vassal of the King

Christian, these words stirred my heart this morning— "How long will you love vanity?" Psalm 4:2 The Lord is often represented in His word as expostulating with us. He manifests the deepest interest, shows intense pity, and uses many means to draw us back from the vortex of ruin. But man, thoughtless man, silly man--rushes on his way, trifles with his soul, and plays on the brink of the most dreadful precipice! He is in love with his sin--and therefore in love with his own destruction! But God does not abandon him to despair--but touchingly, tenderly, lovingly--He expostulates with him and asks, "How long will you love vanity?" Man by nature sets his heart upon what is vain and worthless--that which is not suited to, or required by, his immortal nature. Vanity represents that which is light, changeable, and of brief duration. Man displays his love of vanity . . . by preferring human friendship--to God's friendship, by thinking much more of the creature--than

I love how Asaph puts it into words: Psalm 78:1-8 Listen, O my people, to my instruction; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, 3 Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. 4 We will not conceal them from their children, But tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done. 5 For He established a testimony in Jacob And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers That they should teach them to their children, 6 That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, That they may arise and tell them to their children, 7 That they should put their confidence in God And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments, 8 And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart And whose spirit was not faithful to God. Calvin commen

FoxNews resported the following clip: China rolled out its fastest train yet on Tuesday, one of the engineering triumphs that signal the nation's growing ambitions as its economy booms. The successes demonstrate how, after decades of acquiring technology from the west, Beijing has begun to push the limits of its new capabilities, setting the bar higher on mega-projects as it seeks to promote the image of a powerful, modern China. But many of these initiatives have come at great human and environmental cost, and some have questioned whether the country fosters a sufficiently innovative spirit to compete on the next level. Still in the works: it is a $32.5 billion, 820-mile (1,300-kilometer) Beijing-to-Shanghai high-speed railway that is scheduled to open in 2012. "We are now much faster," Railway Ministry spokesman Wang Yongping said at Tuesday's inauguration of the super-fast line from Shanghai's western suburb of Hongqiao to the resort city of H

Psalm 78:35-37 35 And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. 36 But they deceived Him with their mouth And lied to Him with their tongue. 37 For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.

Stirring words from Richard Baxter: “There is joy in receiving things in this life, but the fullness is in God’s own presence. Oh, Christians! You will then know the difference between the creature and the Creator, and the content that each of them affords. We shall then have light without a candle, and a perpetual day without the sun. We shall then have rest without sleep, for God will be our rest. We shall then have enlightened understandings without a written law: for the Lord will perfect His law in our hearts, and we shall be all perfectly taught of God. His own will shall be our Law, and His own face shall be our light forever. Then shall we have joy, which we drew not from the promises, nor was fetched us home by faith and hope. Beholding and possessing will exclude most of these. We shall then have communion without sacraments, when Christ shall drink with us of the fruit of the vine new; that is, refresh us with the comforting wine of immediate fruition, in the kingdom of His

I agree with my brother FF Bruce ( Epistle to the Hebrews , NICNT, 94): “The conditional sentences of this epistle are worthy of special attention. Nowhere in the NT more than here do we find such repeated insistence on the fact that continuance in the Christian life is the test of reality. The doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints has as its corollary the salutary teaching that the saints are the people who persevere to the end.”

I find myself gladly and wholeheartedly in this "next generation" of New Calvinists : DeYoung, Duncan, Mohler: What's New About the New Calvinism from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo .

Note some deliverance passages and how it is God who solves the problem: Isaiah 59:2-4 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. 3 For your hands are defiled with blood And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken falsehood, Your tongue mutters wickedness. 4 No one sues righteously and no one pleads honestly. They trust in confusion and speak lies; They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity. The Scripture states that the iniquities of Israel has separated them from their God. The result of one who is sin-infested is that God hides Himself from him. Indeed, the hands of sinners are defiled, unclean, and filthy. Even the very fingers on one's hands are full of iniquity and transgression. The lips find comfort in speaking falsehood and the tongue mutters wickedness. This is the utter depraved state that Israel found herself in back in Isaiah's time. Indeed, this is

I couldn't agree more with what my professor said today: “The priority of the preacher is first to DISCOVER the author’s intended meaning and second to declare that meaning to his hearers in an effective way so that they can RESPOND to it correctly!”

