Monday, October 12, 2015

Biblical Counseling Resources (updated 2015)

Here are some very helpful resources to inform your thinking on biblical ("nouthetic") counseling.



INTRODUCTORY ARTICLES
Is There Any Difference Between Biblical Counseling & Christian Psychology? by John MacArthur and Wayne Mack.
This is a very helpful, brief, and compelling overview showing the vast differences between biblical/nouthetic counseling and the so-called Christian psychology methods.

 What Distinguishes Biblical Counseling from Other Methods? by David Powlison
In this blog entry, Powlison shows how biblical counseling is fundamentally different than other methods because the view of God, man, sin, hope, and change are all vastly different.

 The Mandate for Biblical Counseling by Paul Tautges
There are helpful resources here, quotes, definitions, and he draws the link (rightly so!) between discipleship and biblical counseling.

What Is Biblical Counseling Anyway? by Ed Welch
A very compelling treatment on the importance of defining what biblical (nouthetic) counseling really is.

We Are All Called to Counsel
In this blog, Jeremy Lelak argues that every Christian is called to counsel one another.

What Is Biblical Counseling?
A simple, biblical & compelling definition of what biblical counseling is.

What Is Biblical Counseling? by Jay Adams
Another simple explanation and one-page treatment defining the process of biblical change.


PERIODICAL/JOURNAL ARTICLES
What are Some Affirmations & Denials of Biblical Counseling by David Powlison

 Critiquing Modern "Integrationists" by David Powlison (Journal of Biblical Counseling)

 Idols of the Heart and Vanity Fair by David Powlison

The Sufficiency of Scripture to Diagnose and Cure Souls by David Powlison

 What Is Biblical Counseling Anyway? by Ed Welch

How Does Scripture Change You? by David Powlison


LENGTHIER AND SCHOLARLY TREATMENTS
Counseling the Depressed Person: The Puritan Alternative to Secular Psychology by David Herding (MA thesis) - excellent!

A Christian Directory - A Body of Practical Divinity and Cases of Conscience (Christian Ethics) by Richard Baxter. 
This is a very lengthy Puritan treatment of the sufficiency of Scripture and of Christ to cure the souls of any malady. This is biblical counseling at its finest & Baxter addresses many issues & directly applies Scripture to each. The entire book is FREE on google books.

Puritan Resources for Biblical Counseling by Tim Keller
This is a very lengthy article where Keller shows how biblical counseling — that is, addressing any and every issue with the sufficient and comprehensive Word of God — is nothing new but the Puritans practiced this type of "healing of the soul." Very helpful resource here!

BOOKS:
INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC
  • Introduction to Biblical Counseling, by John MacArthur, Wayne Mack, The Master’s Seminary Faculty.  
  • Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands, By Paul Tripp 
  • Competent to Counsel, by Jay Adams   
  • The Christian Counselor’s Manual, by Jay Adams  
  • A Theology of Christian Counseling, by Jay Adams  
  • The Biblical Counseling Movement After Adams, by Heath Lambert
  • Scripture and Counseling, by Bob Kelleman & Jeff Forrey, eds.
  • Christ Centered Biblical Counseling, by James MacDonald, Bob Kelleman & Steve Viars, eds.
  • The Biblical Counseling Movement, by David Powlison
  • Gospel-Centered Counseling, by Bob Kelleman
  • How to Counsel from Scripture, Martin & Deidre Bobgan  
  • The Christian Counselor’s Medical Desk Reference, By Robert Smith, M.D.
EQUIPPING COUNSELORS IN THE LOCAL CHURCH
  • Equipping Counselors for your Church, by Robert Kelleman
  • Power Encounters, David Powlison  
  • Seeing With New Eyes, by David Powlison
  • Christian Psychology's War on God's Word, By Jim Owen 
  • Counseling the Hard Cases, by Stuart Scott, ed. 
  • Biblical Counseling and the Church, by Bob Kelleman & Kevin Carson, eds. 
  • Counseling and the Church, by Deepak Reju
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BIBLICAL COUNSELING & PSYCHOLOGY (AND INTEGRATIONISM)
  • Why Christians Can’t Trust Psychology, by Ed Bulkley   
 ANGER
  • Anger and Stress Management God's Way, by Wayne Mack
  • Anger, Anxiety and Fear, by Stuart Scott
  • The Heart of Anger, by Lou Priolo
  • Living with an Angry Spouse, by Ed Welch 
  • Uprooting Anger, by Robert Jones
HUSBAND
  • The Exemplary Husband, by Stuart Scott
  • The Complete Husband, by Lou Priolo
  • Solving Marriage Problems God's Way, by Jay Adams
  • Strengthening Your Marriage, by Wayne Mack
  • Preparing for Marriage God's Way, by Wayne Mack
WIFE
  • Feminine Appeal, by Caroline Mahaney
  • The Excellent Wife, by Martha Peace
  • The Case of the Hopeless Marriage, by Jay Adams
FIGHTING SIN
  • Mortification of Sin, by John Owen
  • How to Overcome Evil, by Jay Adams
  • The Peacemaker, by Ken Sande
  • Sin and Temptation, by John Owen 
  • How People Change, by Paul Tripp and Tim Lane
FORGIVENESS
  • Bitterness: The Root that Pollutes, by Lou Priolo
  • The Freedom and Power of Forgiveness, by John MacArthur
HOW TO RESPOND TO SUFFERING
  • God's Healing for Life's Lessons by Bob Kelleman
  • A Shelter in the Time of Storm by Paul Tripp
  • When God's Children Suffer, by Horatius Bonar
HOMOSEXUALITY AND RELATED ISSUES
  • Is God Anti-Gay? by Sam Allberry
  • God and the Gay-Christian? by Albert Mohler
  • Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Butterfield
  • Homosexuality, by Ed Welch
SPEECH, GOSSIP
  • Resisting Gossip, by Paul Mitchell
  • Practicing Affirmation, by Sam Crabtree
  • If You Bite and Devour One Another, by Alexander Strauch
SEXUAL ABUSE
  • Sexual Abuse, by Bob Kelleman 
  • Is It My Fault? by Justin & Lindsey Holcomb
FIGHTING PORNOGRAPHY
  • Finally Free, by Heath Lambert
  • Sex is not the Problem, Lust Is, by Joshua Harris
  • Sexual Detox, by Tim Challies
DEPRESSION
  • If I'm a Christian, Why am I Depressed? by Bob Sommerville
  • The Biblical Counseling Movement After Adams, By Heath Lambert  
MEN COUNSELING MEN
  • Men Counseling Men, by John Street, ed.
WOMEN COUNSELING WOMEN 
  • Women Counseling Women, by Elyse Fitzpatrick & Carol Cornish, Eds.  
POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, by Jeremy Lelak
 PERIODICALS/JOURNALS:

WEBSITES

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

The Glory of the Covenant of Marriage

THE GLORY OF THE COVENANT OF MARRIAGE
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

The Bible speaks of marriage as a covenant. A covenant is a bond, a treaty, a commitment between parties. Proverbs 2:17 speaks of marriage as a covenant. Malachi 2:14 speaks of a woman as a man’s wife by covenant. The Bible describes marriage far more than a mere relationship or a happy friendship. The institution of marriage, as designed by God, is in fact a covenant between both parties to each other and before God.

