The Unforgivable Sin

“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin“– Mark 3:28-29

Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.  And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.  Matt 12:31-32

If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life–to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that.  All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. 1John 5:16-17

Show Us Christ

Show Us Christ

Prepare our hearts, O God
Help us to receive
Break the hard and stony ground
Help our unbelief
Plant Your Word down deep in us
Cause it to bear fruit
Open up our ears to hear
Lead us in Your truth

Show us Christ, show us Christ
O God, reveal Your glory
Through the preaching of Your Word
Until every heart confesses Christ is Lord

Your Word is living light
Upon our darkened eyes
Guards us through temptations
Makes the simple wise
Your Word is food for famished ones
Freedom for the slave
Riches for the needy soul
Come speak to us today

Where else can we go, Lord
Where else can we go
You have the words of eternal life

Music by Doug Plank, words by Doug Plank and Bob Kauflin

Tell Me, What Is The Gospel ?

“This is not an invitation to moral apathy but to godly sanity. The bad news is far worse than occasionally failing to live up to my potential. The smallest sin in my eyes–not only what my hands have done, but what I’ve conceived in my heart–is sufficient to banish me from God’s holy and joyful presence forever. But the good news is far greater than the bad news is bad. The good news is far greater than “just try harder next time.” In fact, that is not good news at all because I know that God does not grade on a curve and he has not asked me to try harder. He demands perfect righteousness, not good intentions. The harder I try to cover up my nakedness in God’s presence, the more I hate God, fleeing in self-deceit from his terrifying presence. Left to myself, I will always accuse God and excuse myself–even using religion to hide my ineradicable guilt. The good news is that Christ’s righteousness is greater than my sin. Fully absolved in Christ, I am free to confess my sins, receive the assurance of pardon, and go on in my imperfect yet Spirit-led obedience.”

- Michael S. Horton, Christless Christianity, 121.

Jesus Declared His Gospel Honestly

"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Matt 7:13-14

[The Christian life] is not a life which at first is fairly broad, and which as you go on becomes narrower and narrower. No! The gate itself, the very way of entering into this life, is a narrow one. … Too often the impression is given that to be a Christian is after all very little different from being a non-Christian, that you must not think of Christianity as a narrow life, but as something most attractive and wonderful and exciting, and that you come in in crowds. It is not so according to our Lord. The gospel of Jesus Christ is too honest to invite anybody in that way. It does not try to persuade us that it is something very easy, and that it is only later on that we shall begin to discover it is hard. The gospel of Jesus Christ openly and uncompromisingly announces itself as being something which starts with a narrow entrance, a strait gate. …

We are told at the very outset of this way of life, before we start on it, that if we would walk along it there are certain things which must be left outside, behind us. There is no room for them, because we

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

have to start by passing through a strait and narrow gate. I like to think of it as a turnstile. It is just like a turnstile that admits one person at a time and no more. And it is so narrow that there are certain things which you simply cannot take through with you. It is exclusive from the very beginning, and it is important that we should look at this sermon in order to see some of the things which must be left behind.

The first thing we leave behind is what is called worldliness. We leave behind the crowd, the way of the world. … The Christian way of life is not popular. … You cannot take the crowd with you into the Christian life; it inevitably involves a break.

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, ii, pp. 220-1

Dramatic Change and Paradigm Shift in World Mission Focus

In a 2010 article from WSJ (see below), the writer who was an observer at Edinburgh 2010 World Missionary Conference opined the “dramatic change” and “paradigm shift” in the focus of world mission today, away from original focus of the commission that Jesus has  commanded to one which is merely a vacation style outreach “to battle the ills of poverty and to stretch their own spirituality.”. This is the sad state of mission boards and its supporting churches which have lost its understanding of the Gospel and that they exist to spread the good news of the  Gospel and to make disciples of all nations for the glory of God.

It appears that 21st century mission boards and missionaries have lost sight of purpose and intent of the Great Commission that the Lord Jesus Christ has commanded all Christians and for which He has promised His power to enable them to do so faithfully: “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matt 28:18-20.

How Missionaries Lost Their Chariots of Fire
by Mr. Greenberg-the creator of TheGodBlog.org.

The 1910 World Missionary Conference was a watershed moment for Protestantism. Meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, the assembled 1,200 Protestants believed that Christianity was on the cusp of spreading to every corner of the world, and that Christ would come again once every ear had heard the good news of salvation. Their master plan for missions would hasten his return.

But Edinburgh 2010, the centenary conference that concluded last month, drew only about a quarter of the crowd and received attention only from a few Christian publications. The modern master plan was less ambitious as well: a call to global missions and “to witness and evangelism in such a way that we are a living demonstration of the love, righteousness and justice that God intends for the whole world.”

This dramatic change was summed up at a small gathering of academics and missions professionals at Fuller Theological Seminary in late May. “At (1910) Edinburgh, people thought they were going to take over the world,” said C. Douglas McConnell, dean of Fuller’s School of Intercultural Studies in his opening remarks. “And now many of our students wonder if they should even try.”

