereignty means that He is in control of everything , that He planned everything from the beginning. Man's free will means that he can, anytime he wants, make most any choice he pleases (within his human limitations, of course). Man's free will can apparently defy the purposes of God and will against the will of God. But how do we resolve this seeming contradiction? God's sovereignty means absolute freedom, doesn't it? God is absolutely free to do anything He wants or wills to do -- anywhere, anytime, forever. And man's free will means that man can make any choice he wants to make, even if he makes a choice against the will of God. But here is what we see in Scripture: God Almighty is absolutely sovereign, free to do as He pleases ( Psa 115:3). Among the things He

Did Christ's death accomplish the actuality of salvation or the potentiality of salvation. I argue for the former, as does my friend, Mr. Spurgeon... We are often told that we limit the atonement of Christ, because we say that Christ hasnot made a satisfaction for all men, or all men would be saved. Now, our reply to this is, that, on the other hand, our opponents limit it; we do not. The Arminians say, Christ died for all men. Ask them what they mean by it. Did Christ die so as to secure the salvation of all men? They say, "No, certainly not." We ask them the next question - Did Christ die so as to secure the salvation of any man in particular? They answer, "No." They are obliged to admit this, if they are consistent. They say, "No, Christ has died that any man may be saved if" -- and then follow certain conditions of salvation. Now, who is it that limits the death of Christ? Why you. You say that Christ did not die so as infallibly to secure th

The foundation on which the salvation of every believer rests: God's free and gracious choice of us. Calvin writes: God having chosen us before the world had its course, we must attribute the cause of our salvation to His free goodness; we must confess that He did not take us to be His children, for any deserts of our own; for we had nothing to recommend ourselves into His favor. Therefore, we must put the cause and fountain of our salvation in Him only, and ground ourselves upon it. Election must also promote humility, not pride in the heart of the believer. Listen to AW Pink along these lines: The truth of God's sovereignty ... removes every ground for human boasting and instills the spirit of humility in its stead. It declares that salvation is of the Lord - of the Lord in its origination, in its operation, and in its consummation ... It tells us we are "born, not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (Jn 1:13). And all this is most humbling

Here is a clip by John Piper on the horrific nature of the prosperity gospel -- which is so prevalent in today's pulpits -- both in America and abroad. Listen to Piper's words...

I'm currently going through the book of Revelation at church on Tuesday nights and am really -- I mean, really -- enjoying my time there! I was just talking yesterday to someone about how Christians (including me before this study) have this idea that Revelation is the last book of the Bible and it's about prophecy, future-events, and such and, consequently, because there are so many differing interpretations that it must be totally incomprehensible for the unscholarly (like myself), so why study it? Yet during our study of this book, I have come to the exact opposite conclusion. I am convinced that it is a book that must be not only read, but studied, by believers. Yes there are hard points to understand, but the whole point of the book is that Jesus wins! At any rate, I'm teaching on Revelation 11 tonight and part of the chapter is on the two witnessess that God will choose to bear His witness during this horrific period of the last three and a half years (yes, I know th

Not too shabby eh?

How sweet it is to spend time with other believers. I just got back to my office here at church refreshed and rejuvenated for more ministry. Sometimes the Lord uses just an hour of good fellowship to give us some of the encouragement and drive that we need to press on. One of the highlights of my day thus far has been spending time this afternoon with one of our elders. We went to Jamba Juice (of course!) and had some wonderful fruit smoothies and chatted about Israel, Mark 4 and Jesus' parable on the sower, our upcoming study in 1 Samuel, and on the need for preachers today to preach on eternal judgment. I was greatly encouraged in these last few hours of fellowship with my dear friend. I praise God for fellowship, encouragement, and brothers who can spur me on toward Christlikeness. Indeed I'm reminded of Hebrews 10:23-24 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to lov

This is not only for preachers, but it served as a needed reminder for me... “First, strive for practical, earnest, glad-hearted holiness in every area of your life. One of the reasons is that you can’t be something in the pulpit that you aren’t during the week - at least not for long. You can’t be blood earnest in the pulpit and habitually flippant at the deacon’s meeting and the church dinner. Nor can you display the glory of God in the gladness of your preaching if you are surly and dismal and unfriendly during the week. Don’t strive to be a kind of preacher. Strive to be a kind of person!” HT: Colin Adams/Unashamed Workman

One thing I learned in Israel was how God truly leads His own. As David writes, Psalm 31:3 3 For You are my rock and my fortress; For Your name's sake You will lead me and guide me. Indeed we experienced this truth; that God leads His people and guides His people. The past few weeks in Israel have made this verse ever clearer to me as I trusted in the Lord for many aspects regarding our recent trip to Israel. It is true that God is my Rock and my Fortress. Because God is my Rock and my Fortress, I can be confident that He will lead and guide me. This is a pattern in the psalms: Psalm 27:11 11 Teach me Your way, O LORD, And lead me in a level path Because of my foes. Psalm 43:3 3 O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your dwelling places. Psalm 61:2 2 From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Psalm 139:9-10 9 If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the

I am writing from the Mt. of Olives as I sit in the apartment of a good college friend of mine! Elizabeth and I have officially ended our "formal touring" of Israel. Today was our 13th day of traveling and touring. We were in the Dead Sea region today: hiked up Masada, went to En Gedi (cf. 1 Sam 24; Psa 63; 121); floated in the Dead Sea (Elizabeth loved it!), and toured around Qumran. Tomorrow is our last day in the country before coming home on Tuesday. Praise God for His goodness and wonderful faithfulness to us: "Give thanks to the LORD for He is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting!" (Psalm 136:1).

I am writing from the sharp, rocky cliffs of Mactesh Ramon. Including tomorrow, we only have two more touring days. We have been on a whirlwind tour -- literally. Elizabeth and I have enjoyed our time together driving through the land, seeing the sites, reading lots (and lots!) of Scripture, singing together, riding public busses, going through open doors with Hebrew writing that I can't understand and on and on and on I could go. Things are great. Thank you for praying. Tomorrow is our day we head down to Eilat -- the southernmost tip of Modern Israel. I hope to climb the top of a hill with Elizabeth to see four countries -- Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia! Then we're going snorkeling in the Red Sea! Then on Sunday we are hiking up Masada, going to En Gedi, Qumran, and then back to Jerusalem to take one of my great Hebrew buddies out for dinner in Jerusalem. Blessings to you. Please keep us in prayer...