Click the post title to be taken to the source.
Thanks to Matt Haney for posting these at Sermonaudio where you can download them:
http://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?sourceid=gcc
Author: LaneCh
Keywords: hell hades emergent church doug pagitt todd bentley tom conway
Added: July 3, 2008
Click the post title to be taken to the source.
Again, the grace of God is sovereign. By that word we mean that God has an absolute right to give that grace where he chooses, and to withhold it when he pleases. He is not bound to give it to any man, much less to all men; and if he chooses to give it to one man and not to another, his answer is, “Is thine eye evil because mine eye is good? Can I not do as I will with mine own? I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.” Now, I want you to notice the sovereignty of Divine grace as illustrated in the text: “I was found of them that sought me not, I was made manifest to them that asked not after thee.” You would imagine that if God gave his grace to any he would wait until he found them earnestly seeking him. You would imagine that God in the highest heavens would say, “I have mercies, but I will leave men alone, and when they feel their need of these mercies and seek me diligently with their whole heart, day and night, with tears, and vows, and supplications, then will I bless them, but not before.” But, beloved, God saith no such thing. It is true he doth bless them that cry unto him, but he blesses them before they cry, for their cries are not their own cries, but cries which he has put into their lips; their desires are not of their own growth, but desires which he has cast like good seed into the soil of their hearts. God saves the men that do not seek him. Oh, wonder of wonders! It is mercy indeed when God saves a seeker; but how much greater mercy when he seeks the lost himself! Mark the parable of Jesus Christ concerning the lost sheep; it does not run thus: “A certain man had a hundred sheep, and one of them did go astray. And he tarried at home, and lo, the sheep came back, and he received it joyfully and said to his friends, rejoice, for the sheep that I have lost is come back.” No; he went after the sheep: it never would have come after him; it would have wandered farther and farther away. He went after it; over hills of difficulty, down valleys of despondency he pursued its wandering feet, and at last he laid hold of it; he did not drive it before him, he did not lead it, but he carried it himself all the way, and when he brought it home he did not say, the sheep is come back,” but, “I have found the sheep which was lost.” Men do not seek God first; God seeks them first; and if any of you are seeking him to-day it is because he has first sought you. If you are desiring him he desired you first, and your good desires and earnest seeking will not be the cause of your salvation, but the effects of previous grace given to you. “Well,” says another, “I should have thought that although the Saviour might not require an earnest seeking and sighing and groaning, and a continuous searching, after him, yet certainly he would have desired and demanded that every man, before he had grace, should ask for it.” That, indeed, beloved, seems natural, and God will give grace to them that ask for it; but mark, the text says that he was manifested “to them that asked not for him.” That is to say, before we ask, God gives us grace. The only reason why any man ever begins to pray is because God has put previous grace in his heart which leads him to pray. I remember, when I was converted to God, I was an Arminian thoroughly. I thought I had begun the good work myself, and I used sometimes to sit down and think, “Well, I sought the Lord four years before I found him,” and I think I began to compliment myself upon the fact that I had perseveringly entreated of him in the midst of much discouragement. But one day the thought struck me, “How was it you came to seek God?” and in an instant the answer came from my soul, “Why, because he led me to do it; he must first have shown me my need of him, or else I should never have sought him; he must have shown me his preciousness, or I never should have thought him worth seeking;” and at once I saw the doctrines of grace as clear as possible. God must begin. Nature can never rise above itself. You put water into a reservoir, and it will rise as high as that, but no higher if let alone. Now, it is not in human nature to seek the Lord. Human nature is depraved, and therefore, there must be the extraordinary pressure of the Holy Spirit put upon the heart to lead us first to ask for mercy. But mark, we do not know an thing about that, while the Spirit is operating; we find that out afterwards. We ask as much as if we were asking all of ourselves. Our business is to seek the Lord as if there were no Holy Spirit at all. But although we do not know it, there must always be a previous motion of the Spirit in our heart, before there will be a motion of our heart towards him.
END OF POST
Click the post title to be taken to the source.
(Video)
Thank you, John Piper, for articulating what has been on my heart so often recently. Why is their so little love of God and zeal for the truth among young people today? Let’s get over emotional buzzes and realize that God deserves our everything…not just a trip to a hip youth conference with a famous speaker. He deserves more than a t-shirt or bumper sticker or a week long “missions” trip to some exotic location. Let’s get over the world and sell out.
Click the post title to be taken to the source.
"It is impossible to study the Bible diligently under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and not be brought to the Doctrines of Grace; doctrines which the men most used by God have always maintained.Today I surrender myself to these same truths." (Pastor Martin Zacarias at the Heartcry Mission Conference in Lima, Peru, January 2008)
I have had the privilege of preaching and teaching alongside this man of God. The men of HeartCry show those who besmirch the Doctrines of Grace to be liars (those who claim that we who believe in these doctrines have no interest in evangelism). We have no interest in man-centered evangelism. If you desire to learn of God-centered evangelism, come to the Western Slope Seminar on Biblical Evangelism in September.
We are praying for God to bring awakening and revival to our part of His world.
Click the post title to be taken to the source.