Indeed, colonialism is dead (thankfully). But the term “missions” itself now carries with it a negative connotation, even in politically and theologically conservative circles. Christians today typically travel abroad to serve others, but not necessarily to spread the gospel.

While meaning well and certainly doing good, this form of outreach has allowed the pendulum to swing too far from 1910. Today, Christian missionaries need to balance both actions and words. The overwhelming majority of American missionaries today are “vacationaries.” Joining mission trips of two weeks or less, they serve in locales where Christianity already predominates.

The purpose, then, of their visit is to battle the ills of poverty and to stretch their own spirituality. According to studies by Robert J. Priest, a missiologist and director of the doctoral program in intercultural studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 82% of short-term missions today go to countries in the most-Christian third of the world. Only 2% land in the Middle East.

The work these missionaries do reflects a paradigm shift—from spreading Christianity, to living it, …………………….missions experts note rising interest in strictly social justice and humanitarian work, even on short-term visits.

…..Unless foreigners explain that they are motivated to help by their religious beliefs, locals may be grateful for the new home but they should not be expected to connect dots that they may not even know exist.

The reality is the Church should be doing both: serving the needy and spreading the gospel. This is what makes the humanitarian work of Christians different than that of the American Red Cross. Both are motivated by the desire to help others, but Christians are spurred by that Jesus thing…………..

by Mr. Greenberg-the creator of TheGodBlog.org.
Read the full article at @ How Missionaries Lost Their Chariots of Fire

Francis Chan Warning People About Hell By Proclaiming It Boldly Now

Francis Chan Warning People About Hell By Proclaiming It Boldly Now

Q: When you say that your study caused you to realize that you had some sins to repent of, what type of things are you talking about?

FC: “As I reread the Gospel passages, Jesus’ words are much harsher than I remember. There’s a tone in some of the things that he said that are really difficult to stomach, and he says things in a way that I would not have.

Because we in America read certain passages over and over to the neglect of others, we start to believe that Jesus had a friendly tone all the time. And that there isn’t any wrath or anger or judgment. When you read it all like you are reading it for the first time, you walk away going, “Wow, he was pretty hardcore.”

Here’s what I had to repent of: I had felt the need to soften a lot of Jesus’ statements, because in my arrogance I think, “Okay Jesus, I’m not going to say that like that. Trust me, people will like you more and be more willing to accept you if I say it like this.” Obviously I’ve never said that to God. But that’s the attitude I’ve taken, and it made me sick. Who in the heck do I think I am? To think that I can make God more palatable or attractive if I try and change the tone in which he says some things. I know people say, “Well it’s just cultural this or that.” That’s garbage. People back then had a much deeper reverence for God than we do. Especially the religious community. Yet it’s to those people whom he speaks so harshly.

What in the world would he say to us today? I don’t think it’d be a softer message. I had to come before God and say, “Lord I feel sick…….”

Q: Is that what makes it compelling for you to continue to affirm the reality of hell? That it’s so frequently mentioned?

FC: “It comes down to God and people. I have to warn people. I don’t want people going there. And if they ignore it, there’s a much more likely chance that they’ll end up there. Obviously I take that in light of the sovereignty of God, but looking at it from a pragmatic perspective, it’s like canoeing before Niagara Falls if you don’t know it’s there or you’ve got yourself deceived that there’s no drop off. So one reason is my desire to love people and care for people and warn people.

The other is what I mentioned about God himself. I want to make sure that I’m being faithful to present him as he presents himself. I’m not ashamed of this, I don’t understand it completely, but I surrender to it, I submit to it. And I want to proclaim it boldly now.“

Quotes from Q&A: Francis Chan on Rob Bell and Hell from ChristianityToday.com

Bane of Modern Evangelism: Building a seeker sensitive church via another Gospel

” Neo-Christianity, which seems for the time to be the most popular(and is certainly the most aggressive), is very careful not to oppose sin. It wins its crowds by amusing them and its converts  by hiding from them the full implications of the Christian message. It carries on it projects after the ballyhoo methods of American business.” – A.W. Tozer from “The Next Chapter after the Last, p. 18.

” The feeling that we got to make converts at any cost has greatly wounded the Church of Christ. We must present the truth as we are told to present it and let the Holy Ghost(Spirit) work and the individual man decide whether he will accept it or not. This soft, pussy idea that in order to keep people coming and giving and filling the seats we don’t dare in any wise offend them, and we’ve got to make everything smooth and soft, is not New Testament.” -A.W. Tozer from sermon, “This I Believe,” 1969.

“The temptation to modify the teaching of Christ with the hope that larger numbers may ‘accept’ Him is cruelly strong in this day of speed, size,  noise, and crowds. But if we know what is good for us, we’ll resist it with every power at our command. To yield can only result in a weak and ineffective Christianity in this generation, and death and desolation in the next.”- A.W. Tozer from the “The Size of the Soul”, p. 119.