1. Marriage is a LIFELONG covenant. The marriage relationship was created by God for one man and one woman to leave their parents and to join themselves to each other in an unbreakable bond. Marriage is not to be severed. It should not be broken. It must never be conditional. The covenant of marriage is to endure as long as both persons live. It must be lifelong.

2. Marriage is a DIVINE covenant. Far more than being something that a governing authority or the state created or instituted, marriage is God’s plan. God thought of, defined, provided the parameters of, and wills marriage. This means that the defining of marriage does not rest in the powers and ingenuities of men because God and God alone designed marriage and defined precisely what marriage is. God decreed that one man must leave parents and he must join himself to his wife (who also leaves her parents) and the man and the woman become one flesh. In fact, even Jesus said that it is ultimately God who joins the husband and wife together.

3. Marriage is a WILLED covenant. To live as a married couple, both the husband and the wife must resolve to stay together, to grow together, to communicate together, and they must will -- that is, they must commit -- to remain together as long as life endures. Marriage is a choice and it’s also a commitment. When times get hard and disagreements arise, the covenant should not be broken. Rather, the commitment of both the husband and the wife to one another should strengthen the bond of marriage all the more. Thus, marriage is a willed, deliberate, enduring, and committed covenant one with another.

4. Marriage is a SACRIFICIAL covenant. Just as in the ancient world, the parties who would engage in a covenant would take an animal and sacrifice it as a symbol of faithfulness to the covenant treaty. The meaning was this, if anyone were to break his part of the deal, his end would be that of the sacrificial animal. To live in the covenant of marriage is to sacrifice for the other person, for their good, for their enjoyment. It is a blessed sacrifice and a delightful service. Marriage exists not for me to be served and for me to be happy by what I can get out of it for my pleasure and comfort. Rather, marriage is designed for me to sacrifice me and myself and my aspirations so that I may attain the higher joy and greater blessedness of serving another, sacrificing for their well-being, and seeking to bring them joy and pleasure.

5. Marriage is a PERSEVERING covenant. Covenants in the truest sense of the word do not fail. They endure, they continue, they do not fail. When God brings a man and a woman together in the covenant bond of marriage, it is a persevering covenant because the husband and the wife persevere with each other through all seasons of life, through all ages of life, through all the storms of life, through all the joys of life, and through all the uncertainties of life. True marriage does not fail; it endures. Both parties within marriage resolve at the ceremony before God and witnesses to remain together throughout life and they must persevere in keeping those promises throughout the remainder of their marriage together till they die. True, self-giving, faithful love does not fail.

6. Marriage is a GOSPEL-DEMONSTRATING covenant. The most remarkable reality regarding the marriage covenant is that it points to something bigger. It has always pointed to something greater. The grand design of marriage, by God, was for the covenant of marriage to be a demonstration of a greater covenant. It was to be a picture, if you will, of the reality. It was to be an illustration of a far greater, spiritual relationship. The Bible speaks of this as a mystery. The mystery spoken of was something that existed before but it was unknown, it was veiled, until the proper time when the true and full revelation would come to light. The New Testament clarifies that marriage is a mystery -- it is something that was physical relationship pointing to a spiritual relationship. Both are real. Both are delightful. But the physical marriage relationship on earth always is meant to point to the spiritual relationship between Christ and His Church. Christ, as the Bridegroom, gave Himself for His bride, the Church. The Church, the Bride, submits to her Christ as He is a blessed Bridegroom, a loving provider, a passionate sanctifier, and a promise-keeping lover. This spiritual relationship between Christ and His Bride is pictured through the earthly, visible marriage relationship between a husband and a wife. The husband is called to emulate Christ in loving his wife and sacrificing for her well-being. He is to love her, and lead her, and cherish her, and nurture her. The wife, on the other hand, must submit to her husband in the same way that the church submits to her Savior in all things. This submission is a worshipful, internal, willing, delightful, and glad placing oneself under her husband’s authority that God has lovingly placed over her. That is to say, the covenant bond of marriage is ultimately and always meant to be a pointer to the ultimate marriage and to the eternal union of Christ and His bride. Human marriages will terminate. When a spouse dies, the marriage relationship is over. No one will be married in heaven. But there is a marriage that does not terminate. A covenant marriage does exist that cannot fade away, it does not pass away, and it is eternal. In fact, the fullness of that marriage will really, everlastingly, and passionately be experienced in its fullness after believers die and meet the perfect Bridegroom face to face. Every marriage portrays the gospel. Is your marriage a healthy demonstration of the gospel in this world? In a day in which marriage is mocked, rejected, ‘redefined’, and blasphemed, true marriages that accurately and beautifully present the gospel through a husband’s self-giving and sacrificial love and through a wife’s humble, quiet, and respectful submission are desperately needed. May your marriage be a gospel-demonstrating marriage. May you strive with all your might and by the Spirit’s enabling grace to live and think and serve and conduct yourself in your marriage relationship in such a way that the gospel of Jesus Christ is accurately, beautifully, and clearly presented. If you do this, you will be different. But stick to it. It’s worth it. The ultimate marriage is soon-coming. Soon you’ll meet your eternal, ravishing Bridegroom face to face!

Download the pdf article.

The Privilege of the Lord’s Supper

The Privilege of the Lord’s Supper
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

Believers should prepare ahead of time for communion. In so doing, believers should bear the following points in mind.