A fabulous reminder from Mr. Spurgeon: Sin has evermore a swelling tendency, and until the Holy Spirit has cut up the last root of sin, evil will grow up again in the heart, at the scent of water it will bud and put forth once again its shoots. Here is work for all time, enough to keep us busy till we land in eternity.

From John Bunyan’s “ A Few Sighs from Hell “: How many souls have blind priests been the means of destroying by their ignorance? Preaching that was no better for their souls than ratsbane to the body. Many of them, it is to be feared, have whole towns to answer for. Ah! friend, I tell thee, thou has taken in hand to preach to the people, it may be thou has taken in hand what thou canst not tell what. Will it not grieve thee to see the whole parish come bellowing after thee into hell? crying out, “This we have to thank thee for, thou wast afraid to tell us of our sins, lest we should not put meat fast enough into thy mouth. O cursed wretch, thou wast not content, blind guide as thou wast, to fall into the ditch thyself, but hast also led us thither with thee.” Charles Spurgeon quotes this section from Bunyan in his sermon, “The Minister’s Self-Watch.” His point: How disastrous is an unregenerate minister failing to preach the gospel to a people blindly and deafly led

Over at my other website I posted a writeup taking a shot at the structure of Hebrews. I divided the book into exhortational and expositional sections (with the warning passages thrown in as well at key junctures). Let me know what you think. Also, I found a great " chill " song that I really enjoy accompanying me as I read. As for an update, I finished my PhD module last week where I presented my dissertation topic: "The Book of Jeremiah in John's Revelation ." There is much work that needs to be done here. My adviser gave me the "go-ahead" so I'm extremely excited about being in God's Word—both testaments and both languages (and, there's even one verse in Aramaic!)! Thank you for your prayers. soli Deo gloria !

Here is a portion from my reading in the prophet Isaiah this morning: Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. ‏אָכֵ֤ן חֳלָיֵ֙נוּ֙ ה֣וּא נָשָׂ֔א וּמַכְאֹבֵ֖ינוּ סְבָלָ֑ם וַאֲנַ֣חְנוּ חֲשַׁבְנֻ֔הוּ נָג֛וּעַ מֻכֵּ֥ה אֱלֹהִ֖ים וּמְעֻנֶּֽה׃ ‎‏ וְהוּא֙ מְחֹלָ֣ל מִפְּשָׁעֵ֔נוּ מְדֻכָּ֖א מֵעֲוֹנֹתֵ֑ינוּ מוּסַ֤ר שְׁלוֹמֵ֙נוּ֙ עָלָ֔יו וּבַחֲבֻרָת֖וֹ נִרְפָּא־לָֽנוּ׃ ‎‏ כֻּלָּ֙נוּ֙ כַּצֹּ֣אן תָּעִ֔ינוּ אִ֥ישׁ לְדַרְכּ֖וֹ פָּנִ֑ינוּ וַֽיהוָה֙ הִפְגִּ֣יעַ בּ֔וֹ אֵ֖ת עֲוֹ֥ן כֻּלָּֽנוּ׃ And one of my favorite songs that closely relates to it:

An early passage from a minor Talmudic tractate entitled Abot de Rabbi Nathan places in the mouth of Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai the following declaration: "Be not grieved; we have another atonement as effective as this [=the Temple sacrificial ritual], and what is it? It is acts of loving kindness, as it is said: 'For I desire mercy and not sacrifice'" (Hos.6:6)." Elsewhere the Talmud writes: "Not to mourn at all is not feasible, for the decree has already beeen decreed. But further, to mourn excessively (also) is not feasible. Rather, thus the sages have said, 'A man shall plaster his home with plaster and leave over a small bit as a remembrance of Jerusalem'" ( t. Sotah 15:12). Here's the issue: they replaced the offering of sacrifices with good deeds. This, they purport, is acceptable before the eyes of God. Or, is it?