“The crowds-at-any-price mania has taken a firm grip on American Christianity and is the motivating power back of shockingly high percentage of all religious activity. Men and churches compete for the attention of the paying multitudes who are brought in by means of any currently popular gadget or gimmick ostensibly to have their souls saved, but , if the truth were told, often for reasons not so praiseworthy as this.” A. W. Tozer from “The Size of the Soul”, p. 117.

Galatians 1:6-12  “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel– not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.“

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What Does It Mean to Accept Christ ?

What would you say is the biggest problem facing evangelicalism today and how should we respond?

“In my mind, the most significant problem facing evangelicalism today is that evangelicals are assuming the Gospel—and, because of this, I fear we are a generation away from discarding it altogether. The reasons for this are many: the legacy of the seeker-sensitive movement with its emphasis on pragmatism, the rise of postmodernism, theological preaching that lacks the evangelical priority, et al.

How should we respond to this? Christocentric preaching and teaching! Christocentric ministries! Christocentric ministries! We need to pray for a generation of pastors who will be: 1) courageous enough to disregard popular ministry methodologies that undermine the Gospel; and, 2) consumed enough with God’s glory to cease measuring success by the numerical size of a congregation.” Pastor Art Azurdia

quote from “An interview with Arturo G. Azurdia III “
To learn more about and listen to Pastor Art Azurdia, visit Spirit Empowered Preaching

For Posts Related to Pastor Art Azurdia:

Jesus Christ: Unique and Beyond Comparison

Divine Chastisement is a Revelation of God’s Filial Love.

Finding Joy in Worship – Psalm 100 by Dr. Arturo G. Azurdia

The Unequaled Greatness of The Son of God – Art ( Arturo) Azurdia

Do We Need To Hear And Believe Gospel To Get To Heaven?

“It would seem that everybody in evangelical Christianity, everybody who is truly a Christian, would understand that the gospel is the heart of Christianity, that the gospel is found only in the Scripture. And that the gospel must be preached to the ends of the earth. ……. The heart of the Christian faith is the gospel. The gospel is found in the New Testament. The foundations of the gospel are found in the Old Testament. And the gospel must be preached to the ends of the earth if people are to be saved. That’s essentially the Christian mission.

“That’s what the church has believed. That has compelled its life. That has been its mandate. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and make disciples, baptizing them in My name and teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” He said it another way. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”……..That has been the church’s mandate. True Christians have always believed that. The true church has always taught that. We have believed and been compelled by the fact that if people don’t hear the gospel, they can’t be saved. And if they aren’t saved, then they’ll spend eternity in hell under the judgment of God. So it is absolutely critical that the world hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. That they not only hear it but that they understand it accurately. That they believe it. That they embrace it for themselves because it is the only saving truth.”

“Compelled by this clear biblical mandate, Christians through the centuries have taken the saving message to the ends of the earth. Generation after generation they have been engaged in doing this. Preaching the gospel to every person on earth has been the goal of the church. I have told you many times that that’s the only reason we’re still here. We’re already saved and sealed for eternity. There’s no reason to leave us here except for this responsibility of evangelism.”

“Now we believe that the Bible is very clear that salvation comes through believing in Christ. Believing in Christ comes from hearing and understanding the gospel. Being able to hear and understand the gospel can only occur if somebody takes the message. And somebody can only take the message if they’re sent with it. And that’s what Romans 10 says, “You’re saved by believing in Christ but you can’t believe in Christ unless you hear about Christ. You can’t hear about Christ unless somebody preaches. And somebody is not going to preach unless they’re sent. And that is our mandate and that has been the mission of the church since the church was born on Pentecost and Jesus said, “You’ll receive the Holy Spirit and you’ll be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost part of the earth.” Since the church was launched till today, uncounted millions of dollars in every currency on the map of the world and millions of hours of effort and work and millions of Christian people through the centuries have been spent and sacrificed to take the only message of salvation to the edges of the earth. Translation work, rigorous, difficult, challenging work of taking a language that isn’t even written and developing an alphabet and developing a way to write that language and then teaching the people to read their own language when they’ve never even seen it. And then giving them the scriptures and the gospel, leading them to Christ, rigorous work that takes decades and then printing materials in every language, preaching, teaching, evangelizing…that’s what the church has been engaged in since its calling, since the arrival of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. An unrelenting effort to use every means available to reach people with the only message that can save them from eternal judgment and that’s the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.“

“Now all of that is bad enough and we’ve tried to address that. But there’s a new wave in the evangelical world that is at least as frightening, if not more frightening. And the new wave in the evangelical world is this, there are some people who are telling us it isn’t necessary to even take the gospel to the ends of the earth. It’s not necessary. People are being saved without it…without it.”

