Apologetics in a Post Christian Age (Audio) -- Making the Case for Christianity: The Attestion of Scripture -- (Part Two)

Here's the audio from the Wednesday night Bible study: 

Making the Case for Christianity: The Attestation of Scripture -- (Part Two)

"The Word of the Lord that Came to Hosea" -- Hosea 1:1-9

Sermons on the Minor Prophets:  Hosea (1)

Now for something completely different–the Prophecy of Hosea.  Hosea has been described as the “death-bed prophet of Israel.”  This is because he is the last of YHWH’s prophets sent to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, before that kingdom was conquered by Assyria in 722 B.C.  Hosea was present throughout the tumultuous and tragic days of Israel’s fall.  His prophecy opens with YHWH’s command to marry a prostitute because this act mirrors YHWH’s covenantal relationship to his people, Israel.  Hosea will play the role to this woman that YHWH has played to Israel–a faithful husband to an unfaithful spouse.  Israel’s apostasy–seen in the idol worship rampant throughout the land–is like that of promiscuous wife who repeatedly breaks her martial vows by cheating on her husband and bearing the children of her lovers.  Hosea’s wife Gomer, is a graphic and tragic mirror image of Israel’s chief institutions–the kings, the priests, and the religious life of the nation.  Despite Israel’s on-going and deepening apostasy, repeatedly, Hosea pushes us to see that even Israel’s sin cannot nullify YHWH’s gracious covenant promises.  Right up to the end (in fact, even beyond), YHWH always stands willing to forgive and restore a repentant people who heed his call to return to him in faith and obedience.

We have completed our study of Amos–a prophet from Judah called to proclaim YHWH’s covenant lawsuit to Israel, the breakaway and short-lived Northen Kingdom.  We have also completed our study of the Book of Jonah, who was a loyal Israelite, called by God to preach the word of YHWH to the city of Nineveh, in the very heart of Assyria, Israel’s mighty enemy to the north.  This morning we begin our study of the prophet Hosea, who unlike Amos was an Israelite, and whose prophetic ministry overlaps that of Amos.  But the Book of Hosea is very different than the Book of Amos.  Hosea is the first book found in the Hebrew Minor Prophets–the Twelve–and takes on a form unique to the Minor Prophets.  A book without a clear outline, Hosea’s prophecy opens with an enacted parable (chapters 1-3), before giving the reader a series of warnings, laments, poems, and sermons (chapters 4-14).  Hosea is, as one commentator tells us, “a difficult book, [yet] also a great book.”  He adds:

    [Hosea] is like a tree whose roots go down deep into the Torah and whose branches bear the fruit of a discourse that became the grammar of biblical prophecy. Many of the themes, and much of the vocabulary, of the great literary prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel originate in Hosea.  It also is a book that jolts the reader; it refuses to be domesticated and made conventional.  It does comfort the afflicted, but it most surely afflicts the comfortable.  It is as startling in its presentation of sin as it is surprising in its stubborn certainty of grace.  It is as blunt as it is enigmatic. It is a book to be experienced, and the experience is with God.

We are in for a difficult but rewarding study in the weeks ahead.

As we have seen throughout our time in the Minor Prophets, whenever we take up the various books included in The Twelve, it is vital that we ask and answer a series of questions, “Who?” “When?” “Why?” and “What?” so as to consider the Minor Prophets in their historical context.  It is necessary that we understand their message to their original audience, so that we can draw proper application.  That context is distinctively covenantal.  That is, these were prophecies given to people living under the covenant God made with Israel at Mount Sinai through the mediation of Moses.  It is wrong–and unfortunately, an all too common error–to ignore that context and lift passages from these prophets and apply them directly to specific contemporary cultural or political situations.

To read the rest of this sermon:  Click Here

This Week at Christ Reformed Church (May 27-June 2)

Sunday Morning, June 2:  Paul warns Timothy of the perils of the last days while encouraging the young pastor to reflect upon the mystery of Godliness.  Our passage this coming Lord's Day is 1 Timothy 3:14-4:5.  Our worship service begins at 10:30 a.m.

Adult Sunday School (9:00 a.m.):  For the next three Sundays (June 2, 9, 16), I will be discussing the covenant of grace, one of the key features of Reformed theology.  We will talk about the biblical basis for such a covenant, along with the nature and conditions of this covenant which lay at the heart of the gospel.

Afternoon:  We are discussing Christ's role as mediator from Lord's Day 6 of the Heidelberg Catechism.  Our afternoon service begins at 1:15 p.m.

Wednesday Night Bible Study: (May 29 @ 7:30 p.m.).  We come to the final plank in our case for Christianity.  What does Scripture say about itself?

Friday Night Academy: (Friday, May 31 @ 7:30 p.m.).  We are discussing Michael Horton's theology text, The Christian Faith.  We are in chapter thirteen, "The Fall of Humanity" (p. 423).

For more information on Christ Reformed Church you can always find us here Christ Reformed Church, or Christ Reformed on Facebook.

