Audio from Ken Samples' Academy Lecture Posted

Here's the audio from Ken Samples' series "A Little Lower than the Angels."

Ken's lecture is entitled "The Engima of Man"' and completes this series.

Here's the link to the MP3:  http://links.christreformed.org/realaudio/A20080516-ViewOfMan.mp3

Here's the link to the streaming audio:  http://links.christreformed.org/real/20080516.m3u

Who Said That?

"A thread of hatred runs through the New Testament."

You know how this works!  Leave your guess in the comments section below.  Please, no google searches or cheating. 

Update on Sunday, May 18, 2008 at 05:25PM by Kim Riddlebarger

This comes from Karen Armstrong's book,  The Bible: A Biography, (2007), p. 76.  An ex-nun, Armstrong bills herself as a "freelance monotheist," who draws from all three faiths of Abraham.

A Sermon for Trinity Sunday -- Matthew 28:16-20

Here's the link to today's sermon, "In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:16-20).

http://links.christreformed.org/realaudio/KR20080518-Trinity.mp3

The Next Great Idea

One of the things Reformed Christians tend to do well is publish and lecture.  Folks who identify with our tradition tend to read widely, and love to educate themselves, as well as stay informed about current issues/controversies through lectures and conferences.

I have had a number of interesting conversations of late with colleagues, church members, and seminary students, about those areas in which our tradition has not written widely, nor provided sufficient instruction through lectures/audio materials.

In light of these discussions, I would like to conduct a survey of sorts. 

• Can you think of any topic(s) not sufficiently covered by a current (in-print) Reformed writer/speaker? 
• Are there resources you need, but can't find? 
• What topics need to be addressed in print (or a lectures series) that haven't been addressed?

Please leave your suggestions in the comments section below. 

Who knows?  You might just come up with the next great idea in Reformed publishing! 

Tonight's Academy Lecture

Ken Samples wraps up his current Academy series @ Christ Reformed Church in Anaheim.  Ken's lecture is entitled "The Enigma of Man."

Academy lectures are free of charge, there is a time for questions and discussion, and refreshments are served.  For more information, Click here: Christ Reformed Info - Schedule of Academy Classes and Author's Forums

The Canons of Dort, First Head of Doctrine, Rejection of Errors, Paragraph Five

Synod condemns the errors of those . . .

V.  Who teach that the incomplete and nonperemptory election of particular persons to salvation occurred on the basis of a foreseen faith, repentance, holiness, and godliness, which has just begun or continued for some time; but that complete and peremptory election occurred on the basis of a foreseen perseverance to the end in faith, repentance, holiness, and godliness. And that this is the gracious and evangelical worthiness, on account of which the one who is chosen is more worthy than the one who is not chosen. And therefore that faith, the obedience of faith, holiness, godliness, and perseverance are not fruits or effects of an unchangeable election to glory, but indispensable conditions and causes, which are prerequisite in those who are to be chosen in the complete election, and which are foreseen as achieved in them.

This runs counter to the entire Scripture, which throughout impresses upon our ears and hearts these sayings among others: Election is not by works, but by him who calls (Rom. 9:11-12); All who were appointed for eternal life believed (Acts 13:48); He chose us in himself so that we should be holy (Eph. 1:4); You did not choose me, but I chose you (John 15:16); If by grace, not by works (Rom. 11:6); In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son (1 John 4:10).

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At this point, the authors of the Canons are responding to one of the more technical forms of Arminianism, then prevalent in Holland.  Here again, the primary error to be refuted is the attempt to locate the ground, or basis, for God’s election in a free action of the creature.  In this particular species of Arminianism, it was argued that God elected to save those who will believe the gospel and who will persevere.  God’s decree is therefore a general decree to save those who do, in fact, believe, repent, and live in holiness before God.  

This general decree, supposedly, accounts for the “whosoever will” language found in Scripture.  In other words, God decrees to save “whosoever” comes to Christ.  In this scheme, no specific individuals are chosen, rather the means are chosen by which those who believe (and who become elect) will be saved.  A subsequent decree is then set forth, in which, it is argued that God absolutely elects those who do come.  This supposedly, accounts for the language in Scripture which declares that “all that the father gives to me, will come to me.”  This is a very clever formulation, and at first glance may appear to offer a solution to the problem of human responsibility and divine sovereignty.  

