April 24, 2011 | Romasn 6:1-14 - Three Wooden Powerlines: Why the Cross & Resurrection Transacts and Transforms (Easter 2011)

I really enjoyed our time together this past Resurrection Sunday.  The breakfast was great (thanks men!), the sunrise service went well in spite the raining/stormy weather, and the rising creek didn't keep us from gather together for Sunday School and morning worship.  I pray that God was glorified and we were reminded of why we worship on the day of the week in which Jesus was raised.  Let us live the cross and resurrection, not just believe in it.  Let the cross and the resurrection transform us.  If we let the cross and the resurrection truly transform us, God will do great things through us.





Audio 
Notes


For more:
April 4, 2010 - Mark 15:1-15: I Am Barabbas and So Are You (Easter 2010) 
Easter 2009 Message - John 20:19-31 - From Doubting Thomas to Eternal Life - audio
Easter 2009 Message - John 20:19-31 - From Doubting Thomas to Eternal Life - notes
April 5, 2009 | Mark 15:21 - Simon of Cyrene & the Meaning of Christianity
God's Wonderful Surprise: The Glorious Resurrection
 "In Christ Alone" by Keith & Kristyn Getty
The Miracle of the New Creation: CS Lewis on the Resurrection 
Blogizomai - Theology, Atonement, & Technology:  Some Easter Videos 

 Reviews - "Raised With Christ" by Adrian Warnock   
Theology - Did the Resurrection Happen?: A Debate Between Craig and Erhman 
Theology - Rob Bell and the Resurrection 
Theology - Calvin and the Redemptive Necessity of the Resurrection 
Theology - Where Theology and Life Intersect: A Theological Case for Christus Exemplar and Why It is Necessary - Part 4
Theology - The End:  John 20:31 or John 21:25  
Theology - A Consensus That We Can Believe: The Lost Tomb of Jesus Is A Hoax, Scholars Say 
Blogizomai - Even Environmentalists Need an Easter:  What Christians Can Learn on Earth Day 
Blogizomai - What Did the Cross Accomplish?:  Eternal Hope or Internal Reformation 
Blogizomai - D'Souza:  Did the Resurrection Happen? 
Blogizomai - The Illegitimate Birth of Christ:  Another Wild Claim Falling on Deaf Ears 
Reviews - "The Jesus Inquest" by Charles Foster   
Reviews - "The Case for Easter"

What is the GOSPEL? - Propaganda

This is Who We Are: What a Baptist Is and Believes - The Lord's Day

Sunday is not the Sabbath.  But before you think I’m a heretic, let me explain.  Saturday is the Sabbath – the last day of the week. Just check your calendars.  The Jewish day of rest in Scripture is Saturday. After a week of work, the Jews, as commanded in the Old Testament, rested on Saturday, the Sabbath. So what is Sunday all about?  Why do we, as bible-believing Christians, worship & rest on Sundays if the Sabbath is on Saturday? Are we breaking one of the Commandments?

No.

For one, we must be careful in turning the Sabbath into a legalistic rule that offers salvation or threatens us with separation from God post-salvation.  The 10 Commandments primarily identify idols & aren’t just rules.  In this case, the primary idol identified here is work, greed, accomplishment, & unhealthy drives.

Secondly, we must ask why the change has taken place?  Why did the “Sabbath” go from Saturday in the Old Testament & Sunday in the New Testament?  The answer is simple: the resurrection.  Since the founding of the Church, Christians have always set Sunday aside as a day of worship.  When the first Church was made up primarily of Jews they still rested on Saturday as the Jewish law required, but made Sunday a day of worship whereby they would remember & commemorate the day of Resurrection.

This is an important point.  The resurrection was & is so central to the Christian gospel & the Christian Church that it has altered our calendars.  The substitutionary death & the triumphant resurrection of our Lord is central to Christianity & without these events there would be no Christianity, no salvation, & our faith would be in vain.  Jesus is not dead, but alive!  And that is worth worshiping.

This fundamental fact forces us to make a slight shift in our understanding of the day of rest.  I do believe we ought to rest on Sundays (especially since our schedules are so full that Sunday may be the only day to take a nap!), but in a post-resurrection world, Sunday should be a day of resurrection.  Sunday is the day we commemorate & remember the historical fact that Christ died in our place for our sins & was raised for our justification three days later.  Thus we worship, not as a ritual, but with joy.  Sunday is more than a day to sleep, it is a day to celebrate.  Easter – Resurrection Sunday – ought not to just be a holiday, but an everyday reality whereby live as raised souls.  Like Christ, we are not dead.  Christ has raised us & will raise us.