"God's Church" -- 1 Timothy 3:1-13

Here's the audio from this morning's sermon on 1 Timothy 3:1-13:  God's Church

Bridge Radio: A Case for Amillennialism

I was recently a guest on Bridge Radio with Julio Rodriguez.  We discussed my book, and related topics such as the biding of Satan, the 144,000, etc. 

Here's the link:  Bridge Radio: A Case for Amillennialism

Apologetics in a Post Christian Age (Audio) -- Making the Case for Christianity: The Attestion of Scripture -- (Part One)

Here's the audio from the Wednesday night Bible Study: Making the Case for Christianity: The Attestation of Scripture

"Should I Not Pity Nineveh?" -- Jonah 4:1-11

Sermons on the Minor Prophets -- The Book of Jonah (4)

What pleased God (the repentance of Nineveh), only made Jonah mad – a rather ironic sentiment from someone called to be YHWH’s prophet.  Why was Jonah so upset that YHWH brought salvation to pagan Ninevites?  Jonah, you’ll recall sought to flee YHWH’s call to preach in Nineveh, but YHWH took him on an unexpected detour–a great storm arises, Jonah is thrown overboard and then spends three days and nights in the belly of a great fish.  But Jonah eventually fulfilled his prophetic calling, and preached to the Ninevites.  The result of his preaching?  Many Ninevites believed Jonah’s message.  Even their king believed Jonah’s warning, and he ordered a time of mourning and fasting, even exhorting his people to call upon God and cease their violent behavior.  But as we read in chapter 4 of his prophecy, Jonah is angry with God.  The prophet is perplexed by the fact that the Ninevites were spared from YHWH’s judgment even as his own beloved people, Israel, are about to come under God’s covenant curse.  In the closing chapter of Jonah, we find the prophet right back where he was when first called to preach.  His disdain for the Ninevites surfaces again.  “Why was Nineveh spared when Israel will not be?”  As his prophecy concludes, Jonah is given yet another lesson in God’s mercy.

With this sermon, we conclude our study of the book of Jonah.  As we work our way through the final chapter, once again we discover that in the Book of Jonah, irony seems to jump off every page.  You would think that YHWH’s chosen prophet would be thrilled to witness huge numbers of people believe in YHWH and spared from judgment, through his own preaching.  Yes, pride is a sin, but there is a certain allowable sense of satisfaction about witnessing people come to faith, repent of their sin, and then amend their ways.  Jonah should have been thrilled to witness what God has done in Nineveh–extend salvation to countless Gentiles beyond the confines of his covenant with Israel.  But as we have come to expect in the Book of Jonah, the ironic becomes the norm.

The closing scene in Jonah chapter four takes place after Jonah has completed his mission of passing through the city of Nineveh and proclaiming YHWH’s call to repent with remarkable success.  But instead of being thrilled to be YHWH’s agent in bringing the Ninevites to repentance, the opening verse of chapter 4 reveals that Jonah is angry.  Why?  What has happened?  Why is he back where he started, angry that the people of Nineveh repented?  Irony appears again–God relented in his anger toward Nineveh, while Jonah renews his anger towards the Ninevites.  Why would the same evil that YHWH attributed to the Ninevites (the Hebrew text of Jonah 1:2) now be attributed to Jonah (4:1).  The  Hebrew text literally reads “it [the repentance of Ninveveh] was evil to Jonah with great evil.”  The ESV translates the passage as “but it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry,” trying to capture the raw emotion Jonah felt at what the prophet perceived as a divine injustice.  Jonah hated what YHWH had done.  It is hard to imagine a great evangelist preaching to a huge crowd, seeing many of them respond in faith, and then getting mad at God because people actually responded–but this is the scene in Jonah 4.

To read the rest of this sermon:  Click Here

This Week at Christ Reformed Church (May 20-26)

Sunday Morning, May 26:  Paul's second "trustworthy saying" deals with aspiring to the office of overseer in Christ's church.  Paul calls such service a noble task.  This coming Lord's Day we will discuss the offices of elder and deacon from 1 Timothy 3:1-13.  Our worship service begins at 10:30 a.m.

Sunday Afternoon:  As we work our way through the Heidelberg Catechism we come to Lord's Day 6, which focuses upon Christ's work as mediator.  Our afternoon service begins at 1:15 p.m.

Wednesday Night Bible Study: (May 22 @ 7:30 p.m.).  We come to the final plank in our case for Christianity.  What does Jesus teach about the Old Testament?  How does Scripture self-attest?

Friday Night Academy: (Friday, May 24 @ 7:30 p.m.).  We are discussing Michael Horton's theology text, The Christian Faith.  We are in chapter thirteen, "The Fall of Humanity" (p. 418).

For more information on Christ Reformed Church you can always find us here Christ Reformed Church, or Christ Reformed on Facebook.

"Adam Was Created First" -- 1 Timothy 2:8-15

Here's the audio from this morning's sermon on 1 Timothy:  Adam Was Created First

Apologetics in a Post Christian Age (Audio) -- Making the Case for Christianity (The Resurrection of Jesus -- Part Five)

Here's the audio from the Wednesday night Bible Study:  Making the Case for Christianity: The Resurrection of Jesus (Part Five)