“Well what does the Bible have to say about this? Do we have a biblical case for the…for the exclusivism? Do we have a case for the fact that if you don’t know the gospel and if you don’t believe in Jesus Christ, you aren’t going to heaven?…….The answer to that is yes.“

selected quotes from The Exclusiveness of the Gospel, Part 1 -December 31, 2000 by John Macarthur.

Related Posts;

No Christ, No Heaven. Enter by the Narrow Gate

Christless Christianity: 2010 West Coast Conference – Free Viewing

Presenting the Gospel: What Are The Non-Negotiables For The Gospel?

A “Christianity” without Jesus Christ and the Gospel

The Truth of the Cross: Jesus Christ taking God’s curse and wrath in the place of sinners

The Essence of Gospel Evangelism Is To Proclaim the True Doctrine of the Cross

Who is God and how are we saved? – Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with Muslims

Who is Jesus Christ ? – A former Muslim explaining the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Studying The Word of God And Profiting The Soul

There is grave reason to believe that much Bible reading and Bible study of the last few years has been of no spiritual profit to those who engaged in it. Yea, we go further; we greatly fear that in many instances it has proved a curse rather than a blessing. This is strong language, we are well aware, yet no stronger than the case calls for. Divine gifts may be misused, and Divine mercies abused. That this has been so in the present instance is evident by the fruits produced. Even the natural man may (and often does) take up the study of the Scriptures with the same enthusiasm and pleasure as he might of the sciences. Where this is the case, his store of knowledge is increased, and so also is his pride. Like a chemist engaged in making interesting experiments, the intellectual searcher of the Word is quite elated when he makes some discovery in it; but the joy of the latter is no more spiritual than would be that of the former. Again, just as the successes of the chemist generally increase his sense of self-importance and cause him to look with disdain upon others more ignorant than himself, so alas, is it often the case with those who have investigated Bible numerics, typology, prophecy and other such subjects.

The Word of God may be taken up from various motives. Some read it to satisfy their literary pride. In certain circles it has become both the respectable and popular thing to obtain a general acquaintance with the contents of the Bible simply because it is regarded as an educational defect to be ignorant of them. Some read it to satisfy their sense of curiosity, as they might any other book of note. Others read it to satisfy their sectarian pride. They consider it a duty to be well versed in the particular tenets of their own denomination and so search eagerly for proof-texts in support of “our doctrines.” Yet others read it for the purpose of being able to argue successfully with those who differ from them. But in all this there is no thought of God, no yearning for spiritual edification, and therefore no real benefit to the soul.

Of what, then, does a true profiting from the Word consist? Does not 2 Timothy 3:16,17 furnish a clear answer to our question? There we read, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”the Holy Scriptures are given us not for intellectual gratification and carnal speculation, but to furnish unto “all good works,” and that by teaching, reproving, correcting us.

PROFITING FROM THE WORD by  A. W. Pink-  “The Scriptures and Sin”

Letting God Be God

“We are in no position as creatures to dictate to our Creator what he may or should be like. God is absolute reality. He was there before anything else was, and he did not come into being, but always was. Therefore nobody made him the way he is, and there is no reason he is the way he is. He simply is. That is his name: “I Am Who I Am” (Exodus 3:14). Our role is not to say what can and can’t be in God, but to learn who he is and who we are, and to shape our lives according to his reality – his will. We submit to the way he is. He doesn’t submit to the way we are or the way we think he should be.”

Quote by John Piper from:

The Spirit Helps Us in Our Weakness, Part 1
May 26, 2002  by John Piper  Scripture: Romans 8:25-27 | Topic: The Trinity
Series: Romans: The Greatest Letter Ever Written

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Mat 25:13  Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

God Chastises and Corrects His Children in Love and Affection

Chastisement by Charles Haddon Spurgeon
“And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him” (Hebrews 12:5).

God’s people can never by any possibility be punished for their sins. God has punished them already in the person of Christ. He, their substitute, has endured the full penalty for all their guilt, and neither the justice nor the love of God can ever exact again that which Christ has paid. Punishment can never happen to a child of God in the judicial sense, he can never be brought before God as his Judge, as charged with guilt, because that guilt was long ago transferred to the shoulders of Christ, and the punishment was exacted at the hands of his surety. But yet, while the sin cannot be punished, while the Christian cannot be condemned, he can be chastised, while he shall never be arraigned before God’s bar as a criminal, and punished for his guilt, yet he now stands in a new relationship—that of a child to his parent: and as a son he may be chastised on account of sin. Folly is bound up in the heart of all God’s children, and the rod of the Father must bring that folly out of them. It is essential to observe the distinction between punishment and chastisement.