Like the Apostle Paul, my heart goes out to my kindred according to the flesh: Jesus will be excluded from the World to Come ( m. Sanh. 10:2), Jesus will be boiled in filth in Gehenna ( b. Git. 56b-57a), There was a man, the son of a woman, who would rise up and seek to make himself God, and cause the entire world to err. . . . If he says that he is God, he lies; and in the future he will cause to err—that he departs and returns in the end. He says, but will not do. . . . Alas, who shall live of that people that listens to that man who makes himself God ( Yal. Simeoni on Num 23:7)? We do well to share with our Jewish friends the truth from the Hebrew Scriptures : Psalm 2:6-12 6 "But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain." 7 "I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8 'Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Yo

Praise God!

I found tremendous encouragement this morning in these short but eternally-significant verses: Romans 5:6-11 — 6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Romans 5:6-11 — 6 ἔτι γὰρ Χριστὸς ὄντων ἡμῶν ἀσθενῶν ἔτι κατὰ καιρὸν ὑπὲρ ἀσεβῶν ἀπέθανεν. 7 μόλις γὰρ ὑπὲρ δικαίου τις ἀποθανεῖται· ὑπὲρ γὰρ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ τάχα τις καὶ τολμᾷ ἀποθανεῖν· 8 συνί

From the marvelous note from grace gems today: In each season of affliction , to whom can we more appropriately look--than to Jesus? He was preeminently the man of sorrows--and acquainted with grief. If you would tell your grief to one who knew grief as none ever knew it; if you would weep upon the bosom of one who wept as none ever wept; if you would disclose your sorrow to one who sorrowed as none ever sorrowed; if you would bare your wound to one who was wounded as none ever was wounded --then, in your affliction, turn from all creature sympathy and succor, and look to Jesus! You could not take . . . your trial , your affliction , and your sorrow . . . to a kinder nature, to a tenderer bosom, to a deeper love, to a more powerful arm, to a more sympathizing friend! Go and breathe your sorrows into His heart--and He will comfort you! Blessed sorrow if, in the time of your bereavement, your grief, and your solitude--you are led to Jesus, making Him your

Question: "How many denominations are there within Christianity at large?" You may be surprised to find out that Wikipedia (the theological factbook — haha) states: This is not a complete list, but aims to provide a comprehensible overview of the diversity among denominations of Christianity. As there are reported to be approximately 38,000 Christian denominations, Let's remember what Paul says about the true and undeniable gospel : 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

The Lamb Who Would Be King from Resolved on Vimeo .

Isaiah 46:3-4 3 "Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel, You who have been borne by Me from birth And have been carried from the womb; 4 Even to your old age I will be the same, And even to your graying years I will bear you! I have done it, and I will carry you; And I will bear you and I will deliver you. God is speaking to Israel (=the House of Jacob, v.3 and the house of Israel, v.4) and declares to them that God will guide them. Note all the "I" determinative indicatives from God in v.4— I will be the same, I will bear you, I have done it, I will carry you, I will bear you, and I will deliver you. To me this seems that God is unequivocally telling His covenant people that He Himself is the One who will take care of them, watch them, guard them, bear them up, and deliver them. None other can deliver them (as clearly seen in the immediate context of Isa 46). It is God and God alone. Isaiah 46:9-10 9 "Remember the former

I love how Isaiah writes the words of God in these verses: Isaiah 43:20-21 20 "The beasts of the field will glorify Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I have given waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My chosen people. 21 "The people whom I formed for Myself Will declare My praise. The people that God has formed and created for Himself will declare His praise. God has formed His covenant people for Himself —for the expansion, glorification, and magnification of His great Name. Isaiah 43:25 25 "I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins. How amazing is it that God–yes, God Himself—is the One who wipes out His people's transgressions for His own sake . For His glory, for the magnification of His sovereign Name, he wipes out the sins of His people.