REMEMBERING — The Lord’s Supper draws the mind of the believer again back to Calvary to remember Christ and His glory. The communion supper invites the Christian yet again to reflect on Christ’s spotlessness, His righteousness, His atoning sacrifice, His present intercession, His particular redemption, and His soon-coming. Believers must remember Christ and they must stir themselves up to action to serve this Christ, to love Him more, to speak well and often of Him, and to cherish Him supremely!

APPROPRIATING — The work of salvation is accomplished when God grants the new birth. But when believers gather together corporately to take the communion meal, it is as if Christ’s work at Calvary is refreshed and appropriated afresh to the believer. In receiving the bread and in appropriating it to oneself, the Christian remembers how desperate he really is for Christ’s righteousness, His divine blood, and His constant grace. Nothing in this fellowship meal imparts salvation nor does it make one even more sanctified. But in appropriating it and receiving it, the believer is refreshed and comforted.

STRENGTHENING — This meal that Christ commanded His followers to take together provides strength through the storms of life. It provides a constant reminder that Christ died for sinners once for all and that He Himself is all that one needs for salvation, for sanctification, and for a perfect standing before God. This provides strength to the believer who finds himself tossed and turned by the waves of life. It gives courage to the downcast believer battling with sin and temptations.

REVIVING — Communion revives the heart. In diligently preparing for communion, one finds his heart enflamed afresh as he reflects on the great love of God and the undiminished mercy of the Savior! The smoldering wick becomes a mighty flame as the Christian slows down, diligently ponders, biblically meditates, and fills his heart and mind with Christ’s love, His redemption, and His righteousness imputed to the sinner by faith. This revives the struggling heart.

PROCLAIMING — Jesus declared that in taking the communion meal, Christians proclaim Christ to the lost. The Lord’s Supper is in fact a very ‘preaching event’ to the entire gathered community. Undoubtedly nonbelievers sit amongst those who have truly been saved and are partaking of communion. It proclaims Christ to them. It reminds them that the way of salvation is very narrow, very exclusive, very particular, and very limited. There is only one door, one way, one Savior, one cross, one Mediator. The Lord’s Supper proclaims Christ crucified and risen to all present -- even the small children who observe this blessed feast as their parents take it frequently. May God use this ordinance to proclaim Christ to all present so that the lost may be found by fleeing to Christ!

SHARING/COMMUNING — A fascinating reality occurs when the Spirit indwelt believer worships God through the Lord’s Supper. He actually communes with Jesus Christ. He shares with Christ. It is a fellowship meal with Christ Himself. The believer partakes of Christ afresh and reinvigorates his heart with gospel truth as he reflects on Christ’s work at Calvary. As the believer stretches forth his hands to take the elements (bread and the cup) he is, in a sense, stretching forth his hands to commune with Christ and worship Him through the obedient act of sharing in this fellowship meal with Him.

Download the pdf.

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Goals of Open Air Preaching

GOALS OF OPEN AIR PREACHING
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

As a minister of the gospel who serves Christ and who serves His Bride, I must remind myself frequently of the goals of open air preaching. I hit the streets weekly to proclaim the gospel publicly, to hand out tracts, to engage in conversations, to hold up gospel-signs, and to call men to trust in Christ. As I frequent the streets to open air preach to the masses, I need to review biblical goals of open air preaching so I remember why I do what I do and to guard me from veering off track. 

It behooves me to remember some of the goals of open air preaching.

1. Preach Christ crucified.
Though Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom, the Apostle Paul said, we preach Christ crucified. Paul did not adapt or alter his message to suit the desires of the audience. He came to all people with one message: Jesus Christ, the God-Man, entered the world and lived righteously and he died on Calvary’s cross bearing the full weight of God’s wrath against our sin. In so doing, he became the substitute that took the punishment of sinners and appeases God’s wrath directed toward them. Christ died for sins. He rose up in victory! This is my message. This is my only message. Apart from this, I have nothing to say to the crowds.

2. Rely on prayer.
Evangelism has no power if it is not attended by the Spirit. Prayer takes hold of God and begs God to work through the preached Word so that dead souls might be awakened to new life in Christ. I must rely fully and wholly on prayer. No weapon is available to me that is mightier than prayer. I must rely entirely on prayer. I must pray ahead of time for the preaching and for those who will hear. I must pray for those who will walk by and scoff and ridicule. I must pray for those believers who will be encouraged as the gospel thunders forth. I must beg God to be glorified as the Spirit draws many to the Savior through the message preached in the open air.

3. Exude grace & truth.
Jesus entered the world full of grace and truth. He came and taught the Word of God. He preached the Scriptures. He proclaimed the gospel. He presented the good news and always heralded the truth! As He did this, he perfectly exuded grace. Full, gospel, divine, matchless grace. He modeled a perfect evangelist as one who presented the truth with all grace! He was fully balanced in the giving of the truth with demonstration of heartfelt compassion and grace. I must make it my ambition to exude this kind of Christlike blending of grace and truth in my preaching.

4. Pity the unconverted.
Those who walk by and hear the preached Word are dead souls, walking in living physical bodies, alienated from God, hostile to God, hating the truth, rejecting Christ, and living as self-worshiping idolaters. But I must never be angry with them nor should I retaliate -- ever. I must pity them since they live in darkness, love the darkness, and don’t know anything but darkness. I must see them as sheep without a shepherd and pity their souls and earnestly pray for God to awaken them. I should evidence David’s heart from Psalm 119 that my eyes would shed streams of water because they do not keep your Law (Ps 119:136). I must go on the streets with a genuine brokenness for the lost and a loving, compassionate pursuit of the lost so they may find their Shepherd!

5. Trust the Spirit's work.
As with any evangelism, the duty is mine to obey Christ and proclaim Him to the lost and yet my confidence rests wholly with the absolutely sovereign work of God to save His elect, to draw His own, and to sanctify the redeemed. Even if I see no visible results, I must keep on serving Christ knowing that it’s the Lord Christ that I serve. I must trust and pray and expect that the watering of the gospel-seed will produce much fruit according to God’s will. I go and I continue to go and trust God. I expect Him to work. I pray and ask for many souls to be won for His renown.

What Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

What Is The Gospel Of Jesus Christ?
By: Pastor Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

THE GOSPEL
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the message of good news that God has provided a way to deliver man from God’s eternal judgment that he rightly deserves because of his sin.

GOD
God is infinitely holy, righteous, just, and good. He is the sovereign King of heaven and earth who made everything and thus owns everything. Everything exists because of Him and for Him. He is infinitely pure and eternally holy. He cannot look upon sin — any sin — with favor. He cannot overlook a sin. Sin is lawlessness and is, therefore, a violation of God’s holy, just, and righteous Law.