I believe that very much of current Arminianism is simply ignorance of gospel doctrine; and if people began to study their Bibles, and to take the Word of God as they find it, they must inevitably, if believers, rise up to rejoice in the doctrines of grace.
Charles Spurgeon
Click the post title to be taken to the source.
As Christians does it matter at what conferences we speak? In the unlikely event that I’m asked to speak at a white supremacist conference, a lesbian pride rally, a wiccan convention, or a feminist gathering, should I accept the invitation? Would it be Christ-honoring for me to allow my grinning mugshot to appear alongside that of the First Grand Wizard of some KKK terrorist in a white hood? How about my photo next to the President of NARAL, the abortion rights group? In the spiritual realm, how about me appearing at a New Spirituality gathering? After all, I would share the Gospel, right? I could stand there at the podium amidst all the unicorn horns strapped on people’s heads, all the turbans of the muftis and the yogis and share my Bible-based views on spirituality along with theirs. Would that be a great opportunity or a great confusion to those who hear I am speaking along with the Dali Lama ? I’m talking about organized events here, gatherings of people of one religious belief or another.
Ray Comfort is a brother in the Lord who I have greatly appreciated. He has made, however, the decision to participate in conferences with Word of Faith heretics. He has done this more than once. His claim is that he will go anywhere to speak. In theory, that sounds great. “I’ll go anywhere with the Gospel.” But in reality, when there is so much confusion and so many false teachers today, that philosophy in practice can be problematic. Take, for example, Ray’s speaking at this upcoming conference, July 13-20, with health and wealth heretics, Jesse Duplantis, Rod Parsley, John Avanzini, and several others. Here are some quotes from the same.
“I’ve never had the Lord say, ‘Jesse, I think that car is a little bit too nice.’ I’ve had vehicles and the Lord said, ‘Would you please go park that at your house. Don’t put that in front of my house. I don’t want people to think that I’m a poor God.’” (Jesse Duplantis, “When Will We Yield To The Anointing of Wealth II,” April 10, 2005)
Jesse Duplantis: “People told me, ‘Well, they say, Jesus was poor.’ When was He poor? I would like to know when He was poor. Well, He was born in a stable. Why? Why was He born in a stable? Because that short, deaf lady lost their reservation. He couldn’t get into the inn. Think about that for a minute…And He had 12 full time people on His staff. Some were married and He took care of them. He had 70 part timers. You don’t gamble for rags Marcus.”
Marcus Lamb: “Yeah.”
Jesse Duplantis: “You don’t gamble for rags. You gamble for some clothes that cost. Don’t you? He wanted a donkey that had never been rode. As I said earlier, ‘You might want a car that has never been drove.’
Marcus Lamb: “He had a full time treasurer on staff.”
Jesse Duplantis: “That’s right! And stole for three years and the other guys didn’t know about it.”
Joni Lamb: “And wise men came to see Him.”
Jesse Duplantis: “That’s right! I mean He wasn’t three minutes on the ground and the three wise guys are looking for Him with what? Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. Let me tell you something, this concept that Jesus was in poverty is totally wrong!” (Jesse Duplantis, Marcus Lamb, and Joni Lamb, Daystar Fall, “Share-A-Thon,” September 15, 2004)
“If I give $1,000 dollars I deserve to get back $100,000 because I am just, that’s not greed!” (Jesse Duplantis, December 19, 2003 TBN, “The just shall live by faith.”)
“With fierce prayers and determination to see my mother healed, I started talking to God. “What is going on here?! I’m praying! Dad’s praying! Why isn’t she healed? You cannot allow death to defeat me, God. You made a covenant with me through Jesus’ blood! And that covenant says by His stripes we were healed! Where is that healing? If you break this covenant with me, you’ll have to cease to be God! You must keep covenant with me. You must obey your Word!” I was honest with God. He knew how I felt, so what was the point in hiding it? I was confused. I was hurt. I didn’t know what else to do. That is when God spoke up, “Jesse, I have a covenant with you, yes. However, I have one with your mother as well. You are praying for her healing. She is praying in her heart for Me to take her home. Now, I will obey My Word. But you and your daddy are battling your mother’s will. It is her life at stake. You have Me in a hard place, Jesse. Someone has got to give in. Get yourselves together and tell Me what I am to do! (Jesse Duplantis, “My Experience Doesn’t’ Change God’s Word,” Article C-Faith)
Here are some quotes from John Avanzini. I wonder where he found this in the Scriptures?
“Jesus had a nice house, a big house.”
(Believer’s Voice of Victory, (TBN) 1/20/91)
“Jesus wore designer clothes.”
(Believer’s Voice of Victory, (TBN) 1/20/91)
“Paul had the kind of money that could stop up justice.”
(Believer’s Voice of Victory, (TBN) 1/20/91)
“Jesus was handling big money.”
(Praise the Lord (TBN), 9/15/88)
“[The Spirit of God]…declared in the earth today what the eternal purpose of God has been through the ages…that He is duplicating Himself in the earth”
(John Avanzini, “The End Time Manifestation of the Sons of God,” Morris Cerullo World Evangelism tape).
That last quote is the teaching of these Word of Faith heretics that we are all little gods.
