John Bunyan quote

“Man indeed is the most noble, by creation, of all the creatures in the visible World; but by sin he has made himself the most ignoble.”
― John Bunyan

John Chrysostom quote on the state of American Evangelicalism.

“It is this that ruins churches, that you do not seek to hear sermons that touch the heart, but sermons that will delight your ears with their intonation and the structure of their phrases, just as if you were listening to singers and lute-players. And we preachers humor your fancies, instead of trying to crush them. We act like a father who gives a sick child a cake or an ice, or something else that is merely nice to eat--just because he asks for it; and takes no pains to give him what is good for him; and then when the doctors blame him says, 'I could not bear to hear my child cry.' . . . That is what we do when we elaborate beautiful sentences, fine combinations and harmonies, to please and not to profit, to be admired and not to instruct, to delight and not to touch you, to go away with your applause in our ears, and not to better your conduct.”
― John Chrysostom

John Chrysostom quote

“The potency of prayer hath subdued the strength of fire; it hath bridled the rage of lions, hushed anarchy to rest, extinguished wars, appeased the elements, expelled demons, burst the chains of death, expanded the gates of heaven, assuaged diseases, repelled frauds, rescued cities from destruction, stayed the sun in its course, and arrested the progress of the thunderbolt.”
― John Chrysostom

John Chrysostom quote

“The Holy Scriptures were not given
to us that we should enclose
them in books, but that we should
engrave them upon our hearts.”
― John Chrysostom

My Perspective on Tullian's Sin

My Perspective on Tullian's Sin

It has been very interesting to watch the fallout and discussions regarding the announcement, this past Sunday, that Tullian Tchividjian had resigned as pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church after having admitted to an affair. One of the reasons it has been interesting to watch is because several weeks ago I had been brought into the circle of men and a few women who were briefed on why Tullian had taken a leave of absence nearly 10 weeks ago and what his plans were going to be moving forward. None of us were aware of Tullian's affair. But, all of us were aware of the turmoil of Tullian's life these past 10 weeks.

Last Thursday afternoon, I was informed of Tullian's moral failing and briefed about the pending announcement of his resignation and in an instant I experienced a profound moment of clarity that caused me to understand just how evil and tireless the devil is.

There are some who want to use the occasion of Tullian's sin to move the theological football down the field in the hopes of scoring some points. But, ultimately the folks doing that are short-sited and are missing much of the data that would be needed to make an informed assessment.

As one who has far more data to work with than many others, I must admit that the whole series of events leading up to last Sunday has shaken me to my core. The reason for this is simple. I just witnessed one of the most elaborate satanic schemes pulled off in modern history. The devil concocted the perfect plan to tempt a pastor to sin and the devil left nothing to chance.

The entire scenario from beginning to end was designed to take a pastor to the brink of what he could bear and then provide the perfect temptation in the midst of the turmoil that would then end his pastoral ministry while nationally dragging Christianity and Christ Himself through the mud.

The plan was perfect. It was executed flawlessly and the devil played Tullian and a whole lot of other people the way a concert violinist would play a Stradivarius. It was breathtaking to watch.

Now there is a man who is reeling from his sin and the sins committed against him. His family has had not one but two nuclear bombs tear them apart. An entire church has been thrown back on its heels and there are many people around the country and the globe who've had their faith shaken to the core by the news of Tullian's sin. Furthermore, Christianity itself has taken a hit. Christ's enemies have been given comfort and have viewed this whole affair as even more proof that Christianity is a crock just days before the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to make same-sex "marriage" the law of the land.

This was like a perfectly planned and orchestrated terrorist attack and all I see are a lot of dead and wounded bodies strewn everywhere.

When Jesus taught us to daily pray, "lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one" He was not giving us empty words to mindlessly recite. The Apostle Peter put it this way, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

With Tullian's sin, and believe me when I say that just like Adam, Tullian is responsible for this whole mess, we've witnessed one of the most vicious "lion attacks" of our day. If Tullian Tchividjian wasn't safe from such an attack then no gospel preacher in the pastoral office is safe either.

"For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens." - Ephesians 6:12

The work of caring for the wounded has only just begun and my prayer is that repentance, forgiveness of sins and reconciliation will win the day. But, thus far, I have seen very little that would give me hope along those lines and truth be told, I think I took some shrapnel in the blast.

χάρις ἔλεος εἰρήνη σοι,

Chris Rosebrough - of "fighting for the faith" podcast

Sunday School John 6: 1-15

Intro quote, CHS “Jesus’ followers had looked at their little store of bread and fish and given up the task as hopeless; but Jesus, altogether unembarrassed, and in no perplexity, had already considered how he would banquet the thousands and make the fainting sing for joy.”