MAN
Man is created in the image of God and bears the imprint of God in his being. At the same time, man has become completely corrupted by sin thoroughly. Since Adam’s sin in the garden of Eden, all his posterity — that is, every single human being who has ever been biologically born from his parents — has completely, utterly, eternally, and miserably infected the entire human population with a sin nature. This sin nature permeates man’s being in his thoughts, in his heart and mind, in his deeds, and in his very nature and character. Man is wholly corrupt and radically depraved. He does not love God, nor does he fear God. Man, in and of himself, hates God and hates all that God is.

THE PROBLEM
If God is fair, just, righteous, and good, He must punish sinners — every one. For God to remain just and retain His perfect and good standard of righteousness, he must — as the Judge — fairly, rightly recompense every lawless deed that man has ever committed. Thus, all human beings because they are sinners are fully deserving of the wrath of God. If God were to justify a wicked man or overlook his offense, it would be such an unfair, abominable deed that He would forfeit His very nature of being a just, holy, good, and fair Judge. So then, God cannot forgive man. God cannot accept man. God cannot justify a wicked man. God must eternally condemn man — all men.

JESUS
Yet there is one way of salvation that God established and brought about because man, in his own state, can do nothing to earn his salvation before God. God sent His Son, the God-Man Jesus Christ, to this world so that He may live a perfect life in full obedience to God His Father, the Law of God, and the righteous decrees of God. Then, God ordained that He would slaughter His own Son Jesus Christ in a cruel form of punishment (crucifixion) and there pour out the full weight of His eternal fury and vengeance upon His Son that sinners rightly deserve forever in hell. God, in his mercy and grace, sent Christ to be the propitiatory sacrifice which would turn away His anger and wrathful vengeance from the sinner. The death of Christ, then, was a substitutionary act.

RESPONSE
Being wholly unable to respond in and of himself and totally at enmity with God Himself, man cannot respond in faith. Man is dead in his sin and cannot choose God, love God, please God, or do anything whatsoever to merit acceptance before God. God then calls the sinner to repent of his sin. To repent involves the necessary act of recognizing one’s sinfulness and eternal plight and choosing to turn from that sin in a new direction. At the same time, repentance also includes faith in Jesus Christ. One must believe in the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the wrath of God that He bore in the place of believing sinners. This repentance and faith in Jesus Christ is necessary for the sinner to be saved.

VERIFICATION
The Bible nowhere hints at confirming a person’s salvation experience because of a decision, a particular act or deed, or even a “sinner’s prayer.” Rather, the Bible everywhere speaks of a person’s works or deeds that essentially validate whether a person has been reborn. Like the wind, one cannot see the wind itself but one can see the effects of the wind. And so it is with the newly regenerated soul, one cannot see the sovereign working of God the Spirit in salvation but one will be able to see the visible fruit that the new changed heart will certainly produce. Thus, rather than one’s mind being set on the flesh it will be set on the things of God and the sinner will strive to present himself as a slave to God and offer all of his instruments as slaves of righteousness to God. The fruit of his life will be characteristic of the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. There will be a turning from and a hating of sin and a turning to Christ in joyful delight and a genuine passion for holiness and Godly behavior. As Jesus said, “By their fruits you will know them.”

Click here to watch a video-presentation of the Gospel.

Friday, September 11, 2015

Giving Your Pastor Feedback After a Sermon. Some Helpful Tips.

Giving Your Pastor Feedback After a Sermon...
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

“Good sermon.” “Helpful!” “Interesting.” “Awesome message.” “Thanks, Pastor!” Pastors hear these sorts of comments after sermons from time to time. Some may come more frequently than others. But if you ask most pastors who care about feeding the flock and who have literally emptied all that they have in that hour of heralding, many who approach them after sermons unknowingly do not provide helpful feedback. It’s not necessarily bad. It’s not necessarily harmful. It’s just not the most helpful. Preachers have heard the standard lines that people give on their way out of the church building when they give a brief word before heading home. Ministers have heard those.  But feedback that is more helpful and more thoughtful is what every pastor needs.

Here are a few helpful pointers in giving your shepherd helpful feedback after he has preached the Word of God to you.

1. Be specific in your feedback. Try to frame your feedback around what the message taught you, reminded you, convicted you, and how you need to change in light of the preached Word. Perhaps share one thing that you learned about God’s character, one thing that you saw of Christ & His glory in the text, and one way that the Spirit convicted you of a specific sin that you must mortify. Fight the generalization & be specific.

2. Be careful not to flatter. Don't necessarily -- and always -- tell your pastor: "Great sermon!" Be assured of this, the devil has already told him that as soon as he sits down when he's through preaching. Satan wants to puff up your pastor and flatter him so that he trusts in his eloquence and not in the Spirit to accomplish the work -- even after the proclamation is through. If it was a good sermon, tell him what helped you as your shepherd guided you into the text. Be careful not to flatter him: his eloquence, his finesse, his skills.

3. Be diligent to apply. In all honesty, the best way to encourage your pastor is just to do what God says in His Word. As your pastor preaches and makes the Word clear, walk in obedience. Perhaps it’s one month, or six months, or even one year later. You approach your pastor and carefully, prayerfully, and thoughtfully share with him how a sermon way back when really impacted you and how you specifically confessed your sin, deliberately put on righteousness, and have seen the Spirit enable you to walk in new habits in further conforming you to Christ!

4. Be periodic and intentional about loving your shepherd. Preaching is the hardest work on the planet. It is also the most weighty and serious work. Preachers will stand before Almighty God and give an account for everything that he has said from the pulpit. If that isn’t enough, he'll stand before God and give an account for how he cared for every individual soul that God mercifully entrusted to his shepherding care. Encourage your shepherd. Care for your shepherd. Love him. Pray for him. Support him. Serve him. Minister to him thoughtfully!

