"His Mercy Is for Those Who Fear Him" -- Luke 1:39-56

Here's the audio from this morning's sermon for the third Sunday in Advent.

Click here

This Week's White Horse Inn

The End of Secularism

Secularists have argued for many years that religion is an entirely private matter that should not inform public life and policy decisions. But what about secularism itself? Is it really a neutral position itself? On this edition of the White Horse Inn the hosts discuss these issues with Hunter Baker, author of The End of Secularism.

http://www.whitehorseinn.org/



Twenty Years Already?????

Yup, the White Horse Inn has been on the air for twenty years.  Where did the time go????

White Horse Media has prepared a special CD for the occasion (see below).

Meanwhile, thanks to all of you for listening!  There are not words to express my gratitude to all of you who have supported us through the years.

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Here's the scoop from White Horse Media:

The MP3 CD includes 20 classic episodes plus extensive bonus material including: the pilot episode, the entire 2 hour (!) Robert Schuller interview, and the Dad Rod Christmas Special along with outtakes and bloopers. One reviewer has already written in: “I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats.”

Maybe you’re thinking a CD like this would only appeal to Inn-heads or Inn-atics. Well, we know they’ll love it, but this would also be a great CD to give to someone who needs to be introduced to the treasure trove of Reformation resources that you’ve been enjoying every week for twenty years. We’ve included Modern Reformation articles and even some old Horse’s Mouth newsletter articles to take you deeper into the different topics the hosts tackle on this CD.

We’re asking for $100 because this is the most important season for our fundraising. We know the CD is valuable, but we also want you to participate with us in getting this message out to more and more people in the New Year.  We’re grateful that you’ve been supporting us in the past; your tax-deductible gift will be a tremendous encouragement to us for the future.

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Its worth it just to hear the "Dad Rod Christmas Special" again.  Shane played portions of this for us when we taped a couple of Fridays ago.  I had forgotten how funny that was.  Its a wonder Rod is still speaking to us.

What Is Your Only Comfort?

Ligonier has recently updated their website, and is making available a number of previously published articles from Tabletalk magazine.

Here's my short piece on the first question and answer from the Heidelberg Catechism from April 2008.  Click here

"Do Not Love the World" -- 1 John 2:12-17

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

Christians don’t seem to worry about this much any more, but in the churches of my youth it was common to hear sermons on the evils of “worldliness.”  “Worldliness” was always tied to certain things–cigarettes, alcohol, playing cards, women wearing pants, men with long hair, and other assorted man-made blue laws.  We were taught that if you avoided these things, you would not become “worldly.”  If you are old enough to remember such sermons, you know exactly what I am talking about.  If you are not, count your blessings!  Yes, John commands us “do not love the world, for the world is passing away.”  But John is not warning us about sinful things, but a sinful attitude tied to the lusts of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of possessions.  Not only does John warn us about loving the world, he also reminds us that everything connected to this fallen world is destined to perish.  Darkness will one day give way to light, because the light (and everything connected to it), will abide forever.  

We are continuing our series on the Epistles of John, which give us a fascinating look at some of the serious issues facing the churches of Asia Minor toward the end of the first century.  We are now in the second chapter of 1 John, working our way through John’s catalogue of the four things which should characterize those who walk in the light–those who have been given life by the word of life, who is God manifest in the flesh.  According to John, those who walk in the light will confess their sins (1 John 1:5-2:2), and will strive to obey the commandments of God (2:3-11).  We have covered these two distinctives on previous Lord’s days.  The third thing which should characterize those who walk in the light is that they are not to love the world (2:12-17).  This is our topic in this sermon.  And then in verses in verses 18-29, John warns the churches that many antichrists have already come into the world–a topic to which we’ll turn next time, Lord willing.
 
Recall that John is dealing with an early form of Gnosticism which stresses “secret knowledge” and which sets up a dualism between spirit (good) and matter (evil).  In our previous three sermons, I’ve spent considerable time on the distinctives of this proto-Gnosticism, so I would encourage you to listen to these sermons to help you understand the circumstances and context in which John’s three epistles were written.  In order to properly interpret these epistles, we need to know three things: 1).  Why does John write these epistles?  2). We must understand the error John is writing to correct, and 3). We need to notice that virtually everything in these epistles echoes John’s earlier statements in his gospel.

To read the rest of this sermon, Click here

"Resolutions for Roman Catholic and Evangelical Dialogue"

In the July/August 1994 edition of Modern Reformation, CURE (the forerunner of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals) published seven "resolutions" about how Evangelicals ought to engage Roman Catholics in dialogue when it comes to matters of common concern, such as the issues addressed in the recent Manhattan Declaration (h. t. Justin Taylor).

Thisis still very helpful in light of the debate some are having about whether or not to sign the Manhattan Declaration.

Resolutions for Roman Catholic and Evangelical Dialogue

Drafted by Michael S. Horton, revised by R.C. Sproul

The following statements of evangelical belief are offered as material for dialogue between Roman Catholics and Evangelicals, following from the recent document, "Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium," drafted by Richard John Neuhaus and Charles Colson, with others.  We the undersigned offer this response in a spirit of irenic debate on issues arising from that important joint statement. As that document was crafted to encourage cooperation on the basis of a consensus deemed sufficient for the purpose, though confessionally incomplete, so the following statements seek to identify issues of concern to evangelical Protestants that the thrust of the document raises.  What follows is intended to encourage further discussion of the possibilities and problems of acting together.