Justin Peters has a complete seminar that he does, exposing the heretical doctrines of the Word of Faith teachers. I strongly recommend it. These teachers don’t just teach that God wants us rich and healthy, they also have heretical, Arian doctrines on Christ and His equality in the Godhead. These lies are the seedbed for the rest of their teachings.
Just as I have strongly disagreed with Rob Bell and Doug Pagitt for their participation and tacit endorsement of the pagan religious leaders at the Seeds of Compassion InterSpiritual event, I also strongly disagree with Ray Comfort’s tacit endorsement of heretical teachers who are leading millions astray. Ray is endangering the considerable respect he and his ministry have generated over the years by failing to expose these false teachers and by his willingness to cooperate at their events. The webpage with his photo on it, along with the other false teachers, wordlessly articulates the problem. The Apostle Paul said that if he or an angel from heaven proclaimed any other gospel than the true gospel, “let him be accursed.” He did not consort with these false teachers. He did not appear at their get togethers to share the truth. He said these false teachers were to be accursed. It’s really that serious.
One of the dangers in parachurch ministry today is a narrowness of focus that sometimes blinds people to what is going around them. One group focuses on lost patriarchy in the church. Suddenly, strange doctrines found nowhere in Scripture start emerging, such as father worship, extreme courtship views, the denial of education to females, etc. Another group focuses only on legislative issues. Before long, they’re forming coalitions with Mormons and others who really need the Gospel more than anything, yet the Gospel falls by the wayside. Another group focuses only on protesting homosexuality. One such pastor in our state became so obsessed with protesting homosexuality, that his church became nothing more than an itinerant picketing crew. It’s helpful to sometimes stop and realize that while we are all called to work in different areas of ministry, we can’t be so absorbed in it that we fail to notice and respect what other parts of the Bible have to say, or what other legitimate concerns are facing the church. I hope and pray that Ray Comfort will listen to those in the body of Christ who respect the work he has been engaged in, and will realize the seriousness of legitimizing, in any way, the false teachers on the roster at his upcoming conference. These false teachers have left a trail of victims behind them, and Christ’s warnings about those who cause little ones to stumble include those little ones in the faith who believed the Word of Faith lies and got burned.
Click the post title to be taken to the source.
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
II Timothy 3:1-6
Click the post title to be taken to the source.
I do not, as a practice, answer my blog critics here at Slice. Any time you state an opinion or even point to an established fact, in this day and age, you’d better expect incoming of some kind. It goes with the territory, and long before the Internet was invented, it was the case in Christian radio. People will disagree. Some will be polite, and some will be personally nasty and make fun of your looks, your background, your talent or lack thereof. Some even go so far as to take personal photographs and doctor them up for the amusement of their readers. It’s all part of a day’s work if you open your mouth and say something to a crowd.
There are times, however, when a Christian says something publicly that demands some sort of a response. A man named Rick Frueh, an ordained baptist minister, is just such a person. Rick has publicly positioned himself as my critic both at his blog and the blog that exists to criticize both Slice and Christian Research Network’s Ken Silva. I have ignored for at least two years the insults, the cheap shots, and the highly personal nature of Rick Frueh’s attacks. He won’t say that he is opposed to what I do at Slice, he”ll say that finding a good post at Slice is like “finding a nickel in a spittoon.” He does things like comment on my hair. You get the idea.
Last night I linked to a Fox News story about once Christian singer, Katy Perry, who is introducing a generation of little girls to lesbianism with her song about kissing a girl and liking it. Katy is the daughter of two pastors, and grew up in what she calls a Christian home. She once sang gospel music (as Katy Hudson,) but now has crossed over completely and is putting out spiritually harmful material to a demographic that is described as ages 11-14. She is not a “girl”. She is a 24-year-old woman who has made a choice to be a role model by virtue of her position as a pop star.
Rick Frueh says that it is wrong to oppose this celebrity’s behavior in a public sphere. He says, in his public rebuke, that I am a “bottom feeder” and that the only thing we should do is show grace and pray for the woman, not publicly decry the shame she brings on the name of Christ, and the damage she is doing to little girls. It all sounds highly spiritual, doesn’t it? But wait! Rick Frueh has perpetually decried me and my work publicly for a long time now. He has publicly ridiculed me again and again and again at ChristianResearchNetwork.info. A short trip to the comment section on countless posts will reveal some startling examples of this very thing. (A simple search on my name at that blog will reveal more than you want to know about Rick’s views on me.) One commenter at CRN.info suggested that Rick’s posted comments reveal his hatred of me so much that she expected “I hate Ingrid Schlueter” to be on his grave stone some day. That’s some testimony to your ministry of mercy and grace, Rick.
Never, in his history of writing about me, has Rick ever called for personal prayer for me, for mercy, for grace or for understanding. He believes I am wrong, and has positioned himself as a very public critic. Yet when I point to woman who is publicly bringing shame on Christ’s name and who is harming millions of little girls by introducing children to girl on girl kissing, Rick Frueh, in the most sanctimonious tone, publicly calls me a “bottom-feeder”. No mercy. No grace. Just judgment.