Read John 6: 1-15

After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. ²  And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. ³  Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. ⁴  Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. ⁵  Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” ⁶  He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. ⁷  Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii^[a] worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” ⁸  One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, ⁹  “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” ¹⁰  Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”  Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. ¹¹  Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated.  So also the fish, as much as they wanted. ¹²  And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” ¹³  So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. ¹⁴  When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

¹⁵ Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Opening prayer & we’ll get started

Loving God, we give you thanks and praise that, through Jesus, you healed the sick and fed the hungry.  With a few paltry fish and loaves of bread, you fed a crowd of famished people, and with grace to spare.  We, too, long to be fed. We, too, clamor for your healing touch.  We come to you in prayer now, pressing in on you from all sides, with our needs and desires — some trivial, some profound — and through it all, you love us. You are attentive to the deepest yearnings and the most hidden wounds of our hearts.  Attend to us, once again, we pray.  Amen.

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So before we even get into the specifics of this miracle, I wanna hear from you guys on What is a Miracle?  And what is a miracle’s Purpose? Give me an example.

“A miracle is a less common kind of God’s activity in which he arouses people’s awe & wonder & bears witness to Himself.”  John Frame professor of systematic theology Westminster Theological Seminary

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According to RC Sproul the thing that makes this event 1 of the most important in Scripture its one of the few that is referenced in all 4 of the Gospels.  Also we should understand that the book of John is not written as a normal biography where 1 event leads to this, leads to that & so on.  John is a theological argument, like Romans.  In it John stresses 7 miracles prior to the death & resurrection of Jesus that he believes will convince you that Jesus is not only the promised Messiah but he is also God Himself clothed in flesh & walking among us.

In John’s argument we’re at miracle #4.  Can you guys name miracles #’s 1-3?

1-    Turning water to wine, Ch 2

2-    The healing of the official’s son, Ch 4

3-    The healing at the pool of Bethesda, Ch 5

A few points not to miss from this event:

            The men alone in the crowd numbered 5,000 - so the total number has been      estimated to be more like 10,000 to 20,000 people

            The crowds followed not out of faith in Him but out of curiosity concerning the wonders he could perform

            Our friend, “Practical Philip” states 200 denarii worth of bread wouldn’t be         enough to give the whole of the crowd a taste.  Since 1 denarius was a standard             day’s wage for a day laborer in Israel, then 200 denarii equals about 8 months salary  

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I want us to imagine some scenarios on HOW it was that Jesus was able to perform this miracle?  So I’m gonna give you 4 possible scenarios & let me know what you think of them.

1-    Generosity; in theologically liberal churches & seminaries this passage is described in this way…lets imagine that there were many in the crowd that packed lunches & many that forgot to pack lunches.  So Jesus looks out into the crowd & can tell many are hungry so he brings forward this example of generosity a small boy that is willing to give up his food to feed the hungry.  The crowd gets Jesus’ guilt trip & those with food share with those who have not & so everyone is able to eat, with leftovers.

2-    Las Vegas level illusion; others have posited that Jesus & his Apostles had stock-piled a hoard of food nearby in a cave so all Jesus had to do was sit at the mouth of the cave & his apostles would secretly slip him food & he would pass it around giving the illusion that he had a never ending supply of food at hand.  “There’s nothing up my sleeve, I promise.”  

3-    Star Trek; this option is for he Really real nerds but on Star Trek as they are passing through the vastness of space & are unable to pull into a drive through they had to create “food replicators” that could take existing matter pulverize it into subatomic particles & then refashion that matter & energy into new forms including food, this led to the idea on the show that the people’s waste product (you know #1 & #2) were being re-sequenced into usable material, like food.  Which would explain why the crew always complained that the “replicated” food was not as good tasting as the “real” thing.  Could Jesus have used available matter & just changed rocks & flowers to bread & fish?  

4-    Last option, Ex Nihilo.  This is the common idea of how God creates, Ex Nihilo is Latin & it means “out of nothing” meaning out of no pre-existing material.  If this is true then it implies that God rules over all things in the universe, things seen & unseen & nothing is too big or small for God to handle.  Verses Heb 11:3, Ps 33:6&9, Col 1:16.  This would also be a VERY big example of deity of Christ as he is able to create the miraculous food Ex Nihilo.

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Something that I find interesting is that the 2 miracles that involve food, parallel the Lord’s Supper well before he institutes it in the Upper Room – the water to wine & multiplication of bread.   MY views of communion.  Ask them about theirs?