1. While both Evangelicals and Roman Catholics affirm the ecumenical Creeds, we do not see this catholic consensus as a sufficient basis for declaring that agreement exists on all the essential elements of the Gospel.

2. The doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone has since the Reformation been acknowledged by mainstream Protestants as "the article by which the church stands or falls," and the tenet that distinguishes a true from a false church. While affirming an indissoluble bond between justification and sanctification, this doctrine insists that justification itself is God's present forensic declaration of pardon and acceptance, and that the righteousness required for this declaration is neither attained by human effort nor infused or worked internally by God in the human soul, but is the righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to those who believe. The Council of Trent anathematized those who embrace this doctrine, and all subsequent magisterial declarations, including those of the Second Vatican Council, continue to bind Roman Catholics to the conviction that this Gospel of free justification by faith alone, apart from works, and the assurance of salvation that springs from it, is not consonant with Roman Catholic teaching. While gladly noting in modern Roman Catholic exposition a growing emphasis on Christ and the biblical promises as objects of faith and trust, we see justification by faith alone as an essential of the Gospel on which radical disagreement continues, and we deny the adequacy of any version of the Gospel that falls short at this point.

3. Furthermore, while rejoicing in our agreement that God in the Gospel offers salvation in Christ to all who will receive it, we radically disagree with the teaching of the Second Vatican Council that unbelievers may be saved by their good works, apart from faith in Christ.

4. The extent of the creedal consensus that binds orthodox Evangelicals and Roman Catholics together warrants the making of common cause on moral and cultural issues in society. Roman Catholics and Evangelicals have every reason to join minds, hearts, and hands when Christian values and behavioral patterns are at stake. Yet it is incorrect to regard such cooperation among Christians as common ecclesial action in fulfilling a common ecclesial mission. The mission of the church as such is primarily the fulfilling of the Great Commission of Christ through the ministry of Word and sacraments, and cultural, moral, political and social concerns in which Christians rightly engage must not be thought to determine the relationship of ecclesial communions, or allowed to become decisive in the setting of their respective agendas.

5. We affirm that Christ's prayer for unity requires vigilant patience and diligence as we seek a greater visible unity. We deny that this prayer refers merely to the spiritual or invisible church. We further affirm that the unity we seek is shaped, bounded, and controlled by the teaching of the canonical Scriptures, the written Word of God, comprising the Law and the Gospel in its message of reconciliation with God and new life in Christ. To this Word the church must submit and by it must correct its understandings, so that its unity will be unity in truth. The Roman Catholic Church claims to be graced with an infallibility that attaches to conciliar declarations and Papal pronouncements ex cathedra, such that these are in principle irreformable, and must be treated as decisive guides to the theological interpretation of the Bible. We deny that the defined doctrines of the church's infallibility, Papal primacy, justification according to Trent, transubstantiation and eucharistic sacrifice, and the immaculate conception and assumption of Mary, can be proved from Scripture, and we cannot accept any form of joint action that appears to imply agreement with them. Also, we deny that visible unity has been or can be achieved where a common confession of the Gospel in all its essential elements is lacking.

6. We affirm that individual Roman Catholics who for whatever reason do not self-consciously assent to the precise definitions of the Roman Catholic Magisterium regarding justification, the sole mediation of Christ, the relation between faith and the sacraments, the divine monergism of the new birth, and similar matters of evangelical conviction, but who think and speak evangelically about these things, are indeed our brothers and sisters in Christ, despite Rome's official position. We perceive that the Roman Catholic Church contains many such believers. We deny, however, that in its present confession it is an acceptable Christian communion, let alone being the mother of all the faithful to whom every believer needs to be related.

7. We affirm that the Great Commission of our Lord requires every Christian and every congregation to be engaged in witness to Christ, and that this is concerned not merely with conversion, but with the catechesis, nurture, and discipline of converts. Therefore, we deny that is it advisable to imply that whether one is in a church where the Word is rightly preached and the sacraments are rightly (that is, biblically) administered is no longer important; and we insist that every Christian, Roman Catholic no less than Protestant, needs regular exposure to accurate, Christ-centered preaching and exposition of the Bible.

To see the "Resolutions" and those who signed them, Click here

R. C. Sproul's Take on the Mahattan Declaration

Here's R. C.'s explanation as to why he doesn't feel like he can sign the Manhattan Declaration.  The issue is the confusion of the gospel with natural law.  Couldn't agree more. 

http://www.ligonier.org/blog/the-manhattan-declaration/

Who Said That?

"They were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath, not to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so.  When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food--but ordinary and innocent food."

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

Update on Saturday, December 5, 2009 at 12:46PM by Kim Riddlebarger

This is a letter from Pliny the Younger, who was governor of Pontus/Bithynia from 111-113 AD, to the emperor Trajan.  Pliny discusses the practices of Christians, including clarifying that they are not cannibals.

This Week's White Horse Inn

What is Discipleship?

What does it mean to be a follower of Christ? Should Christians focus more on "being the church" rather than going to church? Can we really "live the gospel?" On this edition of the White Horse Inn the hosts will interact with these questions and more as they discuss the nature and meaning of discipleship.

http://www.whitehorseinn.org/



"The Son of God" -- Luke 1:26-38

Here's the audio from this morning's sermon for the second Sunday in Advent.

Click here