Rick does not have to agree with me. He doesn’t have to like me and what I write. But if he is going to call for a spirit of mercy and grace for one who is presenting deviant sexuality to millions of girls after years of being a “Christian” singer and role model, he needs to be consistent and show mercy to a Christian blogger he disagrees with. Rick Frueh has never been consistent. That is just one of the problems here.
I will go further and say that there was a vicious public attack today on my Christian brother and colleague, Ken Silva at the same website Rick Frueh frequents. The attack came from Pastor Carlos Shelton (who goes by the commenter name “Iggy”,) and author Richard Abanes who sneeringly announced the “truth” about Silva’s work in apologetics. (I wonder if Harvest House is aware of their apologist author’s conduct online?) Abanes’ gross distorting of Silva’s record in defending the faith in his ministry life was deliberately damaging. Pastor Carlos Shelton’s comments were as personally below the belt as they come. (Pastor Shelton publishes an insult blog called the “Online Discernmentalist Mafia”. The title speaks for itself.) The blog publishers at CRN.info wrongly have a policy of refusing to remove this kind of slanderous material, even at the request of those who repent of their conduct. As such, they perpetuate the slander and the damage continues. My policy on deleting posts is this: If I have been mistaken or wrong in something I have written, it comes down. The damage needs to end. If I published it, I am responsible for removing the sin. Pastor Carlos Shelton and Richard Abanes intended to hurt Ken Silva and his reputation with their comments. There was no other reason for those words to be posted. They held no redemptive value whatsoever. The comments are still there, and they are deliberate slander of someone’s integrity and life’s work. Whether or not you agree with Ken Silva’s views, slandering him is always wrong.
As for Katy Perry, yes, pray for this woman in the dangerous path she is on, and pray for the little ones who are being led down that same path by her rebellion against God. Pray also for those who are so blinded by hatred that they can’t see the ugly fruit of their own bitterness.
“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.
–Jesus Christ in Mark 9:42
For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. –Ephesians 5:5
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
–I Corinthians 6:9-11
Click the post title to be taken to the source.
ARE YOU SURE YOU LIKE SPURGEON?
“The doctrine of justification itself, as preached by an Arminian, is nothing but the doctrine of salvation by works…” — C.H. Spurgeon
Praised by many evangelicals as a great preacher, Charles H. Spurgeon is considered a successful and “safe” example of a “non-theological” ministry. His works are recommended as a means to lead many aspiring pastors into developing their own successful ministries. His Lectures to My Students are often used for this purpose, emphasizing the “practical” aspects of evangelism. But while the form of Spurgeon’s successful preaching is often studied by would-be pastors, the content of this Christian giant’s preaching and teaching is often ignored. Rather Spurgeon is popularly thought to have heartily approved of the same theology that is presently dominating American culture: Arminianism.
Many Christian leaders, for instance, like to point out Spurgeon as one who also had no formal college training. They ignore the fact that he had a personal library containing more that 10,000 books.1 It is further argued that the success of his ministry in the mid-to-late 19th century was due to his anti-intellectual piety, “his yieldedness to the Spirit,” and his Arminianism. The fact is, Spurgeon was not anti-intellectual, nor did he entertain delusions of being so holy that he could allow God to work only if he was “yielded.” Most importantly, he was not an Arminian. He was a staunch Calvinist who opposed the dominant religious view of his day (and of ours), Arminianism.2 Even toward the end of his life he could write, “From this doctrine I have not departed to this day.” 3 He was grateful that he never wavered from his Calvinism.4 “There is no soul living who holds more firmly to the doctrine of grace than do I…”5 Reading Spurgeon’s beliefs, one will see that this tremendously fruitful ministry was built upon the preaching of the biblical gospel.
In his work, “A Defence of Calvinism,” he states unequivocally: [T]here is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified, unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the gospel, if we do not preach justification by faith, without works; nor unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor do I think we can preach the gospel, unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen people which Christ wrought out upon the cross; nor can I comprehend a gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called, and suffers the children of God to be burned in the fires of damnation
Here Spurgeon affirms his agreement with what are usually called “The Five Points of Calvinism.” Spurgeon’s own summation was much shorter: A Calvinist believes that salvation is of the Lord.7 Selections from his sermons and writings on these subjects make his position clear.