In this light, the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 says regarding the Lord’s Day:

The first day of the week is the Lord’s Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead & should include exercises of worship & spiritual devotion, both public & private. Activities on the Lord’s Day should be commensurate with the Christian’s conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.*

The point made in the confession is the same as made above.  Notice that the Lord’s Day is an institution not a law that points us to Christ.  It ought to be regularly observed not in the hopes of salvation, but because of our salvation. 

It’s the last sentence that could cause trouble for some: Activities on the Lord’s Day should be commensurate with the Christian’s conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  In other words, each person’s conscience ought to dictate what is & isn’t work on the “Sabbath.” The point here is to avoid being Pharisees-like with endless religious rules regarding the Sabbath. What the BF&M 2000 does is guard against such legalism.  The Lord’s Day ought not to be a burden, but a joy.

So what ought we do in terms of rest on Sunday?  Again we must be careful not to turn a day into a law.  Sunday is a day of rest for sure, but it ought to primarily be a day of worship.  We are encouraged in Scripture to gather together with other brothers & sisters in Christ & celebrate our risen Lord.  Let that set the tone for the rest of the week.  We are a resurrected people who serve a resurrected Lord.  We must guard against both legalism & libertarianism & the gospel offers the right balance.

All of this is to say that Sunday ought not to be a burden on the people of God, but a day in which to look forward to by the people of God.  Certainly we ought & better rest, but more fundamentally let us worship.  In fact, the rest we enjoy on the Lord’s Day is itself an act of worship wherein we trust in the Providential care of our Father who has given us His Son.  Why worry about tomorrow?


*  BF&M 2000 offer the following references:  Exodus 20:8-11; Matthew 12:1-12; 28:1ff.; Mark 2:27-28; 16:1-7; Luke 24:1-3,33-36; John 4:21-24; 20:1,19-28; Acts 20:7; Romans 14:5-10; I Corinthians 16:1-2; Colossians 2:16; 3:16; Revelation 1:10.


This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Introduction
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Scripture
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God
This is Who We Are  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Father
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Son
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Spirit
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Man
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Salvation
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes -  God's Purpose of Grace
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Church
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Baptism  
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - The Lord's Supper 

Matthew 8-12 - The King Has Come: The Gospel According to Matthew Series

Since the first of January, we have been studying the Gospel of Matthew from chapter 8-12.  Prior to this we discussed chapters 1-7.  Below is our series on Matthew with all of the links and everything else used during this series.

Sermons:
January 2, 2011 | Matthew 8:1-17 - "Be Cleansed":  The Great Healer & His Great Gospel
January 16, 2011 | Matthew 8:18-27 - The High Worth of Discipleship   
January 23, 2011 | Matthew 8:23-34 - Knowing is Only Half the Battle:  The Authority & Power of King Jesus
January 30, 2011 | Matthew 8:1-9:8 - Chasing a Tail Named Idolatrous:  Our Enslaved Idolatry and How Jesus Sets Us Free 
February 6, 2011 | Matthew 9:1-8 - Anything You Can Do . . .:  Why Forgiveness Is Greater Than All Our Sin 
February 13, 2011 | Matthew 9:9-13 - "Its Just a Flesh Wound:  Jesus, the Liberating and Transforming Gospel, and Why We Need It 
February 27, 2011 | Matthew 9:14-17 
March 6, 2011 | Matthew 9:18-10:4 - Be Ye Restored:  The Gospel of Jesus & the Gift of Restoration 
March 13, 2011 | Matthew 10:5-42 - The Few.  The Proud.  The Christian.
March 20, 2011 | Matthew 11:1-19 - Jesus in a Box: Why Jesus and the Gospel is Better Than Our Idols
April 3, 2011 | Matthew 12:1-21:  The Burden of Religion and the Rest of the Gospel
April 17, 2011 - Matthew 12:38-50 

Articles:
We Are a Motley Crew: MacArthur on the Healing of the Hemorrhaging Woman
MacArthur on Matthew's Use of Isaiah 53 