Once again, however, the Arminian ignores what the Scriptures teach about the fundamental human condition–“no seeks God, no not one” (Romans 3:10-11) and that no man can come, unless the father draw them (cf. John 6:44).  The Arminian position also puts the cart before the horse, so to speak.  Scripture never speaks of a conditional, indefinite election, but an unconditional, particular election, in which God chooses to save specific individuals that he has chosen from before the foundation of the world.  The elect come to faith in Christ because God has chosen them.  They do not come to faith to be numbered among the elect.  To state the critical matter yet again, the ground for election lies in the mysterious eternal counsel of God, not in anything good in the creature.

The best refutation of the Arminian argument is to simply summarize (as the Canons do) what the Scriptures so clearly teach about this very point:  “Election is not by works, but by him who calls (Rom. 9:11-12); All who were appointed for eternal life believed (Acts 13:48); He chose us in himself so that we should be holy (Eph. 1:4); You did not choose me, but I chose you (John 15:16); If by grace, not by works (Rom. 11:6); In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son (1 John 4:10).”   

The Counterfeit Trinity of Revelation 13 -- Amillennialism 101

“Who is Like the Beast?”–The Counterfeit Trinity of Revelation 13

Even a cursory reading of the thirteenth chapter of the Book of Revelation reveals three distinct foes of Jesus Christ–the dragon, who stands on the shore of the sea and gives the first beast from the sea his power, throne, and authority (vv. 1-2); and yet another beast, which comes out of the earth (v. 11).  The function of this second beast (called the "false prophet" in Revelation 16:13) is to entice people to worship the first beast. 

The identity of these three figures, along with their overt blasphemy against the most high God means that what is primarily in view is not so much John’s interest in contemporary Roman history and politics (a particular emperor), but that John's vision depicts another battle in the on-going war between the two seeds (Christ and the Antichrist), in this case, the godless character of Roman rule and the empire's on-going persecution of Christians.

What is recorded in Revelation 13 reflects the fact that a dramatic turning point in the history of redemption has already taken place with the coming of Jesus Christ.  Through our Lord’s death and resurrection, the dragon has already been decisively defeated by the Messiah (cf. Colossians 2:15).  Although our salvation has been secured through Christ’s death upon the cross, and through his resurrection from the dead, the dragon is enraged by his defeat and consequently wages war upon the saints (Revelation 13:7) because he knows his time is short (Revelation 12:12).

The Book of Revelation, therefore, depicts an already defeated foe waging his last desperate efforts in a war he knows he has already lost.  In this final attempt to escape his inevitable fate, the dragon now enlists the aid of two beasts to do his bidding, one from the sea (Revelation 13:1-10) and one from the land (Revelation 13:11-18).  While the final outcome is never in doubt, the particular circumstances which bring us to the climatic end of redemptive history have long fascinated God’s people.

Critical to understanding John’s vision in Revelation 13 is his statement that the first beast has “ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name (v. 1).”  This beast “resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion.  The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.”  This immediately harkens any reader who was familiar with the Old Testament back to Daniel’s vision of a great beast in Daniel 7:7, who is ultimately slain (Daniel 7:11) and who is conquered by the son of man and his everlasting kingdom (Daniel 7:13-14).  Not only does the beast of John’s vision possess military power second to none– “Who is like the beast?  Who can make war against him?” (v. 4a)–but when “one of the heads of the beast seemed to have suffered a fatal wound, the fatal wound had been healed.  The whole world was astonished and followed the beast (v. 3).”

This obvious parody of Christ’s resurrection (cf. H. B. Swete, The Apocalypse of St. John, Macmillian, 1907, lxxxiv), coupled with the military prowess and deceptive ways of the beast, gives the dragon exactly what he craves.  “Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast (v. 4b).”  Not only did men worship Satan because of the might of the beast, “they also worshiped the beast.”  Clearly, then, what is in view is a state (government) which is empowered by Satan, and which claims divine rights and prerogatives for itself.  Bauckham is quite correct when he calls this a “deification of power,” in which military power (perhaps we could add economic power as well) masks the inevitability of the beast’s destruction by Christ and his kingdom (Bauckham, The Climax of Prophecy, 451).