Regarding Total Depravity and Irresistible Grace:
When you say, “Can God make me become a Christian?” I tell you yes, for herein rests the power of the gospel. It does not ask your consent; but it gets it. It does not say, “Will you have it?” but it makes you willing in the day of God’s power….The gospel wants not your consent, it gets it. It knocks the enmity out of your heart. You say, I do not want to be saved; Christ says you shall be. He makes our will turn round, and then you cry,”‘Lord save, or I perish!”8
Regarding Unconditional Election:
I do not hesitate to say, that next to the doctrine of the crucifixion and the resurrection of our blessed Lord–no doctrine had such prominence in the early Christian Church as the doctrine of the election of grace.9 And when confronted with the discomfort this doctrine would bring, he responded with little sympathy: “‘I do not like it [divine election],’ saith one. Well, I thought you would not; whoever dreamed you would?”10
Regarding Particular Atonement:
[I]f it was Christ’s intention to save all men, how deplorably has he been disappointed, for we have His own testimony that there is a lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, and into that pit of woe have been cast some of the very persons who, according to the theory of universal redemption, were bought with His blood.11 (cont…)
He has punished Christ, why should He punish twice for one offence? Christ has died for all His people’s sins, and if thou art in the covenant, thou art one of Christ’s people. Damned thou canst not be. Suffer for thy sins thou canst not. Until God can be unjust, and demand two payments for one debt, He cannot destroy the soul for whom Jesus died.12
Regarding the Perseverance of the Saints:
I do not know how some people, who believe that a Christian can fall from grace, manage to be happy. It must be a very commendable thing in them to be able to get through a day without despair. If I did not believe in the doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints, I think I should be of all men most miserable, because I should lack any ground of comfort.13 The selections above indicate that C. H. Spurgeon was without a doubt an affirmed, self-professing Calvinist who made his ministry’s success dependent upon truth, unwilling to consider the “Five Points of Calvinism” as separate, sterile categories to be memorized and believed in isolation from each other or Scripture. He often blended the truths represented by the Five Points, because they actually are mutually supportive parts of a whole, and not five little sections of faith added to one’s collection of Christian beliefs. Spurgeon never presented them as independent oddities to be believed as the sum of Christianity. Rather, he preached a positive gospel, ever mindful that these beliefs were only part of the whole counsel of God and not the sum total. These points were helpful, defensive summaries, but they did not take the place of the vast theater of redemption within which God’s complete and eternal plan was worked out in the Old and New Testaments.
Certain that the Cross was an offense and stumbling block, Spurgeon was unwilling to make the gospel more acceptable to the lost. “The old truth that Calvin preached, that Augustine preached, is the truth that I must preach today, or else be false to my conscience and to God. I cannot shape the truth; I know of no such thing as paring off the rough edges of a doctrine.”14 Elsewhere he challenged “I cannot find in Scripture any other doctrine than this. It is the essence of the Bible….Tell me anything contrary to this truth, and it will be heresy…”15 Spurgeon believed that the price of ridicule and rejection was not counted so high that he should refuse to preach this gospel: “[W]e are reckoned the scum of creation; scarcely a minister looks on us or speaks favorable of us, because we hold strong vies upon the divine sovereignty of God, and his divine electings and special love towards His own people.”16
Then, as now, the dominant objection to such preaching was that it would lead to licentious living. Since Christ “did it all,” there was no need for them to obey the commands of Scripture. Aside from the fact that we should not let sinful people decide what kind of gospel we will preach, Spurgeon had his own rebuttals to this confusion:
[I]t is often said that the doctrines we believe have a tendency to lead us to sin….I ask the man who dares to say that Calvinism is a licentious religion, what he thinks of the character of Augustine, or Calvin, or Whitefield, who in successive ages were the great exponents of the systems of grace; or what will he say of the Puritans, whose works are full of them? Had a man been an Arminian in those days, he would have been accounted the vilest heretic breathing, but now we are looked upon as the heretics, and they as orthodox. We have gone back to the old school; we can trace our descent from the apostles….We can run a golden line up to Jesus Christ Himself, through a holy succession of mighty fathers, who all held these glorious truths; and we can ask concerning them, “Where will you find holier and better men in the world?”17
His attitude toward those who would distort the gospel for their own ideas of “holiness” is clear from the following: No doctrine is so calculated to preserve a man from sin as the doctrine of the grace of God. Those who have called it ‘a licentious doctrine’ did not know anything at all about it. Poor ignorant things, they little knew that their own vile stuff was the most licentious doctrine under Heaven.18
According to Spurgeon (and Scripture as well), the response of gratitude is the motive for holy living, not the uncertain status of the believer under the influence of Arminianism and its accompanying legalism. “The tendency of Arminianism is towards legality; it is nothing but legality which lays at the root of Arminianism.”19 He was very clear on the dangerous relationship of Arminianism to legalism: “Do you not see at once that this is legality–that this is hanging our salvation upon our work–that this is making our eternal life to depend upon something we do? Nay, the doctrine of justification itself, as preached by an Arminianism, is nothing but the doctrine of salvation by works….”20