Punishment and chastisement may agree as to the nature of the suffering: the one suffering may be as great as the other, the sinner who, while here is punished for his guilt, may suffer no more in this life than the Christian who is only chastised by his parent. They do not differ as to the nature of the punishment, but they differ in the mind of the punisher and in the relationship of the person who is punished. God punishes the sinner on his own account, because he is angry with the sinner, and his justice must be avenged, his law must be honored, and his commands must have their dignity maintained. But he does not punish the believer on his own account, it is on the Christian’s account, to do him good, He afflicts him for his profit, he lays on the rod for his child’s advantage; he has a good design towards the person who receives the chastisement. While in punishment the design is simply with God for God’s glory, in chastisement, it is with the person chastised for his good, for his spiritual profit and benefit. Besides, punishment is laid on a man in anger. God strikes him in wrath, but when he afflicts his child, chastisement is applied in love, his strokes are, all of them, put there by the hand of love. The rod has been baptized in deep affection before it is laid on the believer’s back. God doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve us for nought, but out of love and affection, because he perceives that if he leaves us unchastised, we shall bring upon ourselves misery ten thousand-fold greater than we shall suffer by his slight rebukes, and the gentle blows of his hand. Take this in the very starting, that whatever thy trouble, or thine affliction, there cannot be anything punitive in it, thou must never say—”Now God is punishing me for my sin.” Thou hast fallen from thy steadfastness when thou talkest so. God cannot do that. He has once for all done it. “The chastisement of our peace was upon HIM, and by HIS stripes we are healed.” He is chastising thee, not punishing thee; he is correcting thee in measure, he is not smiting thee in wrath. There is no hot displeasure in his heart. Even though his brow may be ruffled, there is no anger in his breast; even though his eye may have closed upon thee, he hates thee not, he loves thee still. He is not wroth with his heritage, for he seeth no sin in Jacob, neither iniquity—in Israel, considered in the person of Christ. It is simply because he loves you, because ye are sons, that he therefore chastises you. (Chastisement by Charles Haddon Spurgeon )

Heb 12:4-8  In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

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Christless Christianity: 2010 West Coast Conference – Free Viewing

Christless Christianity: 2010 West Coast Conference

Ligonier Ministries has kindly allowed free viewing of this conference online.

You may watch this entire Conference online for free. Probably for a limited time only. So hurry………..

• Conference Overview
• 1. The Church Cries “Uncle” (“Sam” That Is)
• 2. Becoming a Better You
• 3. Questions & Answers #1
• 4. Good Advice or Good News?

• 5. A Gnostic Gospel
• 6. Questions & Answers #2
• 7. Moralistic & Therapeutic Deism
• 8. Back to Basics

Speakers:

Michael Horton

Peter Jones

John MacArthur

R.C. Sproul

The Bible is God’s Revelation for Every Generation

Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life. Psa 119:49-50

‘Scripture Is Clean, Enduring Forever

In Ps 19:9 David uses the term “fear” as a synonym for God’s Word: “The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever.” “Fear” speaks of the reverential awe for God that compels us to worship Him. Scripture, in this sense, is God’s manual on how to worship Him. The Hebrew word translated “clean” speaks of the absence of impurity, filthiness, defilement, or imperfection. Scripture is without sin, evil, corruption, or error. The truth it conveys is therefore absolutely undefiled and without blemish. That truth is pictured in Ps 12:6, where David calls the Word “flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times” (NIV).’

‘Because it is flawless, Scripture endures forever (Ps 19:9). Any change or modification could only introduce imperfection. Scripture is eternally and unalterably perfect. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Mark 13:31). That guarantees that the Bible is permanent, unchanging, and therefore relevant to everyone in every age of history. It has always been and will always be sufficient.

It must grieve God when people slander Him by claiming that the Bible is outdated or is not sophisticated enough for our educated society. Scripture needs no updating, editing, or refining. Whatever time or culture you live in, it is eternally relevant. It needs no help in that regard. It is pure, sinless, inerrant truth; it is enduring. It is God’s revelation for every generation. It was written by the omniscient Spirit of God, who is infinitely more sophisticated than anyone who dares stand in judgment on Scripture’s relevancy for today’s society, and infinitely wiser than all the best philosophers, analysts, and psychologists who pass like a childhood parade into irrelevancy.’

THE SUFFICIENCY OF SCRIPTURE – selected quotes by Pastor John MacArthur

Divine Chastisement is a Revelation of God’s Filial Love.

No true Christian is apart from the chastening hand of the Lord. “My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord, or loathe His reproof, for whom the Lord loves He reproves, even as a father, the son in whom he delights” (Pr 3:11-12).

Art Azurdia

Divine chastisement also emerges as a revelation of God’s filial love. Contrary to the misunderstanding of many, God’s discipline of His children is never of a penal nature. It is always remedial, and motivated by His love. “For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives . . . God deals with you as with sons” (He 12:6-7). For a person to boast of evading the chastisement of God is to raise a question regarding one’s spiritual paternity. Loving chastisement is the mark of sonship. In fact, this connection between love and discipline is again mentioned by the Lord Himself to the church at Laodicea: “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore, and repent” (Re 3:19). The world often views discipline as a manifestation of anger and hostility. God’s discipline of His children is an outworking of His love.