5. Be careful what you say and how you say it immediately following the sermon. Yes, your pastor is a merely a man. He's human. Your pastor, as a faithful herald of God, has just poured everything he's got into the faithful, clear, powerful, dependent, urgent, persuasive preaching & crying forth of God's Word. Careful with the immediate questions that begin with,  “Did you realize you mispronounced…” or “I disagree with you on this point….”  This is not to suggest that there's not a time for helpful sermon feedback. But perhaps a phone call or an email the following week with a desire to get together over coffee to open the Word and discuss further might be more appropriate and more loving for his own emotions. Additionally, be careful: after the pastor has preached a sermon, try not to ask: "so, how are you doing?" Or, "What's up?"  Your pastor, if he is a faithful spokesman for God, is exhausted, emotionally, physically, and mentally drained -- literally. He just gave birth to the sermon that he's been working on for the past week. Rather than trivial conversation, thank him for directing your mind to Scripture, your heart to Christ, your will toward joyful obedience.

Download the pdf article.

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Expositional Preaching Series Through the Book of Revelation


Last week, we completed the expositional preaching series through the Book of Revelation. The audio & pdf outlines are all available at the media page at Christ Fellowship Bible Church.

THE SERIES:

1. Introduction to the Book of Revelation, part 1  |  here
2. Introduction to the Book of Revelation, part 2 (the Old Testament in Revelation)  |  here
3. The glory of Jesus Christ in the prologue of Revelation (Rev 1:1-8)  |  here
4. A jet tour through the Book of Revelation (Rev 1:19)  |  here
5. The church of Ephesus (Rev 2:1-7)  |  here
6. The church of Smyrna, Prepare to Suffer (Rev 2:8-11)  |  here
7. The church of Pergamum, Don't Compromise (Rev 2:12-17)  |  here
8. The church of Thyatira (Rev 2:18-29)  |  here
9. The church of Sardis (Rev 3:1-6)  |  here
10. The church of Philadelphia (Rev 3:7-13)  |  here
11. The church of Laodicea (Rev 3:14-22)  |  here
12. A scene in heaven (Rev 4)  |  here
13. The preeminence of Jesus Christ (Christ-centered worship in heaven (Rev 5)  |  here
14. The six seal judgments (Rev 6)  |  here
15. 144,000 and the great multitude saved (Rev 7)  |  here
16. The trumpet judgments (Rev 8)  |  here
17. The trumpet judgments, part 2 (Rev 9)  |  here
18. The mighty angel and the little book that John is told to eat (Rev 10)  |  here
19. The 2 witnesses and the seventh trumpet (Rev 11)  |  here
20. The fall of Satan (Rev 12)  |  here
21. Satan cast down to earth (Rev 12:6-17)  |  here
22. The beast of the sea & the beast of the land (Rev 13)  |  here
23. The victory & supremacy of Jesus Christ over the earth (Rev 14)  |  here
24. The biblical doctrine of eternal hell (Rev 14:9-11)  |  here
25. The song of the redeemed in heaven (Rev 15)  |  here
26. The seven bowl judgments (Rev 16)  |  here
27. The great harlot (Rev 17)  |  here
28. Commercial Babylon & her destruction (Rev 18)  |  here
29. Heaven's rejoicing over the destruction of Babylon (Rev 19:1-10)  |  here
30. The second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in power & glory (Rev 19:11-21)  |  here
31. A biblical survey of the mediatorial kingdom of God  |  here
32. The future kingdom of Jesus Christ on earth for 1,000 years (Rev 20:1-10)  |  here
33. The great white throne judgment (Rev 20:11-15)  |  here
34. Heaven, part 1 - the new heaven and the new earth (Rev 21:1-22:5)  |  here
35. Heaven, part 2 - what will we be like in heaven?  |  here
36. Heaven, part 3 - how will we relate to God in heaven?  |  here
37. Heaven, part 4 - what will we do in heaven? & Conclusion of Revelation (Rev 22:6-21)  |  here

Revelation 22:7  —  "Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book."

Monday, September 7, 2015

The Public Reading of Scripture in Corporate Worship -- Some Helpful Tips.

Public Reading of Scripture in Corporate Worship:
Some Helpful Tips
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

God speaks when the Bible speaks. As a man holds the Bible and reads it, the sovereign Master of all creation utters His voice. At Christ Fellowship Bible Church, one element of worship that we include in every corporate worship gathering is the public reading of Holy Scripture. We want to hear from God. We sit under the authority of His Word. And we model for the flock the importance of reading the Word, the reverence when hearing the Word, and the way to pray through the Word. Here are some some helpful tips to bear in mind when engaging in the corporate reading of Scripture.


1. Read REVERENTLY.
The Bible is God’s Book and it is the very word of the Living God. The Bible should, then, be read differently than the morning newspaper. Men must read it with care, with honor, with reverence, and with awe as if we really had God’s very spoken Words that He gave to us, for indeed, that’s precisely what we have. The Bible should be opened before the people and they must all know that the man standing before them has God’s book and that he will read from God’s book and give God’s truth to all God’s people and as a result of this, all people must give full attention and listen well to God’s voice. To also display reverence, one custom that many congregations may incorporate is having everyone stand in honor of the Word of God. This physically and visually reminds everyone that we stand in the presence of majesty. If anything deserves this, hearing the voice of God deserves unrivaled reverence.


2. Read CONFIDENTLY.
When standing and reading the Word, it deserves to be read with confidence, with a loud voice as the reader knows that he is in fact reading God’s truth. One should not read the Word timidly or shyly, or quietly or apologetically. He should read it with power and with confidence and with earnestness since he himself as the reader (the ‘lector’) knows he is imparting God’s truth to God’s people through God’s unchanging Word. This deserves to be read, then, with triumphant confidence.


3. Read ARTICULATELY.
Those who publicly read the Scripture in the corporate gathering should practice reading their portion of Scripture out loud prior to the corporate gathering. He should notice the punctuation marks (commas, periods, exclamation points, question marks) and he should take note of all city names and regions, proper names, etc. that may warrant his practice ahead of time. He does not want to stand before the congregation and fumble his way through place names, people’s names, and regions. And certainly he never wants to make a facial gesture that appears to be joking or making fun of a particular name (whether it’s hard to articulate, long, or just plain uncommon to us today). Practice it ahead of time, read it clearly and articulately. Indeed, the reader must read the text as if he himself is convinced that he’s reading God’s very words.


4. Read ENGAGINGLY.
This takes practice. Read the text to engage people in and through your reading. There are some people who cannot read publicly and engage people because they read monotone and with a lifeless passion. They have no regard for punctuation marks and people are noticeably disengaged. It must never be this way. The reader must hold the Word open for people to see the source from which he’s reading and he should read to engage with the people. He should pause when needed. He should raise his voice when needed. He should ask questions with the tone that is appropriate. He must read and periodically look up to engage with his audience and make sure they are tracking with him in their Bibles or, at least, that their eyes are fixed upon him as he reads from the text of Scripture. Read to engage. Read God’s truth to touch people’s hearts.