The overtly antichristian nature of this reign of this beast can be seen in what follows.  “The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months,” the forty-two months most likely a reference to the inter-advental age (Beale, The Book of Revelation, 695; Sweet, Revelation, 210-211).  Taken from Daniel 7:25b (and from Daniel 12:7), this same period of time appears in the preceding chapters of the Book of Revelation.  In Revelation 11:2-3, the Gentiles are said to trample the holy city (the church–i.e., the dwelling place of God in the new covenant–cf. Beale, The Book of Revelation, 570) for forty-two months, and for 1,260 days.  This is the same time period in which the two witnesses proclaim the gospel (Revelation 11:3).  In Revelation 12:6, John refers to the time of the protection of the woman in the wilderness (the church) as spanning 1,260 days, and then again later as “a time, times, and half a time” (v. 14).  As Beale points out, these are all references to the same period of time, indicating that the manifestation of the beast likewise “spans the time from Christ’s death and resurrection to the culmination of history”(Beale, The Book of Revelation, 695). 

This means that the beast’s efforts to oppose the gospel extends from the time of the Neronian persecution into the present, and will continue until the end of the age, when the beast is destroyed by Jesus Christ at his second advent (Revelation 20:10).

In Revelation 13, we read that the beast “opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven (v. 6).”  This is a vision of a government which not only takes divine rights and prerogatives unto itself (i.e. worship), but this government and its leaders speak great blasphemies against Christ and his kingdom.  This can be seen in the fact that the beast wears crowns with blasphemous names, thereby assuming the prerogatives of deity.  This imagery is quite significant in helping us to understand the beast’s identity.  When coupled to the obvious reference to a counterfeit Trinity (the dragon, a the first beast, and a second beast who is the false prophet), what is in view is a satanic parody of the Truine God, as well as a satanic parody of our redemption (the death and burial, the resurrection and the parousia of Christ), when the beast is killed, and then comes back to life to begin its reign of terror all over again (Beale, The Book of Revelation, 687-694; Caird, The Revelation of St. John, 161-166; Sweet, Revelation, 206-209).  

John’s point is that when empowered by the dragon, the state oversteps its bounds and deifies itself and/or its leader.  As Caird puts it, “all political power is the gift of God; but when men deify the state, either directly by a religious cult or indirectly by demanding for it the total loyalty and obedience that is due to God alone, it ceases to be human and becomes bestial” (Caird, The Revelation of St. John, 162).  What is in view then is primarily an anti-christian power, centered in the seat of government, using the resources of that government against Christ’s church in an effort to thwart the preaching of the gospel.

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For more information, Click here: Riddleblog - Man of Sin - Uncovering the Truth About Antichrist

Politics Trumps Theology and Other Stuff from the Web

John Hagee once called the Roman church "the great whore." He also called the Roman church "apostate." But now that he's endorsed John McCain, Hagee is retracting all the mean things he said about the Roman church. The first and greatest evangelical political commandment is this: "Use your influence to get the right man elected." And the second is like it. "If it will help, apologize for all of the offensive things you said beforehand, even if those offensive things are truths deeply held." Click here: Pastor apologizes for anti-Catholic remarks

Check out the introduction to the Gospel of Luke in the new ESV Study Bible! This should be a great tool. (Coming in October--h.t. to Justin Taylor) Click here: http://www.esvstudybible.org/images/excerpt-luke-intro.pdf.

Lee Irons has posted an amazing video of old folks getting "jiggy with it" during the liturgy at the church of "What's Happening Now."   There is liturgical dance, there are paper mache giants, and you can almost hear them chant "great is Diana of the Ephesians!"  Amazing what happens in churches which don't see any use for the gospel.  Click here: The Upper Register Blog » Blog Archive » Mainline madness

Finally, with the new Indiana Jones movie soon to be released, this news release cannot be a mere coincidence. Archaeologist Helmut Ziegert from the University of Hamburg, claims to have found the remains of the 10th century BC palace of the Queen of Sheba, complete with an altar which once held the long-lost Ark of the Covenant.   Click here: Lost ark 'discovered in Ethiopia' - Telegraph