Recovering The Third Mark Of The Church Arturo G. Azurdia III

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If we confess our sins

Understanding Origins in Genesis is Foundational to the Rest of the Bible

It is also important to all of us because understanding origins in the book of Genesis is foundational to the rest of the Bible. If Genesis chapter 1 and chapter 2 don’t tell us the truth, then why should we believe anything else in the Bible? If it says in the New Testament that the Creator is our Redeemer, that God is not the Creator, then maybe He’s not the Redeemer either. If it tells us in 2 Peter that God Himself will bring about an instantaneous dissolution of the entire universe as we know it, that God in a moment will uncreate everything, then that has tremendous bearing upon His power to create…the same One who with a word can uncreate the universe is capable of creating it as quickly as He desires.

So what we believe about creation, what we believe about Genesis has implications all the way to the end of Scripture, implications with regard to the veracity and truthfulness of Scripture, implications as to the gospel and implications as to the end of human history all wrapped up in how we understand origins in the book of Genesis. The matter of origins then is absolutely critical to all human thinking. It becomes critical to how we conduct our lives as human beings. Without an understanding of origins, without a right understanding of origins, there is no way to comprehend ourselves. There is no way to understand humanity as to the purpose of our existence, and as to our destiny. If we cannot believe what Genesis says about origins, we are lost as to our purpose and our destiny. Whether this world and its life as we know it evolved by chance, without a cause, or was created by God has immense comprehensive implications for all of human life.

Now there basically are only two options. You can either believe what Genesis says or not. And that is no over-simplification. Frankly, believing in a supernatural creative God who made everything is the only possible rational explanation for the universe, for life, for purpose and for destiny.

“Creation: Believe it or Not–Part 1″, Selected Scriptures by John MacArthur

Below a sermon by Pastor John Macarthur:  The Theology of Creation, Pt. 1

Do Not be Bound Together or Unequally Yoked with Unbelievers.

Separating from Unbelievers, Part 2
2 Corinthians 6:14-16
by John MacArthur
(below is an extract from the sermon)

“Do not be bound together with unbelievers for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?  Or what harmony has Christ with Belial?  Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?  Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols?  For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said, `I will dwell in them and walk among them and I will be their God and they shall be My people.  Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,’ says the Lord, `and do not touch what is unclean and I will welcome you and I will be a Father to you and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,’ says the Lord Almighty.  Therefore having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

Now as I pointed out last time, this passage identifies two opposing worlds.  The terminology is clear.  One of those worlds is marked by righteousness, light, Christ, believers, and the presence of God. The other is marked by lawlessness, darkness, Satan, unbelievers, and the presence of false gods.  And these two worlds are utterly different and distinct, so much so that they are mutually exclusive.  They cannot work together in common partnership, they cannot fellowship together, they are not in harmony with one another.  One is old, the other is new.  One is earthly, the other is heavenly.  One is deadly, the other is life giving.  One is wicked, the other holy.  One is built on lies, the other is all truth.  One perishes and the other lives eternally.

Paul then is making it clear that believers can’t live in both worlds.  Certainly John said this in his first epistle, 1 John, when he clearly identified this disparity between the two worlds with these familiar words, “Do not love the world, nor the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”  Mutually exclusive worlds.  You can’t be in both at the same time.

Then in James we read in chapter 4 and verse 4, “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God.  Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”  And later in verse 8 he says, “Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded.”  People trying to live in two different worlds.

In Romans chapter 12, of course that very, very familiar passage that begins the exhortation part of Romans, “I urge you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship, and do not be conformed to this world.”  Make a clean break.

When a person becomes a believer they are transported out of one world into another.  And shuttling back and forth is absolutely unacceptable.  And that is precisely what the Corinthians were trying to do.  Having named the name of Christ, identified with Him, come into the church, they were still hanging on to their own idolatry, their old pagan ways.  They had come to Christ out of idolatry, as it says in 1 Thessalonians, they had come to serve the living and the true God from idols.  But they didn’t make a clean break.  They had been wooed back into the old idolatry, back into the old pagan culture because it was so pervasive, and so dominant and it was so on display and so woven into the fabric of their life, family life, social life, community life.  Corinth was dominated above the city by an acropolis, a high mountain on top of which was the temple to the false deities which engaged itself in pagan ritual and worship and priest…priestess prostitution.  This temple not only was the center of that religion, but from it disseminated its religious viewpoints and ideologies through the entire culture of Corinth.  It was a part of everything in life…holidays, festivals, celebrations and so forth.  And it was a constant pull to the Corinthians to fall back into those old patterns.  And they did.

Additionally, the false teachers had come in and they had brought a quasi Christian syncretism and eclectic religion which took Christianity, a little bit of Jewish legalism, and some pagan religion and melted it all together and offered it as the truth.  And that compromise had found its way into the Corinthian church and found an audience and some of them were listening and believing and accepting it.