For More
The Sermon on the Mount Series
Matthew Thus Far:  Matthew 1-5
The Last Week of Jesus: From Triumphal Entry to Triumphal Grave Series   

April 17, 2011 - Matthew 12:38-50

I'm a little late again, but here it is.  Here is the final installment of our series of sermons looking at Matthew 8-12.  This last sermon is on Matthew 12:38-50:


Audio
Notes






For more:
January 2, 2011 | Matthew 8:1-17 - "Be Cleansed":  The Great Healer & His Great Gospel
January 16, 2011 | Matthew 8:18-27 - The High Worth of Discipleship   
January 23, 2011 | Matthew 8:23-34 - Knowing is Only Half the Battle:  The Authority & Power of King Jesus
January 30, 2011 | Matthew 8:1-9:8 - Chasing a Tail Named Idolatrous:  Our Enslaved Idolatry and How Jesus Sets Us Free 
February 6, 2011 | Matthew 9:1-8 - Anything You Can Do . . .:  Why Forgiveness Is Greater Than All Our Sin 
February 13, 2011 | Matthew 9:9-13 - "Its Just a Flesh Wound:  Jesus, the Liberating and Transforming Gospel, and Why We Need It 
February 27, 2011 | Matthew 9:14-17 
March 6, 2011 | Matthew 9:18-10:4 - Be Ye Restored:  The Gospel of Jesus & the Gift of Restoration 
March 13, 2011 | Matthew 10:5-42 - The Few.  The Proud.  The Christian.
March 20, 2011 | Matthew 11:1-19 - Jesus in a Box: Why Jesus and the Gospel is Better Than Our Idols
April 3, 2011 | Matthew 12:1-21:  The Burden of Religion and the Rest of the Gospel 
The Sermon on the Mount Series
Matthew Thus Far:  Matthew 1-5
The Last Week of Jesus: From Triumphal Entry to Triumphal Grave Series   

MacArthur: Salvation is Divine Transaction & Transformation

This Sunday -- Resurrection Sunday -- we will be studying Romans 6:1-14 as it relates to how the gospel -- namely the cross and the resurrection -- transforms our everyday lives.  In other words, the gospel isn't just a transaction, but transformation.  This is the point John MacArthur makes in a sermon titled Dying to Live, Part 1 taken from Romans 6:1-14.  It is well worth the read and I encourage you to listen to the sermon (audio, manuscript)

Now listen to what I say. Holiness is as much a gift of God to the believer as salvation is in the redemptive act. I’ll say it again. Holiness is as much a gift of God to the believer as redemption is in the saving act. When a person is redeemed it is not only a divine transaction, it is a divine miracle of transformation. It is not only legal, it is real. It is not God just saying - Now you're saved. It is God transforming you. It is not only God saying something to be true, it is God making it true. It is not only God declaring you righteous, it is God recreating you in righteousness. You see, as I've been trying to point out earlier in the book of Romans, God doesn't say things that aren't so. And He's not about to call people righteous who aren't. And so, sanctification and justification are linked.  -MacArthur, Dying to Live sermon

Repost | "Logizomai" Radio Interview - 4/15/11

Last week I did an interview at a local Christian radio station in support of my book Logizomai: A Reasonable Faith in an Unreasonable World.  Below is the podcast of the entire show and so if you just want to listen to the interview, you will have to skip to the end starting around the 50:00 mark.  The interview runs about 25 minutes.

I want to thank WBFI in McDaniels, KY for allowing me to be on.

Podcast Powered By Podbean

For more:
Blogizomai - Logizomai Book Now Available
GBC - Bible Breakfast Club Interview  

Sunday Parody

Lord forgive me for I may have just committed the unpardonable sin! :o)

Here is the Christian parody of Rebecca Black's excruciating song "Friday."





By the way, Sunday's sermon just so happens to be about the unpardonable sin.