              John MacArthur states that we can imagine that the bread in this miracle is small barley cakes which itself parallels an OT miracle of the prophet Elisha in 2 Kings 4: 42-44.  Read that passage.  RC Sproul goes on to say that only the poorest of the poor ate barley bread & that the barley cakes would have been similar in size to 5 Twinkies & the fish were probably small like sardines or smoked herrings that the boy brought for his own lunch.

So to wrap up – When you came to faith how did you see the “tales” of miracles in the Bible?  As truth, metaphor, symbolism?  Did these claims make coming to faith easier or harder?   End quote, “Those whom Christ feeds he fills; to whom he gives, he gives enough; as there is in him enough for all, so there is enough for each. He replenishes every hungry soul, abundantly satisfies it with the goodness of his house.” Matthew Henry

Doctrine of Salvation

IV. Salvation

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

A. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God's grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace.

BF&M’s doctrine of Salvation

Object Lesson:

Kristin/Tiffany/Sarah: Rope, bucket, tape

Pull the rope to get the bucket across the piece of tape

What does God say this is an example of?

I’m going to read from John 6 and we’ll get started looking at today’s Baptist doctrine.

John 6:37-40, 43, 65

This same Greek word “draw” is better translated as dragged see Acts 16:19

This draw is not to woo like calling your dog. Here boy, here boy. Its God drawing a sword from a sheath, or God drawing fish up in a net, or like our object lesson it refers to how 1^st Century Jews would draw their water up out of a well. In the NT Helkuo always refers to compulsion. John 6, 12, 18, twice in 21, Acts 16, 21 and James 2.

Sinners do not come to God. God brings sinners unto Himself.

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Today we’re going to look at the BF&M’s doctrine of Salvation, I’m going to start by reading a little Romans and Roy/Robert can you read the whole article I’m done?

Romans 8:28-39

The first section of Salvation states that SBC Baptists offer salvation to all who accept JC. This seems like an awkward phrase, someone elaborate it for us. Are we only offering Salvation to those who already believe?

There’s an important note to make at the end of this section on the exclusivity of Christianity. “There is no salvation apart from personal faith in JC as Lord.” I was happy to hear Jay just preach on this a couple of weeks back Jesus saying No one comes to the Father except through me. Unfortunately I’ve also heard some Baptist friends of mine actually disagree that the only way to heaven is through personal faith in JC as Lord.

Give me some of your guy’s thoughts. What if there was some deaf, blind, mute, hermit alone on a mountain top in Tibet that lived for 100 yrs and never once heard the Gospel and he died and stood before God, what would we expect to hear? The book that got Rob Bell kicked out of his own church Love Wins only suggested that there might be other ways into heaven and he lost his job. What do you think fair, unfair? (The New Yorker bio – Hellraiser)

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Regeneration – God is the active agent in regeneration.

Acts 16:14 – its God not Lydia that prepares her heart for the Gospel

Ezekiel 36:26 & 11:19 – its God who replaces our stony hearts of unbelief with soft hearts that can trust Christ

John 3:1-8 –Jesus tells Nicodemus not only can’t you get to heaven but also you can’t even see heaven until you are (and this is the same word in the Greek genneo anothen) “born again or born from above”. It should probably be both - born again from above, God’s rebirthing.

Any questions so far?

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Moving on. Question for you: Is faith and repentance your part in the Salvation transaction or is it more of God’s work in dragging you to Himself?

1^st - a transactional view of Salvation is heretical, that would make Salvation “by works” which is rejected in several books in the New Testament namely The Apocalypse of St John and Paul’s letters to the Churches of Rome and Galatia.

Yet all of us who have been saved remember Jesus telling us to Repent and Trust in Him to be saved and we did it. Isn’t that our part?

2 Timothy 2:24-25 – Paul names a couple of 1^st Century heretics by name and says yet God may grant them repentance leading them to the Truth, those who repent are those whom God has granted repentance.

Ephesians 2:4-9 – Again this reiterates that God is the primary mover in regeneration as well as the gifter of your faith. I’ve actually had atheist friends growing up and they flat out told me I get what you want me to believe (Jesus) I just can’t, I don’t have that kind of faith and Paul says that’s true unless God gifts you with faith to trust in Christ you can’t trust in Christ.

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Justification – Martin Luther famously said during the Reformation that this was the article on which a True church stands or falls.

And again this is God’s work, in which he accepts Christ’s righteousness in your place instead of judging you solely on your own merit.

I am holy, I am a saint but not due to my own self-righteousness but because of the perfect righteousness of Christ and Christ’s atoning blood that covers my filth.