A status before God based upon how we “use” Christ and the Spirit to feign righteousness was a legalism hated by Spurgeon. As in our day, Spurgeon saw that one of the strongholds of Arminianism included the independent churches.21 Arminianism was a natural, God-rejecting, self-exalting religion and heresy.22 As Spurgeon believed, we are born Arminians by nature.23 He saw this natural aversion to God as encouraged by believing self-centered, self-exalting fancies. “If you believe that everything turns upon the free-will of man, you will naturally have man as its principal figure in your landscape.”24 And again he affirms the remedy for this confusion to be true doctrine. “I believe that very much of current Arminianism is simply ignorance of gospel doctrine.”25 Further, “I do not serve the god of the Arminians at all; I have nothing to do with him, and I do not bow down before the Baal they have set up; he is not my God, nor shall he ever be; I fear him not, nor tremble at his presence…The God that saith today and denieth tomorrow, that justifieth today and condemns the next…is no relation to my God in the least degree. He may be a relation of Ashtaroth or Baal, but Jehovah never was or can be his name.”26 Refusing to compromise the gospel in any way, he soundly refuted and rejected common attempts to unite Calvinism and Arminianism into a synthesized belief. Nor would he downplay the importance of the differences between the two systems:
This may seem to you to be of little consequence, but it really is a matter of life and death. I would plead with every Christian–think it over, my dear brother. When some of us preach Calvinism, and some Arminianism, we cannot both be right; it is of not use trying to think we can be–’Yes,’ and ‘no,’ cannot both be true.Truth does not vacillate like the pendulum which shakes backwards and forwards….One must be right; the other wrong.27
Alan Maben
Notes
1. Walter A. Elwell, ed. Evangelical Dictonary of Theology (Grand Rapids,
Michigan: Baker Book House, 1984), s.v. “Spurgeon, Charles Haddon,” by J. E. Johnson. 2. From sermon cited in Iain Murray, The Forgotten Spurgeon, 2d ed., (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986), 52. 3. “A Defense of Calvinism,” by C. H. Spurgeon, in C. H. Spurgeon Autobiography, eds. S. Spurgeon and J. Harrold, Rev ed., vol I, The Early Years 1834-1859 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1976: reprint), 165. 4. J. E. Johnson, 1051 5. Spurgeon, “A Defense of Calvinism,” 173. 6. Ibid. 168. 7. Ibid., 168. 8. As cited in Murray, 93. 9. From a sermon cited in Murray, Ibid., 44. 10. Ibid., 60. 11. Spurgeon, 172. 12. From a sermon cited in Murray, 245. 13. Spurgeon, 169. 14. Ibid., 162. 15. Ibid., 168. 16. Murray, 168. 17. Spurgeon, 174. 18. Ibid. 19. Murray, 79. 20. Ibid., 81. 21. Murray, 53. 22. spurgeon, 168. 23. Ibid., 164. 24. Murray, 111. 25. Ibid., 68. 26. Spurgeon’s Sermons, vol. 6 (Baker, 1989), p.241 27. Murray, op. cit., 57.
Recommended Works:
Murray, Iain. The Forgotten Spurgeon, 2d ed. Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1986; reprint. Spurgeon, Charles H. “A Defence of Calvinism” in C. H. Spurgeon Autobiography. Edited by S. Spurgeon and J. Harrald. Rev. ed. Vol I, The Early Years 1834-1859. Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1976; reprint. Spurgeon, Charles H. New Park Street Pulpit. A collection of his sermons. Spurgeon, Charles H. Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit. A collection of his sermons.
END OF POST
Click the post title to be taken to the source.
“The sovereign choice of the Father, by which he elected us unto eternal life, or ever the earth was, is a matter of vast antiquity, since no date can be conceived for it by the mind of man. We were chosen from before the foundations of the world. Everlasting love went with the choice, for it was not a bare act of divine will by which we were set apart, but the divine affections were concerned. The Father loved us in and from the beginning. Here is a theme for daily contemplation. The eternal purpose to redeem us from our foreseen ruin, to cleanse and sanctify us, and at last to glorify us, was of infinite antiquity, and runs side by side with immutable love and absolute sovereignty.”
-Spurgeon
Click the post title to be taken to the source.
From Arthur Pink’s "Gleanings in the Godhead"
When I consider how the goodness of God is abused by the greatest part of mankind, I cannot but be of his mind that said, The greatest miracle in the world is God’s patience and bounty to an ungrateful world.
If a prince hath an enemy got into one of his towns, he doth not send them in provision, but lays close siege to the place, and doth what he can to starve them. But the great God, that could wink all His enemies into destruction, bears with them, and is at daily cost to maintain them.
Well may He command us to bless them that curse us, who Himself does good to the evil and unthankful. But think not, sinners, that you shall escape thus; God’s mill goes slow, but grinds small; the more admirable His patience and bounty now is, the more dreadful and unsupportable will that fury be which ariseth out of His abused goodness.
Nothing smoother than the sea, yet when stirred into a tempest, nothing rageth more. Nothing so sweet as the patience and goodness of God, and nothing so terrible as His wrath when it takes fire (William Gurnall, 1660).
Then flee, my reader, flee to Christ; "flee from the wrath to come" (Matthew 3:7) ere it is too late.
A word to preachers: Do we in our oral ministry preach on this solemn subject as much as we ought? The Old Testament prophets frequently told their hearers that their wicked lives provoked the Holy One of Israel, and that they were treasuring up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath. Conditions in the world are no better now than they were then! Nothing is so calculated to arouse the careless and cause carnal professors to search their hearts, as to enlarge upon the fact that "God is angry with the wicked every day" (Ps. 7:11).
The forerunner of Christ warned his hearers to "flee from the wrath to come" (Matthew 3:7). The Savior bade His auditors, "Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him" (Luke 12:5). Paul said, "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men" (2 Cor. 5:11). Faithfulness demands that we speak as plainly about hell as about heaven.
Pastor Jon Sharp’s notes:
American preachers have been guilty of "prophecying lies" to "our friends", the rebellious and unrepentant sinners, for over 100 years. (Jeremiah 20:6) We have given them a false hope, telling them that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their life, when God plainly told us to tell them to "repent from their wicked ways."