HT:  The Blaze 

Calvin on God in Theology and the Christian Life

I love the way John Calvin begins his classic work of theology, Institutes of the Christian Religion and it applies directly to our discussion of God tonight during Bible Study.  Our understanding of God affects everything.  Calvin writes:

Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid Wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes and gives birth to the other. For, in the first place, no man can survey himself without forthwith turning his thoughts towards the God in whom he lives and moves; because it is perfectly obvious, that the endowments which we possess cannot possibly be from ourselves; nay, that our very being is nothing else than subsistence in God alone. In the second place, those blessings which unceasingly distil to us from heaven, are like streams conducting us to the fountain. Here, again, the infinitude of good which resides in God becomes more apparent from our poverty. In particular, the miserable ruin into which the revolt of the first man has plunged us, compels us to turn our eyes upwards; not only that while hungry and famishing we may thence ask what we want, but being aroused by fear may learn humility. For as there exists in man something like a world of misery, and ever since we were stript of the divine attire our naked shame discloses an immense series of disgraceful properties every man, being stung by the consciousness of his own unhappiness, in this way necessarily obtains at least some knowledge of God. Thus, our feeling of ignorance, vanity, want, weakness, in short, depravity and corruption, reminds us (see Calvin on John 4:10), that in the Lord, and none but He, dwell the true light of wisdom, solid virtue, exuberant goodness. We are accordingly urged by our own evil things to consider the good things of God; and, indeed, we cannot aspire to Him in earnest until we have begun to be displeased with ourselves . . . Every person, therefore, on coming to the knowledge of himself, is not only urged to seek God, but is also led as by the hand to find him.

He then adds:

On the other hand, it is evident that man never attains to a true self-knowledge until he has previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such contemplation to look into himself. For (such is our innate pride) we always seem to ourselves just, and upright, and wise, and holy, until we are convinced, by clear evidence, of our injustice, vileness, folly, and impurity. Convinced, however, we are not, if we look to ourselves only, and not to the Lord also —He being the only standard by the application of which this conviction can be produced. For, since we are all naturally prone to hypocrisy, any empty semblance of righteousness is quite enough to satisfy us instead of righteousness itself. And since nothing appears within us or around us that is not tainted with very great impurity, so long as we keep our mind within the confines of human pollution, anything which is in some small degree less defiled delights us as if it were most pure just as an eye, to which nothing but black had been previously presented, deems an object of a whitish, or even of a brownish hue, to be perfectly white. Nay, the bodily sense may furnish a still stronger illustration of the extent to which we are deluded in estimating the powers of the mind. If, at mid-day, we either look down to the ground, or on the surrounding objects which lie open to our view, we think ourselves endued with a very strong and piercing eyesight; but when we look up to the sun, and gaze at it unveiled, the sight which did excellently well for the earth is instantly so dazzled and confounded by the refulgence, as to oblige us to confess that our acuteness in discerning terrestrial objects is mere dimness when applied to the sun. Thus too, it happens in estimating our spiritual qualities. So long as we do not look beyond the earth, we are quite pleased with our own righteousness, wisdom, and virtue; we address ourselves in the most flattering terms, and seem only less than demigods. But should we once begin to raise our thoughts to God, and reflect what kind of Being he is, and how absolute the perfection of that righteousness, and wisdom, and virtue, to which, as a standard, we are bound to be conformed, what formerly delighted us by its false show of righteousness will become polluted with the greatest iniquity; what strangely imposed upon us under the name of wisdom will disgust by its extreme folly; and what presented the appearance of virtuous energy will be condemned as the most miserable impotence. So far are those qualities in us, which seem most perfect, from corresponding to the divine purity.


For more:
Calvin on Providence 
Calvin on Treasures in Heaven 
Calvin on Fasting 
Calvin on Prayer:  Why Bother? 

April 3, 2011 | Matthew 12:1-21 - The Burden of Religion and the Rest of the Gospel

And finally, here is yesterday's sermon from Matthew 12:1-21.  I have really enjoyed our series in Matthew and will conclude our verse-by-verse exposition for the year once we finish chapter 12 but will return to Matthew at the first of next year.  I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have.