Made it safe to Baptist Bible Seminary in Clarks Summit this morning after a red-eye flight from LA. I'm tired, but God sustained me through the day and especially through my presentation on global ministry principles gleaned from Paul's third journey . I think it went very well. I had a guest speaker (Dr. King) and the fellas were very interactive which provided great feedback on my thoughts. God is good. Two more weeks to go! Psalm 136:1 הֹוד֣וּ לַיהוָ֣ה כִּי־טֹ֑וב כִּ֖י לְעֹולָ֣ם חַסְדֹּֽו׃

The [OT] prophets repudiated perfunctory, ritual forms of repentance (Isa 1:11; 29:13; 58:5; Jer 14:12; Hos 7:14). True repentance consists of acknowledgment of personal guilt (Jer 3:13), remorse for sins (Jer 31:19; Ezek 36:31; Jon 3:8a), forsaing evil thoughts and deeds (Isa 55:7; Jer 18:11; Ezek 14:6; Jon 3:8b), turning to the Lord with one's entire being (Isa 55:6; Joel 2:12), and bringing forth fruits indicative of a changed heart (Hos 12:6; 14:2). In response to genuine repentance, the Lord would withhold punishment (Jer 26:3), forgive sins (Isa 55:7), and grant life (Ezek 33:15-16). Those who fail to repent genuinely can expect divine judgment and death (Ezek 33:8-11, 14). —Demarest, The Cross and Salvation , 254.

Folks, this is a MUST watch for all parents.

My favorite hymn always seem to change every month. So I guess it's accurate to say that this is my favorite hymn for this month! The words stir my heart to worship the sovereign King Jesus. I love verse 4.

I love this excerpt from a Puritan prayer: The death of Christ has redeemed me; The Spirit of Christ fills me, The love of Christ animates me, The Word of Christ governs me. May we pray the same prayer with this Puritan expressing our gratitude, submission, and love for the Savior.

God Redirects Plans According to His Sovereign and Ordained Will. Proverbs 16:9 9 The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps. לֵ֣ב אָ֭דָם יְחַשֵּׁ֣ב דַּרְכֹּ֑ו וַֽ֝יהוָ֗ה יָכִ֥ין צַעֲדֹֽו׃ This weekend I planned to surprise my bride by taking her to the beach for a two-day camping trip. I’m not much of a camper (massive understatement!) so I thought I’d gain significant “brownie points” in planning, strategizing, organizing, and following through with this trip. One thing, however, I forgot to reserve our campsite online. Believe it or not, I had the webpage on my browser for about a week and I kept forgetting to reserve that campsite (which is very unlike me—normally I do these things way in advance!). So I finally got around to it the night before the trip (Sun night) but they wouldn’t let me reserve the campsite 24 hours in advance. So I had to call them the next day. Monday morning I tried to call them in the early morning but they didn’t open till 9am and we’d

Hebrews 5 consists of a remarkable structure that fits within the larger discourse of Jesus as the high priest (Heb 5-10) that itself fits within the entire discourse/sermon. Check out my structural analysis of Hebrews 5 here .

So, if you've ever wondered whether you could own your own deserted island, here's your chance. The Wall Street Journal has the article here . :=)

If, in fact, the Bible is what it claims to be, namely, wholly inspired, totally inerrant, supernaturally God-breathed, and powerfully able to accomplish change in the lives of regenerate believers, then it behooves us to study that Word and obey that Word. How foolish for the man of God to suppose the Bible is God's powerful Word and leave it to collect dust on the shelf. How could such a man think that he would inherit the kingdom of God when he has no delight in the King's Book? How could such a person think that he would enjoy the glories of heaven when he neglects the fellowship of God in this life? The man of God who loves the Son of God must be consumed with the Word of God resulting in obedience to God all for the glory of God. The believer must hold fast to God's Word. The Bible mandates believers to study God's Word. But it's not a legalistic issue–nor should it ever become one. Rather, it should flow from the heart of the regenerate believer who is total

Preached last night on the topic: what will we be like in heaven ? and had a marvelous time! God is so good to reveal so many details in His all-sufficient Word for us to learn. The sermon is here . I love this quote by Richard Baxter on what it will be like in heaven when we're perfected without any sinful temptation —ever! All our temptations from the world and the flesh shall also cease. Here we are in continual danger. We can hardly open our eyes without danger of envying people above us, or despising those below us. If we see beauty, it is a bait to lust. If we see deformity, we are liable to feel repulsion. If we are beautiful, it is fuel for pride. If we are ugly, we are likely to complain. If we have a high intelligence and gifts of learning, how prone we are to be puffed up, to seek applause, and to look down on ordinary folks. On the other hand, if we are not well educated, how easy it is to ridicule what we don't have and despise the scholarly. Are we in a position