An Inheritance to Israel -- Joshua 10:28-11:23

The Fourteenth in a Series of Sermons on the Book of Joshua 

The Gibeonites made a very wise decision.  They heard all about what YHWH, the true and living God, had done to Israel’s enemies.  The Gibeonites knew that it was YHWH’s intention to cast them from Canaan.  In an act of self-preservation, the Gibeonites sought to make a peace-treaty with Israel before their people (the Hivites) were completely wiped out.  But the four kings who followed Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, chose poorly.  As recounted in the 10th chapter of Joshua, God gave Israel an amazing victory over these five Amorite kings who banded together and attacked the Gibeonites because they dared enter into a covenant with Israel.  Throughout Joshua’s account of the pitched battle covering more than twenty miles, which resulted in the total destruction of all those who rejected the true and living God, God is giving us a sneak preview of Christ’s second advent and that final day yet to come, when the kings of the earth once again hide in caves to avoid the glory of the Lamb.  Israel’s conquest of Canaan is a graphic picture of the day of final judgment.  But it is also a picture of our Sabbath rest, when we receive our glorious heavenly inheritance, the theme of our text.

We return to our series on the Book of Joshua and the account of Israel’s conquest of the land of promise.  We have made our way through the first twenty-seven verses of Joshua 10.  We will make our way through the balance of chapter 10 and all of chapter 11.  By the time we come to the end of this section of the narrative, we will read that “Joshua took the whole land,” including both the southern and the northern portions of Canaan.  Israel will receive the promised inheritance.  And God will keep his covenant promises to his people.  At long last, the people of Israel will have blessed rest.

Before the people of Israel can receive the promised inheritance, the Canaanites must be wiped out as YHWH commanded.  As we saw in the first part of chapter 10, YHWH had told Joshua not to fear these five kings nor any of the Canaanites–despite the ferocity of their armies–because YHWH would give them all into Joshua’s hands.  When the combined Amorite army surrounded the Gibeonites (their former allies), Joshua led Israel’s army (several hundred thousand strong) in a daring night march, catching the Amorite forces surrounding Gibeon by complete surprise.  The army of Israel then attacked and drove the fleeing Amorites some twenty miles toward the city of Makkedah.  Having been totally routed by the armies of Israel, the Amorites then fell victim to a massive hailstorm sent by God which killed more Amorite soldiers than the Israelis had killed.  It was a dramatic victory for Israel and after this remarkable day, no one in Canaan would ever remember Israel’s embarrassing defeat at Ai.

When the pitched battle between the armies of Israel and the five Amorite kings finally ended at Makkedah–more than twenty miles from where it started at Gibeon–the five kings hid in a cave.  But they were quickly caught by Joshua’s men, subjected to having their captor’s heels placed on their necks, put to death and their bodies hung on trees, and then buried in the same cave in which they had hidden.  While the first phase of the battle was now over, Joshua must press ahead to destroy seven important Canaanite cities to the south–securing that flank–before engaging yet another large Canaanite coalition to the north.  This is why this period of biblical history is known as the Conquest.  YHWH will fight for his people and the army of Israel will conquer all of Canaan in a bloody and relentless campaign.

To read the rest of the sermon, click here  

Confusing the Two Kingdoms and Other Stuff Found on the Web

It is bad enough that many preachers have never even heard of a distinction between the  "two kingdoms."  Now that election season is upon us, here's a group of tax-crusaders urging preachers to "preach" about politics in open defiance of current IRS policy prohibiting such things.  I hate the IRS as much as the next guy, but since I fear God rather than men, I'll preach the law and the gospel, and let God take care of his world, including who becomes the next president of the United States.  Never thought I'd side with tax-collectors . . .   Click here: Pastors Urged to Preach About Politics, in Hopes of Toppling IRS Ban - America’s Election HQ

OK, cynic that I am, my question is, "how does the Pope know this to be true?"  Click here: Pope: Sex can become 'like a drug' - CNN.com

I do like it, however, when the Roman church actually disciplines its erring members!  I wish the archbishops of New York, Washington DC, and Boston, had the guts to do this with a few politicians named Kennedy, Pelosi, and Guliani.   Click here: RNS Feature: "Archbishop tells Kansas governor not to take Communion"

Dottie Rambo has been killed in a bus crash--the gospel singer, not John Rambo's mother (or girl-friend, or wife, or whatever).  Her bus hit a freeway embankment in Missouri, probably due to the recent severe storms.  I'm not a fan by any stretch, but we sure sold a lot of her records back in the day when I owned a Christian bookstore.  Click here: Gospel Legend Dottie Rambo Dies in Bus Accident