How much longer will you so-called preachers break the wooden yokes (Jeremiah 28:13) off of the wicked by continuing to preach this false, loving, squishy god who winks at sin and who watched His Son be crucified for nothing?
read the rest at: Living in The Way
Click the post title to be taken to the source.
I have said this on a number of occasions lately, but it remains just as true, the Christian had better know what time he currently lives in. We are witnessing a blending of the pragmatic Purpose Driven Church, the postmodern Emerging Church and the worldly Word Faith Church now forming the major pillars of the Devil’s Ecumenical Church of Deceit (ECoD)—duplicitous daughter of apostate Roman Catholicism.
In this piece from Apprising Ministries we ask the questions: So what is the faithful Christian going to do? Should we simply smile and tell everyone, “all is well” while the American Christian Church is on fire and crumbling down all around them?
Click the post title to be taken to the source.
CRN founder Ingrid Schlueter deals with the subject of personal criticism within the blogosphere at Slice of Laodicea:
I do not, as a practice, answer my blog critics here at Slice. Any time you state an opinion or even point to an established fact, in this day and age, you’d better expect incoming of some kind. It goes with the territory, and long before the Internet was invented, it was the case in Christian radio. People will disagree. Some will be polite, and some will be personally nasty and make fun of your looks, your background, your talent or lack thereof. Some even go so far as to take personal photographs and doctor them up for the amusement of their readers. It’s all part of a day’s work if you open your mouth and say something to a crowd…
Click the post title to be taken to the source.
I will be interviewing Dr. Monica Miller on KSLR in San Antonio later today. She and other members of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society discovered numerous aborted babies thrown into a dumpster outside an abortion “clinic” in Michigan. (You won’t hear about this on MSNBC or CNN.) She writes the following narrative:
It began on the evening of March 29, 2008. Two teams had set out to investigate abortion clinic trash dumpsters. I was with Anne Mitzel and Mary Sullivan to do a final check of the trash dumpster behind Alberto Hodari’s Woman Care clinic in Lathrup Village, Michigan . The other team was Lynn Mills and Jenny Nelson. Earlier that month we found bio-hazard waste, numerous patient records and the remains of 23 aborted babies in the trash behind Hodari’s Lathrup Village clinic as well as Hodari’s abortion clinic in Sterling Heights. On the night of March 29th while our team searched Hodari’s dumpster, Lynn Mills and Jenny Nelson set out to take a look at Hodari’s trash dumpster behind his abortion clinic in Livonia. Lynn called me on her cell to report that they found no trash there. Lynn suggested that she and Jenny should check the Woman’s Advisory abortion clinic dumpster on Six Mile Road in Livonia instead — “just to see what we might find”. This clinic is owned and operated by Dr. Reginald Sharpe. A half hour later Lynn called to report that indeed, in the few bags that they retrieved, bio-hazard waste as well as patient records were discovered.
This began a systematic search of the Women’s Advisory trash dumpster for the next three consecutive weekends, April 5, 12, and 19th. We also made several searches of the trash container behind Reginald Sharpe’s abortion clinic in Detroit known as Sharpe’s Family Planning. We also took a look at Jacob Kalo’s abortion clinic on Eight Mile Rd. in Detroit, known as Eastpointe Gynecology. We found bio-hazard waste in the trash containers behind this clinic as well. A full police report was filed with the Detroit and the Livonia police departments. The police report we filed on the Women’s Advisory clinic is available at http://www.prolifesociety.com.
Our April 5th search of the Woman’s Advisory dumpster was the first time we found the remains of aborted babies from that clinic. As we separated out the blood-soaked blue-colored surgical papers, my student, John Brick, was the first to see the foot, about three quarters of an inch in length. We also found other body parts from other aborted babies, eyes, rib cages, spinal columns, eyes out of their sockets — the remains of human beings mixed in with blood saturated trash. We found fetal tissue sticking to a blood-stained McDonald’s hamburger bag. All this horrific spectacle was recorded during our actual searches and is mounted on You Tube as a record of legalized abortion and serves as a record of Women’s Advisory’s violations of Michigan State statutes (See You Tube video “Abortion Dumpster Scandal — Women’s Advisory”).
We also found the remains of aborted babies on April 12th as well as on April 19th. Two of the aborted babies were in plastic specimen jars with the names of women written on the jars — presumably their mothers.
Our searches also yielded over 100 bloody suction canulae — the very instruments used in the Women’s Advisory abortion procedures On the weekend of April 12th we found 51 such suction canulae.
When we unwrapped the bloody surgical papers and saw the remains of the babies we delved into a secret world. When I looked at the dismembered bodies I saw human beings who died a violent death. What does the abortionist see? It is a mystery, how I can see one thing and he another. These unwanted aborted unborn were consigned to the trash in the darkness of a dumpster — never to be seen, never to be known. When we took them out of the trash we discovered their secret — the secret of their hidden lives — their hidden deaths. We also saw first-hand the most unseemly — most sordid side of the abortion practice.
Something happened for these aborted unborn that was never meant to be — they were embraced by us back into the human family — to be buried with dignity. Of the millions of babies killed under legalized abortion, at least these seven babies were buried in a cemetary and with Christian services on Friday, June 27, 2008. This the only human charity they will ever know.
