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"Amillennialism 101" -- Audio and On-Line Resources

 

Living in Light of Two Ages

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Tuesday
Feb022010

"The Cause and the Effect"

Q. What is sanctification?

A. Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness. 

(Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q&A 35)

Several times I have heard Christians recite the following formula: “Christians are saved by grace, justified by faith, and sanctified by works.” On first hearing, this sounds right as the slogan attempts to capture three important biblical emphases. Yes, we are saved by grace and not by our works (Rom. 6:14; Eph. 2:8). Yes, the ground of our justification is the merit of Christ, which becomes ours through faith alone (Rom. 3:28; Gal. 2:16). And yes, good works will be found in the lives of those who are saved by grace and justified by faith (Eph. 2:10). But — and here is where the slogan takes us in the wrong direction — we are not sanctified by our good works.

This is a very important point and is often misunderstood by many. The reason why the last part of the above formula is incorrect (“sanctified by works”) is because when discussing sanctification, the formula confuses the cause (God’s grace) with the effect (good works). To put it another way, while the process of sanctification inevitably leads to the production of good works, good works do not produce our sanctification.

To read the rest of this article, click here



Sunday
Jan312010

Who Said That?

"I want to share some of the things that I believe the Lord showed me. And I say it with humility. We see through a glass darkly. So I will share some of those findings from a recent prayer retreat that I had. And I like to do this at the first of the year to kind of say,'Here’s what I feel or I feel the Lord is saying is going to happen.' . . .  And if I’m hearing the Lord right, there are such extraordinary things that are going to take place: victory over demonic powers, victory of healing, some dramatic miracles taking place in people’s lives. And the Lord said it’s going to seem to the people like Heaven has come down to earth. It’s going to be that good. It’s going to be really an extraordinary demonstration of God’s power."

Leave your guess in the comments section below.  Please, no google searches or cheating.  Answer to follows next week.

 

Sunday
Jan312010

"Jesus Christ and Him Crucified" -- 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Here's the audio from this morning's sermon, the fourth in a series on Paul's first letter to the Corinthians:

Click here
Sunday
Jan312010

This Week's White Horse Inn

The Book of Galatians (Pt 2)

On this program the hosts explain why Paul's letter to the Galatians is a good place to begin in order to understand the basic message of Scripture. In this letter Paul explains the difference between the covenant of grace promised to Abraham, and the national covenant made with the people of Israel at Mt. Sinai. At the heart of this discussion is whether our eternal destiny is determined by our own efforts and law keeping, or by God's promise to save his people "by grace alone through faith alone on account of Christ alone."

http://www.whitehorseinn.org/



Saturday
Jan302010

A New URC in Milan, Italy!

As recently announced by the consistory of Christ United Reformed Church in Santee, California:

On Sunday, January 24, the members of Christ URC in Santee witnessed the ordination and installation of a Minister of Word and Sacrament, and a small piece of church history in the making. Andrea Ferrari, pastor of small Reformed congregation in Milan, Italy, was installed as a missionary-pastor in the URCNA with the specific calling of establishing a federation of Reformed churches modeled after the URCNA.

Here's a photo of the congregation of Filadelfia Reformed Church gathered for worship on the Lord's day.  For the full story, click here:  New URCNA in Milan

I was privileged to participate in the ordination exam (colloquium doctum) of Rev. Ferrari, who will be a faithful shepherd to his flock!

Thursday
Jan282010

The Pope's Self-Flagellation

Apparently, Pope John Paul II, whipped himself as an act of penance.  According to a recent article, "In his wardrobe, among his vestments, there hung on a clothes hanger a special belt for trousers which [John Paul] used as a whip," Monsignor Oder says.  He said self flagellation was `an instrument of Christian perfection" emulating the sufferings of Jesus Christ.'"  I'm so thankful that Jesus bore my punishment for me and in my place! 

Oh, and please note, the proper term is "flagellate," not "flatulate."  I've actually heard several folks confuse the terms when telling me that the Pope "self-flatulated."  They were a bit perplexed when I said in reply "don't we all do that?"  Here's the article.  John Paul II's Self Flagellation?"

In an age when doctrine doesn't matter, here's one church that takes the cake.  "Nominally part of the United Church of Christ, the congregation on any given week would include 60 or so Jews, Catholics, Buddhists, spiritualists, agnostics, and atheists - as well as Congregationalists.  The minister, the Rev. Stephen Philbrick, likes to draw on members’ poems, classical literature, tracts from other faiths, as well as scripture.  The philosophy is guided by democracy, not doctrine.  We’re not constrained by any tradition,’ said Philbrick, who was a sheep farmer and poet until the congregation chose him to be minister 15 years ago.  `It’s the church for people who hate church.’"  Perhaps Rev. Philbrick ought to go back "sheep farming."  Oh, the place burned down.  Congregational church burns

I had no idea that the creator of Gumby was also the producer of the famous "Davey and Goliath" serials from the 1960s and 70s.  Come to find out, Art Clokey was an episcopal minister!  He died this past week.  I believed the urban legend that Gumby was the product of some LSD-using hippie.  If you've ever seen the old Gumby animations, you know why I believed the legend.  Here's the scoop.  Gumby's Inventor Dies

Thursday
Jan282010

"He Is the True God and Eternal Life" -- 1 John 5:13-21

The Eleventh in a Series of Sermons on John's Epistles

John has written a rather impassioned defense of our Lord’s incarnation–Jesus is eternal God manifest in human flesh.  Throughout his first epistle, the Apostle has reminded us that the reason why Jesus came to earth was to save us from our sins.  Our Lord’s incarnation is no mere curiosity.  Our salvation depends upon it.  But the sad fact is that through the efforts of false teachers, a number of people in and around Ephesus (where John was living as the last apostle) had become convinced that while Jesus was truly God, he only took the form of a man.  John calls this destructive false teaching the spirit of antichrist.  This is known as the docetic heresy and it completely undermines the Apostles’s testimony about Jesus.  This heresy also completely undermines John’s gospel.  If Jesus is not truly human, as well as fully God, then we are still in our sins.  For John’s reader, the truth of Christianity stands or falls based upon the truthfulness of John’s testimony about Jesus, whom John claims to have seen, heard, and touched.