5. Read PASSIONATELY.
No man should ever rise and read the Bible heartless and without passion. Never should he read the Bible as if he were reading a novel that he picked up at a local bookstore. He should read with care, precision, passion, love, excitement, and confidence. In his reading, all people present must perceive that he (the reader) believes what he reads because he reads with such passion. He must seek to put people back in time, in that text, to feel what they felt, to know God more.


6. Read EXPECTANTLY.
Reading the Word in corporate worship engages the hearts of God’s people and it produces a powerful effect. Because Scripture is living and active, it always produces the ends for which God sends it forth. In the providence of God and in His gracious timing, he may have the corporate reading of the Bible be a text that a hurting saint needs to hear. It may be a passage that a wayward saint is convicted by. It may be a chapter that the lost are converted as the Spirit impresses upon their heart the holiness of God, the guilt of their sin, and the glorious work of Christ. Always read the Word expecting great things from God. Never is the Bible reading a filler time in the worship service. Never is it a time to tune out, disengage, and exit the sanctuary to use the restroom. It is God’s voice being heard through God’s Word as it is read publicly, expectantly, and anticipating great things from God as He feeds His people through His truth.

Thursday, August 20, 2015

The New Birth: The Doctrine of Regeneration [eBook]


The New Birth: the doctrine of regeneration [eBook]. 23 articles.  Download the eBook.

The articles include:
  1. the meaning of the new birth
  2. the necessity of the new birth
  3. the impossibility of the new birth
  4. the glory of the new birth
  5. the sovereignty of the new birth
  6. the irresistibility of the new birth
  7. the cleansing of the new birth
  8. the availability of the new birth
  9. the need for the new birth
  10. the individuality of the new birth
  11. the humility of the new birth
  12. the producer of the new birth
  13. the miracle of the new birth
  14. the finality of the new birth
  15. the promise of the new birth
  16. the timing of the new birth
  17. the receiving of the new birth
  18. the transformation from the new birth
  19. the assurance from the new birth
  20. the proclamation of the new birth
  21. the preaching of the new birth
  22. the confidence in the new birth
  23. the doxology from the new birth
One excerpt:

"Perhaps the greatest act that brings glory to God is when a deadened sinner, hostile to God, a vile worm, a despicable rebel, an arrogant and self-worshiping and self-proclaiming person is radically regenerated by the supernatural Spirit so that divine life is given to a dead soul so that the stony, God-hating heart becomes a living, Christ-loving heart. And all this is done by God for God."

Friday, August 14, 2015

I urge you ... a nearer communion with Christ!

"I urge you, Madam, a nearer communion with Christ, and a growing communion. There are curtains to be opened in Christ that we have never seen before, and new layers of love in Him. I despair that I will ever make it to the far end of that love, there are so many layers in it. Therefore dig deep, and sweat, and labour. Take pains for Him, and set aside as much time as you can in each day for Him. Christ will be won with labour."
— Samuel Rutherford  (a letter to Lady Kenmure, 1637).

The TRANSFORMATION from the New Birth.

This is part 18 of the ongoing blog-series on the New Birth.
 
The TRANSFORMATION from the New Birth
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

As God performs the work of the new birth in the soul of a man, that sinner never remains the same. In fact, that sinner, from that moment on, is eternally changed. When God works in a man he transforms that man. When God grants the new birth he changes the way of life. He is a newly transformed man — entirely. Or, to use Paul’s words: “he is a new creation” (2 Cor 5:17).

In speaking of the results of the new birth, I want to show how regeneration transforms a person. In a sense, this discussion on the transformation speaks of the sanctification process rather than the monergistic regeneration act of God. Nevertheless, the two always go together. When God regenerates a person, that inevitably leads to transformation, or, what we may call sanctification.

1) An INTERNAL transformation. Just as a surgery takes place on the inside of a person so the work of regeneration occurs on the inside of a person. Regeneration transforms the whole person. God’s life that He gives to dead souls happens on the inside of a man. It will, over time, inevitably affect his conduct [=sanctification] but it is an invisible, internal, soul-work.

2) A COMPLETE transformation. The new birth that comes from God transforms the soul entirely. God removes the entire old heart and replaces it with a radically new and spiritually alive heart. Salvation is not a partial work of God. Nor is it a potential offer. Regeneration completely transforms the person because God’s imparting of life is a complete, instantaneous, miraculous, supernatural, and effective act of sovereign grace.

3) An ETERNAL transformation. God gives life and never revokes that life. There has never been a person who has received the new birth who has lost that salvation. Regeneration always is one-sided. It takes a man from death to life. But never can a man, at a later point, go from life back to death. The transformation work of God to the soul is an eternal work. God has caused His people to be born again to a living hope (1 Pet 1:3) in order to “obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Pet 1:4). Peter affirms that this life that comes from God is as eternal as God Himself is. It is as protected as God is Himself trustworthy. None who truly have been born again can lose, forfeit, revoke, or fall from this regeneration state. It is an eternal and transforming work in the soul.

4) An EVIDENT transformation. Regeneration is divine heart-surgery. He removes the old heart and replaces it with a new heart. It’s internal, invisible, supernatural and instantaneous. It will manifest itself as the believer carefully observes (obeys) God’s ordinances (Ezek 36:27).

5) A PROGRESSIVE transformation. The true work of God in salvation (regeneration/the new birth) will certainly and gloriously transform the person’s life. He will progressively grow in holiness, walk in Christlikeness. He is positionally in Christ and he’ll progressively mature in his practice of Christlikeness. The work of God on the soul of a man changes his life. Regeneration always produces sanctification. Sanctification is always the fruit of the new birth.

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

A Pastor's Priority: "The Flock of God Needs My Personal Holiness"

A Pastor’s Priority:
“The Flock of God Needs My Personal Holiness”
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

Robert Murray M’Cheyne once said: "The greatest need of my people is my personal holiness.” This axiom must redound in the shepherd’s heart continually. Many pursuits plague pastors today and busy them to such a degree that many shepherds have forgotten to keep the main thing the main thing. And O how easily business can distract us; even being busy with good matters! Yet the flock of God, more than anything else, needs my personal holiness. Dear man of God and leader who serves Christ’s flock, you must remember: the flock needs your personal holiness!