You see, the false teachers wanted to make Christianity more popular, less demanding, less distinct, less narrow, less offensive, less different, less exclusive so they’d get more people in on it, so they could get more money, which is always what false teachers want.  And so here is the Corinthian church new and fresh and being assaulted by pagan religion around it.  You couldn’t separate the social life from the religion, you couldn’t separate the historical life of that village in terms of its patterns from the religion.  That village that became a city bore all of the signs of the religion that moved in its growth.  It was a full-blown pagan system down to the very core.  And it was hard to sort it out.  To be involved at all in the life of the culture was to be involved in the paganism, unless you made a very clean break.  The Corinthians didn’t do it. And as I said, then add to that the confusion of the false teachers and you can understand why Paul says to them, “Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers.”

It’s very much like modern Christianity today, by the way, that seeks to blend Christianity with popular culture, wants to make Christianity more popular, less different, more palatable, less offensive, less narrow, less exclusive.  And the result of it is that true Christianity in the purity of God’s Word gets corrupted by compromise and the church can become useless and shameful and blasphemous in mocking the truth.  For believers there can be no compromise.  We cannot engage ourselves with unbelievers in any spiritual enterprise.  That’s the issue.  “Do not be bound together with unbelievers,” that is he command that sets this text in motion.  And it is an unmistakable call to believers to separate from unbelievers.  No one could miss that that’s what it’s saying. The question is, what does it mean?

And as I said last time, it is essential to understand what it means but first of all what it does not mean.  Paul is not saying, cut off all contact with non-Christians.  He’s not saying that because we have to reach them with the gospel.  That is not the issue.  He’s not saying don’t evangelize the unconverted, don’t confront people in false religions.  He’s not saying that.  We must do that.

Secondly, he is not calling for complete isolation on the part of the church.  We are not to become isolationists.  We are not to be monastics.  We are not to go hide somewhere and pull apart from the world.  Quite the contrary.  We are to find unbelievers and love them and be their friend and set a model of spiritual example for them.

Furthermore, he is not saying you are to divorce your unsaved partner, or to sever all unsaved contacts…all contacts, I should say, with unsaved people in your family.  He is also not saying that you can’t work or play or do business or be engaged in common earthly enterprise with unbelievers.  He’s not saying that, of course you can.  What he is saying is you cannot link up with unbelievers in religious causes…or religious enterprises.  You cannot go to their worship and become a part of it, you can’t make them a part of the Kingdom of God.  You can’t engage them in anything that involves ministry, teaching, or worship.  Where there is ministry, teaching and worship there has to be absolute separation.

So he’s referring in actuality to harnessing up believers and unbelievers in any common religious, spiritual enterprise.  The two cannot be yoked together anymore than an ox and an ass can pull a straight furrow when under the same yoke, as Deuteronomy 22:10 forbids. But that is precisely what the Corinthians were doing.  They were going to the feasts that were involved with the idols and they were trying to still befriend the people in the world and in their families and in their society by attending and being involved in idol festivals and such compromise is intolerable.

At the same time they had invited into the church forms of pagan religion and that was equally intolerable.  There can be no harmony, no fellowship, no partnership, no participation between believers and unbelievers in any religious enterprise.  That is the issue.  Pagan religion, false teaching ruins those who listen to it.  It leads to ungodliness.  It spreads like gangrene and it upsets the faith of people.  Paul directed all of that to Timothy and warned him to warn the church.

The issue then is religious cooperation, religious compromise with false teachers and with heresy and error.  We can have nothing to do with the people involved in that when they are so involved.  And we can allow them to have nothing to do with enterprises that involve the advancement of the Kingdom of God. And yet through the years the church has continued to do this.  Sometimes it’s called cooperative evangelism where an evangelist will come into a city and bring together Christians and non-Christians, those who believe the Word of God and those liberals who would openly deny the Word of God in a common evangelistic enterprise.  That is in direct violation of what this text is teaching.

It happens all the time in common efforts at evangelism.  It happens in educational institutions where those institutions that would claim to be Christians would have on their faculty those who believe the Word of God, those who were born again, and those who are not.  And they are illegitimate linked together in a common spiritual enterprise to the detriment of the church, to the debilitation of the believers and the false assurance of the unbelievers.  True Christians have to separate from unbelievers in matters related to ministry, teaching and worship.  And when I say teaching I’m talking about teaching that relates to God and His truth.

So Paul fixes that principle. And that, by the way, was a brief review of the first message.  But in response to that initial principle he gives us five reasons, or five motives for following this mandate. And I want to approach those motives from a negative perspective…if I might.  To be bound together with unbelievers in any spiritual effort is…number one…irrational, irrational.  The point that Paul is making here is one of congruity.  It is one of simple reason.  And to make this point of the irrationality of such a common enterprise, he asks for rhetorical questions, each of which demands a negative answer.