As we wrap our study of 1 John, we will make our way through the closing verses of chapter 5 (vv. 13-21).  While John brings this letter to a close, he continues to emphasize the same theme which dominates this epistle’s final chapter–a believer’s assurance of God’s favor toward them in Christ.  In order to assure Christians of God’s favor toward them, John continues to flesh out his basic point about knowing–“how do we know that we know?”  This is an especially important question in light of the fact that the false teachers plaguing the churches to which John was writing, were claiming to “know” certain things about Jesus which previously were hidden or secret.  The false teachers were claiming (in light of this secret knowledge) that Jesus was not truly human.  This meant John’s readers faced a choice.  Do they believe the testimony of John?  Or do they accept this secret teaching which contends that since matter was intrinsically inferior to pure spirit, God could not take to himself a true human nature (a material body), and that Jesus, who was truly God, only appeared in the form of a man, much like someone puts on a costume.  This, supposedly, accounts for Jesus’ physical appearances in the gospels.  

This conflict explains why John opens this epistle with a truth claim grounded in his own experience and his testimony about Jesus.  Jesus is God manifest in the flesh.  John testifies to the truth because he saw Jesus, heard Jesus, and touched Jesus.  Indeed, this is what all the apostles taught (i.e., why we call it the “catholic” or universal faith), and this is that truth to which the Holy Spirit will bear witness just as Jesus had promised before he ascended into heaven.  Therefore, the question of how a Christian “knows that they know,” along with the assurance they have of God’s favor toward them in Christ, becomes a very important matter–especially in the presence of those who claim to have “knowledge” which contradicts the testimony of John.  How do we know the basic Christian claim that Jesus is God manifest in the flesh to be true?  And can we be assured of God’s favor toward us, without committing the sin of presumption?

To read the rest of this sermon, click here

Wednesday
Jan272010

Caspar Olevianus on the Apostles' Creed

Scott Clark announces the publication of the next volume in the Classic Reformed Theology series from Reformation Heritage Publishers.

Here's Scott's announcement:

Caspar Olevianus (1536-87) was a significant figure in the Reformation of Heidelberg in the 1560s and 1570s and one of the pioneers of Reformed covenant or federal theology. As a teacher he influenced several other significant pastors and teachers in the period and inspired others such as Johannes Cocceius. Olevianus published a number of biblical commentaries, including a massive 700 page commentary on Romans. He also published three explanations of covenant theology via an explanation of the Apostles’ Creed. Now, for the first time since the 16th century, Olevianus’ Exposition of the Apostles’ Creed is available in English in a new translation, by Lyle Bierma, as volume 2 in the series Classic Reformed Theology.

This is a brief, clear, account of the Reformed faith. In an age when there seems to be considerable ignorance of and even greater confusion about what the adjective “Reformed” means, volumes such as these provide a much needed beacon of light.

One of the more interesting features of this work is the way Olevianus tied together the themes of covenant and kingdom. According to Olevianus the Kingdom of God is fundamentally eschatological  (heavenly) but it breaks into history and manifests itself in the visible institution church. That place, the church, also the place where the covenant of grace is administered. Indeed, the administration of the covenant is also the administration of the kingdom.

This volume will be useful for pastors, elders, students, and anyone who wants to know more about how the Reformed faith reads the Scripture, what covenant theology is, and how it works out in Reformed piety and practice.

More information about current volumes in the Classic Reformed Theology series can be found here:

http://heidelblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/26/office-hours-caspar-olevianus-the-creed-and-classic-reformed-theology/ 
 
http://heidelblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/26/new-in-the-bookstore-at-wsc-caspar-olevianus-an-exposition-of-the-apostles-creed/ 
 
http://heidelblog.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/coming-in-january-2010-caspar-olevianus-exposition-of-the-apostles-creed/ 
 
http://heidelblog.wordpress.com/2009/01/30/ames-available-at-the-bookstore-at-wsc/ 
 
http://heidelblog.wordpress.com/2009/01/15/published-today-ames-a-sketch-of-the-christians-catechism/

Monday
Jan252010

Live in the Gig Harbor Area? Know Anyone that Does?

Do you live near Tacoma or Gig Harbor, Washington? 

Are you interested in learning more about Reformed theology, the wonderful truth of the Gospel and understanding how Christ is proclaimed from all of Scriptures? 

Beginning on February 16, 2010 a new Bible Study will be starting in Gig Harbor, WA with the goal of planting a new URC church in that area. 

For more information, here's their website http://gigharborreformed.org.

Sunday
Jan242010

Who Said That?

"The God of the Genevan reformer [Calvin] was a monster of iniquity. He was so bent on justice that he possessed no conscience. He was so concerned about being respected and glorified that He found in Himself neither glory nor respect for men. When men become servants of such a God, they may be expected to set flame to the faggots piled high about the body of a Servetus or preach the sermon of Jonathan Edwards, `Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.'”

You know the drill!  Leave your guess in the comments section below.  Please, no google searches or cheating.  Answer to follow next week.