1) The priority of holiness.
Dear man of God: make the pursuit of holiness the driving ambition of your life. Don’t let anything deter you, distract you, sway you, or discourage you away from the primary goal of God’s election of you: holiness! O strive to be like Christ! Emulate Him! Seek Him. Commune with Him! Love Him! Savor Him. Diligently and determinatively drive toward holiness! If it’s not your priority, then it certainly won’t be that of your people’s. Prioritize it!

2) The necessity of holiness.
Dear man of God: listen to what God unambiguously declares: ‘without holiness no one will see the Lord’ (Heb 12:14). Let that truth ring in your ears daily. Rise early and pray that you’d be holy. As you go about your work, endeavor to excel at holiness. With your family, emulate holiness. As you lie down at night after a long (=trying, affliction-filled) day, resolve to be holy. Sir, if you are to enter heaven: be holy! Let your people see this in you.

3) The pursuit of holiness.
Dear man of God: as a male, you pursue what you love. You did it with your wife. You did it in that sport. You did it for that reward. Remember, precious soul, that you must pursue holiness. If your flock doesn’t see it in you, then they won’t know how to pursue it. Let them see you pray, hear you evangelize, watch you suffer, experience you lead your family, and observe you prioritize your marriage above everything. Pray hard. Pray much. Read tirelessly. Memorize faithfully. Meditate diligently. Pursue holiness and the flock will see it, emulate it, mature in it and grow in the same.

4) The community of holiness.
Dear man of God: kill individualism. It isn’t helpful. Even as a pastor, fellowship with men. Be vulnerable. Talk about your sins, struggles, battles, and welcome accountability. Live in community. Ask men to hold you accountable. Live not only for Christ’s people but also with them. Encourage one another as long as it is still called today so you aren’t hardened by sin (Hebrews 3:13). Don’t forget this. O man who leads: remember, a limb severed from the body won’t live long. It’ll soon die. Be a part of the flock. Model this. Be with God’s people. Benefit from it. Love it. Embrace it. Delight in it.

5) The joy of holiness.
Dear man of God: God’s kind of person who lives under His reign has the joy in the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is in fact the Spirit of holiness (Romans 1:4) and if the Spirit indwells you, then He makes you holy. As this happens, he pours joy in your soul (Romans 5:5). No greater joy can ever be found by a soul than the satisfying and ever-continuing pursuit of holiness and Christlikeness. For the glory of Christ and the joy of your soul: pursue holiness.

6) The accountability of holiness.
Dear man of God: if when you fail, embrace reproof. Accept accountability to accelerate your holiness. Don’t reject it. Mortify all pride and self-preservation. Welcome the man of God who worships his master enough to come to you and expose your sin and call you to repentance! O God is near to the humble, the broken, the penitent. He makes whole the bruised and beggars. Don’t hide. Seek accountability to stimulate your growth!

7) The example of holiness.
Dear man of God: exemplify holiness. Show the flock what it means to lead in prayer. Pray early. Pray often. Pray specifically. Pray watchfully. Pray fervently. Read, study, memorize, speak about and discuss God’s precious Word. Model for your people what it is to prioritize your marriage. Say no to people when you need to say yes to your wife. Love her. Ravish her. Satisfy her. Love her. Cherish her. Lead your family and children in regular family worship. Let people see you do this frequently and with diligence. Trust God to save your children and pray faithfully & fervently for their souls. Manage your time well. Don’t neglect the essentials for the innumerable good things. Shepherd your wife and family before your shepherd the flock. If you don’t, then the other husbands will also follow your lead and neglect their families for other things. Model this, O shepherd! Be sure to repent quickly of all known. Keep very short accounts with God. Let no sin remain and let no vice grow deep in the soil of your heart. Pluck it quickly, decisively, and completely. Annihilate that soiled weed! Mortify your sin. Have violence and take pains with killing your sin. And do it quickly before the roots spread and thicken. And keep your heart tender and warm toward Christ. Ravish your soul with His unspeakable delights for soon you’ll be round the Throne bowed down, looking at the hands that were pierced to win your soul! Love Him from the heart! Galaxies of joy, bankless oceans of delights, eternal mercies to study, and a sweet Savior living for you is worthy to follow. Exemplify this.


Download the pdf article.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

The RECEIVING of the New Birth.

This is the next part in the ongoing series on The New Birth.
 
The RECEIVING of the New Birth
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

How does a dead sinner receive this new birth? How does it come to the depraved soul? How does a person gain new life?

In seeking to understand how the new birth is received, I will mention a few thoughts.

1) Personal. God gives the new birth to individuals that He has sovereignly elected. He does not save people generally; he regenerates individuals personally. The new birth is something that happens to me. It is a very personal, individual, God-given, sovereign, and glorious work to a soul.

2) Powerful. The new birth that comes from God is irresistibly powerful. It cannot be thwarted, resisted, rejected, or despised. Regeneration is God’s working. Regeneration must be received like this. If not, no soul would ever be saved for no sinner, engulfed in sin and living in darkness, would ever want Christ, seek after Him, and run to Him for eternal salvation! O how regeneration must come from the powerful, unconquerable strength of the God of Jacob! It comes from the mighty hand of God to the dead soul of a man. It is a divine, powerful, unstoppable miracle!

3) Permanent. When God rebirths a person the life endures permanently in his soul. He can never lose the new life. He cannot exchange it, lose it, or forfeit it. God’s working is permanent. Not only does God bring the new birth powerfully to dead sinners but he also permanently brings them new life. Dead sinners that come to life never die again. The life God gives is eternal.

4) Purifying. When God regenerates a soul he purifies and cleanses that soul. The life that God imparts to the deadened soul transforms the life from a stony heart to a beating heart. He changes that heart from a spiritually cold heart to a spiritually warm heart to the things of God. God regenerates and sanctifies. The new birth gives life and it purifies the soul by God’s grace!

5) Pleasurable. Nothing in all the vast universe can compare with the life-giving pleasures that assuredly come from God’s regenerative work. Nothing delights the soul like God’s gospel, like the sweetness of Christ, like the fellowship of the Spirit, like the preciousness of the Word. The new birth brings the ultimate delight, the unending pleasures, and the eternal blessings to undeserving sinners. God’s work in man’s soul is sweet and joyous and full of divine pleasures. This is so because Christ is revealed to the sinner and he now rejoices in Christ and loves Him!