###
Yesterday I read several articles on the air on the show in San Antonio where evangelicals are starting to support radical abortion candidate Barack Obama. Go watch Dr. Miller’s YouTube video showing the aborted babies from the dumpster in Michigan and remember those little babies when it’s time to vote. I’m with the babies.
Click the post title to be taken to the source.
Puritan Fellowship has posted what it calls Paul Washer’s best sermon yet on man’s two problems: the power and condemnation of sin. You can watch it here.
Click the post title to be taken to the source.
The misnamed “God-TV” website/TVchannel sent out a press release today crowing about their huge leap in viewership thanks to the tattooed street thug known as Todd Bentley. I have no doubt that their viewership will continue to climb. It’s not every website where you can watch an evangelist kick a dying cancer patient in the stomach to accomplish his, er, healing. It isn’t everywhere where you can see a supposed minister of the gospel boast about kicking an elderly worshiper in the face with his biker boot because the Holy Spirit told him to. Freak shows always attract an audience. Just ask Jerry Springer who has made a good deal of money hosting televised trailer trash brawls for America’s illiterati. The evangelical equivalent is keeping God-TV in business as well with their nightly Todd Bentley kick-a-thons against the elderly and the sick. Here’s the press release.
GOD TV Experiences Huge Boost in Viewership Due to Florida Healing Coverage
Network Carries Todd Bentley’s Florida Healing Outpouring, to Nearly Half a Billion People
LAKELAND, Fla.,July 2 /Christian Newswire/– Since April, GOD TV has beenbreaking with its regularly scheduled programming to bring the Todd Bentley Florida Healing Outpouring LIVE every night to its viewers in over 200 nations. The network’s founders, Rory & Wendy Alec will continue to extend the LIVE broadcasts, enabling God TV viewers in the USA, watching on DIRECTV Channel 365 oronline, to continue to experience the presence of God through this extraordinary outpouring each day at 7pm(EST). People have traveled from around the country, including places like Ohio, Mississippi, and Washington State. They are also coming from around the world, especially Europe. With the ability to broadcast the healings to those who cannot physically be there, God TV is enabling hundreds of thousandsmore to be touched by the Spirit and included in this remarkable miracle. Many people who have attend the Lakeland meetings are going back to their hometowns and cities and starting their own praying and ministering revivals as a result of the inspiration they got from attending those in Lakeland or watchingit on GOD TV. While it is difficult to quantify growth in the viewership of specialist television channels, the overwhelmingdaily response GOD TV has received indicates thatthere has been a huge increase in viewership. Onaverage about 1,000 e-mails are being received daily in addition to letters and phone calls.GOD TV’s number of web viewers in the USA alone /has moved from an average of 25,000 weekly visits to 200,000 per week which represents a staggering 800% growth. The network is now receiving more than one million visits per month, and www.god.tv will now be ranked in the top 5,000 websites in the USA. According to Klaus Leweling, Head of Distribution for God TV “The huge boost God TV has seen in our web distribution is also being echoed in our other platforms. Given the ongoing increase in viewerfeedback, I believe GOD TV now has at least twice as many active viewers as we had before we started airing the Revival as well as an extensive line-up of other major LIVE events.”
###
Click the post title to be taken to the source.
This came in this morning from the American Family Association. Who needs McDonald’s artery clogging, nutritional garbage anyway? I started frequenting Subway a long time ago where you don’t slide in and out on the french fry grease. Hopefully the owners of Subway aren’t following in McDonald’s path and taking sides in the culture war. Hint: It isn’t good for business.
TUPELO, MS – McDonald’s has told American Family Association (AFA) that it will not stop supporting groups promoting homosexual marriage. AFA is asking its supporters to boycott the restaurant chain.
AFA asked McDonald’s to remove McDonald’s name and logo from the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) Web site where McDonald’s is listed as a “Corporate Partner and Organization Ally” of NGLCC. AFA also asked the burger – fries giant to remove the endorsement of NGLCC by Richard Ellis, Vice President of Communications, McDonald’s USA, from the NGLCC Web site. McDonald’s refused both requests.
McDonald’s donated $20,000 to NGLCC in exchange for membership in the NGLCC and a seat on the group’s board of directors. The NGLCC lobbies Congress on a wide range of issues including the promotion of homosexual marriage.
“This boycott is not about hiring homosexuals, or homosexuals eating at McDonald’s or how homosexual employees are treated. It is about McDonald’s, as a corporation, choosing to put the full weight of their corporation behind promoting the homosexual agenda, including homosexual marriage,” said AFA chairman Donald E. Wildmon.
Pat Harris, Global Chief Diversity Officer, Vice President, Inclusion & Diversity at McDonald’s, told AFA the company would “reaffirm our position on diversity.”
Ellis, who is openly homosexual, was given a seat on the NGLCC Board of Directors. Ellis is VP of Communications for McDonald’s USA. He was quoted as saying: “I’m thrilled to join the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and ready to go to work. I share the NGLCC’s passion for business growth and development within the LGBT community, and I look forward to playing a role in moving these important initiatives forward.”
American Family Association is a pro-family advocacy organization with over 2.5 million online supporters.