Here they come, verse 14, “For what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness?  Or what fellowship has light with darkness?  Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or Satan?  Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?”  And the answer to those is negative.  Righteousness and lawlessness have no partnership.  Light and darkness have no fellowship.  Christ and Satan have no harmony.  And a believer and an unbeliever have nothing in the spiritual realm in common.  That is axiomatic.  An axiom is a self-evident truth that doesn’t need proof.  And that is obvious.  It is obvious that you can’t make opposites the same.  And those are all opposites.

Separating from Unbelievers, Part 2
2 Corinthians 6:14-16
by John MacArthur

Copyright 2007, Grace to You.

Worldliness is Departing from God

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:15-17

‘What is Worldliness?

Worldliness is departing from God. It is a man-centred way of thinking; it proposes objectives which demand no radical breach with man’s fallen nature; it judges the importance of things by the present and material results; it weighs success by numbers; it covets human esteem and wants no unpopularity; it knows no truth for which it is worth suffering; it declines to be a ‘fool for Christ’s sake’.

Worldliness is the mind-set of the unregenerate. It adopts idols and is at war with God. Because ‘the flesh’ still dwells in the Christian he is far from immune from being influenced by this dynamic.

It is of believers that it is said, ‘the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary one to another’ (Galatians 5:17). It is professing Christians who are asked, ‘Do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?’ (James 4:4) and are commanded, ‘Do not love the world’, and ‘keep yourselves from idols’ (1 John 2:15, 5:21).

Apostasy generally arises in the church just because this danger ceases to be observed. The consequence is that spiritual warfare gives way to spiritual pacifism, and, in the same spirit, the church devises ways to present the gospel which will neutralise any offence.

The antithesis between regenerate and unregenerate is passed over and it is supposed that the interests and ambitions of the unconverted can somehow be harnessed to win their approval for Christ. Then when this approach achieves ‘results’ – as it will – no more justification is thought to be needed. The rule of Scripture has given place to pragmatism.‘

(Evangelicalism Divided by Iain Murray p.255,  published by Banner of Truth, 352)

He Is Not Here: The Significance of the Empty Tomb

He Is Not Here -The Significance of the Empty Tomb

From the sermon titled “He Is Not Here: The Significance of the Empty Tomb” by Pastor Alistair Begg

Please visit this link (He Is Not Here: The Significance of the Empty Tomb) to watch  the full video of this sermon which was delivered during the Ligonier Ministries: 2009 West Coast Conference with theme: “Is There Life After Death?”

The following are extracts of  sermon notes by Alex Chediak which was posted here: 2009 West Coast Conference – Session 1 – Alistair Begg :

‘1. . The resurrection is historical.

Christianity is a historical faith. It is based on actual events.  There was a tactile element; the disciples saw and touched the risen Lord.  When Peter preached in Acts 2, he did not hold back.  He said “as you yourself knows” (vs. 22-23).  Later, when Paul spoke of the resurrection (I Cor. 15), he noted that many of the witnesses were still living.  It was as if Paul were saying, “Go ahead and check this out  — verify it for yourself.” It would be as if I wrote a book about The Beatles making up some fantastical story about who they were and where they came from.  It would never fly.  There are plenty of people around who remember the Beatles.  They know that there were only four of them, and that now just two are left.

The Bible is either true or it is the most amazing falsehood ever spun.  And to believe the latter is to build one’s lives on despair.

[Aside:  The resurrection of Christ, and the believer's union with Him, is why believers do not perish upon their death.  Their resurrection and eternal life are secured by their union with Christ, who conquered death.]

2.  The resurrection is rationale.

The Dawkins’ book, The God Delusion, does not interact at all with the resurrection of Jesus. Dawkins writes, “Jesus probably existed, but the idea that he rose from the dead is absurd.”  On what basis?  He gives none.

The resurrection is the center of Christianity, because it confirms:

A)  The reality of the fall and the decay which is pervasive in this world.  “The whole creation is groaning.”

B)  The reality of the immortality (life beyond the grave).

C)  The demonstration of the truth of all of Christ’s claims and the trustworthiness of all of Christ’s promises.

D)  The inevitability of our own resurrection.

3.  The resurrection is empirical.

It stands up to the test.  It truly fulfills man’s longing.  Men like Hemingway and Shakespeare wrote that life was a journey from “nothing to nothing.”  But the resurrection answers the cry for meaning.  For forgiveness, love, hope, God.

And this is the story that we are called upon to take to the world.  Take Sartre: “Here we are, all of us.  Eating and drinking for preserving our existence, and yet there is no reason for our existence.”

But C.S. Lewis wrote, “I believe in Christianity as I believe in the sun, not because I can see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

CONCLUSION
The symbol of Christianity is the triumphant Christ, risen and reigning.  And men and women can call out to Him and find Him to be a Savior and Friend. ‘