6) Preeminent. Perhaps the ultimate act in the working of salvation is the instantaneous, miraculous, supernatural, monergistic, irresistible act of God in giving life to vile sinners. Salvation truly is ‘of the Lord’ (Psalm 3:8). And it is by God’s doing that believers are in Christ Jesus (1 Cor 1:30). The first act — and the ultimate, preeminent action — of salvation is when God alone breathes life, by His sovereign will, by His perfect power, for His eternal glory to sinners. Out of all the peaks in the vast mountain range of the doctrine of salvation, that which towers high above all the rest is that of regeneration!

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

The PROMISE of the New Birth.

This is the next blog in the ongoing series on the New Birth.
 
The PROMISE of the New Birth
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

In the discourse that the Lord Jesus had with Nicodemus, the topic of the new birth permeated the entire discussion. Nicodemus was not reborn and Jesus told Him that he must receive the new birth in order to see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). The new birth — a sovereign working of God, by His initiative, by His power, and for His glory — comes from God and comes to sinners! Only God can grant the new birth. Salvation is a monergistic act. God, and God alone, accomplishes all of the rebirth. None can help, contribute to, aid, or supplement the working of God in the soul of a man. There are some promises that exist in the discussion on the new birth. This essay will elaborate on a few of the promises of the new birth.

1) The PRESENTED promise. When Jesus spoke with Nicodemus, the teacher of Israel (John 3:10a) and one who knew the Hebrew Scriptures very well (implied in John 3:10b), Jesus presented Him with a promise. John 3:15 says that whoever believes will in Him [in Christ] have eternal life. Jesus presents Nicodemus with a promise, and it extends to everyone who would believe in Jesus Christ. The promise that Christ presented to Nicodemus was that whoever looks to the Son and beholds Him will certainly receive eternal life. None shall be turned away if they come to Jesus Christ by faith alone. The new birth is a working of God, by His grace and for His glory, and it is this that then permits a person’s eyes to be opened to see his sinful condition, his eternal condemnation, and the complete salvation found in the atoning work of Jesus Christ. But the promise remains, whoever believes will have eternal life. The promise of eternal life is presented to whoever would come to Christ and believe in His name.

2) A DIVINE promise. None other than the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, provided this promise to Nicodemus. Human promises may come to fruition, but they may not. But when God makes a promise, He always remains true to His Word. He cannot lie for He always is faithful. The promise that Christ makes to Nicodemus and to all who believe in Christ is that he will have eternal life. This is no mere human wish. This is a divine, bonafide, unbreakable promise. God Himself declares that whoever believes will in Christ have eternal life. Nothing can be more sure than the promises that come from Christ’s lips.

3) An ETERNAL promise. Jesus tells Nicodemus that whoever believes will have eternal life. This is not just life in this world and living it to the fullest, though it is! This is life eternal that begins at the moment of God’s supernatural and sovereign working in the person’s soul and continues even past the moment of physical death to endless eternities to come. Believing on Christ brings eternal life. The truest sense of life eternal, everlasting blessednesses, and unending joys in the immediate presence of the Triune God forever comes to the person who believes in Christ!

4) A SURE promise. The conversation that Jesus had with Nicodemus covered the spectrum of the new birth. It is God alone who accomplishes it and when a person believes in Christ, that sinner most certainly, most definitely, and most assuredly possesses eternal life. The word of God is sure, reliable, trustworthy, dependable and faithful. O the blessed promise of Jesus Christ!

Thursday, July 30, 2015

The FINALITY of the New Birth.

This continues the ongoing blog series on "The New Birth"
 
The FINALITY of the New Birth
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

Salvation would be of little profit and it would impart no comfort if it could be reversible. Yet the Word of God clearly affirms that the work of God in the soul of man is a final work, an irreversible work, an unchangeable work, and a divine work. The Apostle Peter affirms that God has caused believers to be born again [ἀναγεννήσας] to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you (1 Pet 1:3-4). Unspeakable comfort, unfathomable mercies, and unquenchable consolations pour out from these verses. This brief write-up will further explain the finality of the new birth.

1) It is IRREVERSIBLE. God declares: “I act and who can reverse it?” (Isa 43:13). When God performs the rebirth in the soul of a man, it cannot be changed. No man, no power, no situation, no sin can alter what God has accomplished on behalf of His elect. As the process can’t be reversed when a human baby is born, so impossible is it spiritually to reverse the heavenly-birth. What God accomplishes is perfect and eternal. Let this comfort the believer’s soul!

2) It is IRREVOCABLE. Not only is the new birth irreversible (can’t be altered), but also is irrevocable. This underscores the promise that the heavenly birth cannot be taken away. All whom God rebirths are those whom He Himself carries to heaven. None that He saves can be lost. Salvation cannot be revoked from any of Christ’s blood-bought sheep. Those who are born again are “protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet 1:5). The sovereign, monergistic work of God cannot be altered, revoked, insufficient or inadequate. This reality of the irrevocable finality of the new birth must comfort God’s children!

3) It is UNSTOPPABLE. God does according to His will and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him: “what have you done?” (Dan 4:35). What God decrees and determines to accomplish, none can stop Him. None can thwart His ways. The LORD is a Warrior and none can stop Him (Ex 15:2). The glorious act of supernatural regeneration that comes upon a dead soul by the uninfluenced and unconditional grace of God cannot be resisted. Much comfort comes from this truth when God grants new life, none can willfully and blasphemously reject it. As Jesus said, the new birth must be compared to the wind, for people hear the sound of it but do not know were it comes from or where it is going.None can stop the wind. It’s invisible, it’s powerful, it’s unstoppable, it’s beyond human control. So it is with God’s working in the new birth.

4) It is UNEXPLAINABLE. Like the wind, man knows that regeneration is there but he cannot fully comprehend and explain it. This is only fitting since the new birth is a full, supreme, divine miracle. Miracles cannot be explained by finite, human creatures. The regeneration act is nothing short of a supernatural, instantaneous, unrepeatable miracle! Indeed, as a miracle performed by God and by Him alone, man cannot fully explain it. We receive it and believe it!

5) It is FINAL. All of this emphatically underscores the promise that the new birth can’t come up short. It can’t leave one dangling over heaven and then at last drop them into hell. The work of God in the soul of a man by the grace of Christ by the sovereignty of the Spirit is a final, saving, eternal, unstoppable, and glorious work. Let Christians rejoice and be glad in God!

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