The original verb form of Messiah/Christ (massah) meant to smear like smear paint on a wall, or cover with oil (to anoint) this coating of Christ’s righteousness is why people are allowed into heaven, the error we need to correct with our non-believing friends is its not good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell, the bible first says we’re all bad and yet this is how a bad person like you or me can get into heaven is by Christ’s righteousness smearing, Jesus’ massah.

Titus 3:3-8 & Romans 3:21-30 – this 2^nd passage corrects the error today that Jews and Gentiles will be judged by different standards. No, both are judged by faith in Christ’s redemption.

God is the one who gets full, total, and whole praise for Salvation because He’s the only party at work in Salvation.

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Sanctification – So what now? Now that you’re a Christian what do you want to do with your life? Do you want to honor God? What would honor Him? What does he want from you?

Sanctification is the first and only part of this article that you get to work along side God on. Sanctification is not about some epic, specific, grandiose dream God has for your life. It’s all pretty ordinary practical stuff. Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, learning a lot about what the Bible says about Christ, raising your kids to know God, loving and respecting your spouses, working hard with your hands as if your boss where Jesus himself, love your neighbors, honor God, be always thankful for Christ. Caring about the poor, the helpless, being selfless these are what prepare us to enjoy Heaven for an Eternity.

Any thoughts or advise for the rest of us on sanctification? Struggles, concerns, questions?

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Glorification – starts with sanctification and isn’t complete till we live with Christ eternally.

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 & 2 Timothy 2:10-11 (this passage is the motto for my blog)- Glorification was accomplished in the past by Christ’s work but it points us toward Christ’s 2^nd coming, being with other believers, at the Judgment and eternally in glory, immortal, righteous, and holy.

Abstracts of Principles VIII. Regeneration

Regeneration is a change of heart, wrought by the Holy Spirit, who quickeneth the dead in trespasses and sins enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the Word of God, and renewing their whole nature, so that they love and practice holiness. It is a work of God’s free and special grace alone.

And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. (Acts 9:3-5)

Paul’s conversion would serve for an outline sketch of the conversion of any one of us. How was that conversion wrought? Well, it is clear that there was nothing at all in Paul to contribute to his salvation.

You might have sifted him in a sieve without finding anything upon which you could rest a hope that he would be converted to the faith of Jesus. His natural bent, his early training, his whole surroundings, and his life’s pursuits all fettered him to Judaism and made it most unlikely that he would ever become a Christian.

The first elder of the church that ever talked to him about divine things could hardly believe in his conversion. “Lord,” said he, “I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem” (Acts 9:13 KJV).

He could hardly think it possible that the ravening wolf should have changed into a lamb. Nothing favorable to faith in Jesus could have been found in Saul; the soil of his heart was very rocky, the plowshare could not touch it, and the good seed found no foothold.

Yet the Lord converted Saul, and he can do the like by other sinners, but it must be a work of pure grace and of divine power, for there is not in any man’s fallen nature a holy spot of the size of a pin’s point on which grace can light.

Transforming grace can find no natural lodgment in our hearts; it must create its own soil. And blessed be God, it can do it, for with God all things are possible.1

C H Spurgeon

Spurgeon on Conversion – often from our limited POV we think we became a Christian when we came to God.  However when this issue is viewed in light of Scripture: any True Christian will see what the Scriptures say: ‘The Election is from the Lord (Ephesians 1); Call is from the Lord (Romans 8); the Coming to Christ is from the Lord (John 6); the Conversion is from the Lord (John 3); & the Faith & Repentance are from the Lord (Ephesians 2 & 2 Timothy 2).  And we finally learn the extent of His Grace & Mercy & Worth of Worship lies in the fact that the whole of Salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9, Psalms 37:39, Revelation 7:10)’.

From Charles Spurgeon:

“One week-night, when I was sitting in the house of God, I was not thinking much about the preacher’s sermon, for I did not believe it. The thought struck me, How did you come to be a Christian? I sought the Lord. But how did you come to seek the Lord? The truth flashed across my mind in a moment – I should not have sought Him unless there had been some previous Influence in my mind to make me seek Him. I prayed, thought I, but then I asked myself, How came I to pray? I was Induced to pray by reading the Scriptures. How came I to read the Scriptures? I did read them, but what led me to do so? Then, in a moment, I saw that God was at the bottom of it all, and that He was the Author of my faith, and so the Doctrines of Grace opened up to me, and from that doctrine I have not departed to this day, and I desire to make this my constant confession, ‘I ascribe my change wholly to God.’”