Audio 
Notes 


For more:
January 2, 2011 | Matthew 8:1-17 - "Be Cleansed":  The Great Healer & His Great Gospel
January 16, 2011 | Matthew 8:18-27 - The High Worth of Discipleship   
January 23, 2011 | Matthew 8:23-34 - Knowing is Only Half the Battle:  The Authority & Power of King Jesus
January 30, 2011 | Matthew 8:1-9:8 - Chasing a Tail Named Idolatrous:  Our Enslaved Idolatry and How Jesus Sets Us Free 
February 6, 2011 | Matthew 9:1-8 - Anything You Can Do . . .:  Why Forgiveness Is Greater Than All Our Sin 
February 13, 2011 | Matthew 9:9-13 - "Its Just a Flesh Wound:  Jesus, the Liberating and Transforming Gospel, and Why We Need It 
February 27, 2011 | Matthew 9:14-17 
March 6, 2011 | Matthew 9:18-10:4 - Be Ye Restored:  The Gospel of Jesus & the Gift of Restoration 
March 13, 2011 | Matthew 10:5-42 - The Few.  The Proud.  The Christian.
Matthew 20, 2011 | Matthew 11:1-19 - Jesus in a Box: Why Jesus and the Gospel is Better Than Our Idols
The Sermon on the Mount Series
Matthew Thus Far:  Matthew 1-5
The Last Week of Jesus: From Triumphal Entry to Triumphal Grave Series   

March 27, 2011 | Matthew 11:20-30 - Indifference and Nominal Christianity: The Cancer of Many of Our Churches

I do not have the audio available at this time from the sermon on Matthew 11:20-30 but may be able to post them in the future.  If I do, I will link to it here instead of adding another and separate post.


Notes


For more:
January 2, 2011 | Matthew 8:1-17 - "Be Cleansed":  The Great Healer & His Great Gospel
January 16, 2011 | Matthew 8:18-27 - The High Worth of Discipleship   
January 23, 2011 | Matthew 8:23-34 - Knowing is Only Half the Battle:  The Authority & Power of King Jesus
January 30, 2011 | Matthew 8:1-9:8 - Chasing a Tail Named Idolatrous:  Our Enslaved Idolatry and How Jesus Sets Us Free 
February 6, 2011 | Matthew 9:1-8 - Anything You Can Do . . .:  Why Forgiveness Is Greater Than All Our Sin 
February 13, 2011 | Matthew 9:9-13 - "Its Just a Flesh Wound:  Jesus, the Liberating and Transforming Gospel, and Why We Need It 
February 27, 2011 | Matthew 9:14-17 
March 6, 2011 | Matthew 9:18-10:4 - Be Ye Restored:  The Gospel of Jesus & the Gift of Restoration 
March 13, 2011 | Matthew 10:5-42 - The Few.  The Proud.  The Christian.
Matthew 20, 2011 | Matthew 11:1-19 - Jesus in a Box: Why Jesus and the Gospel is Better Than Our Idols
The Sermon on the Mount Series
Matthew Thus Far:  Matthew 1-5
The Last Week of Jesus: From Triumphal Entry to Triumphal Grave Series  

March 20, 2011 | Matthew 11:1-19 - Jesus in a Box: Why Jesus and the Gospel is Better Than Our Idols

Here are the audio and notes from March 13, 2011 from Matthew 11:1-19.





Audio
Notes


For more:
January 2, 2011 | Matthew 8:1-17 - "Be Cleansed":  The Great Healer & His Great Gospel
January 16, 2011 | Matthew 8:18-27 - The High Worth of Discipleship   
January 23, 2011 | Matthew 8:23-34 - Knowing is Only Half the Battle:  The Authority & Power of King Jesus
January 30, 2011 | Matthew 8:1-9:8 - Chasing a Tail Named Idolatrous:  Our Enslaved Idolatry and How Jesus Sets Us Free 
February 6, 2011 | Matthew 9:1-8 - Anything You Can Do . . .:  Why Forgiveness Is Greater Than All Our Sin 
February 13, 2011 | Matthew 9:9-13 - "Its Just a Flesh Wound:  Jesus, the Liberating and Transforming Gospel, and Why We Need It 
February 27, 2011 | Matthew 9:14-17 
March 6, 2011 | Matthew 9:18-10:4 - Be Ye Restored:  The Gospel of Jesus & the Gift of Restoration 
March 13, 2011 | Matthew 10:5-42 - The Few.  The Proud.  The Christian. 
The Sermon on the Mount Series
Matthew Thus Far:  Matthew 1-5
The Last Week of Jesus: From Triumphal Entry to Triumphal Grave Series   

March 13, 2011 | Matthew 10:5-42 - The Few. The Proud. The Christian

I know I'm really behind, but I am trying to catch up today.  Here is the audio and notes all the way back to March 13, 2011.




Audio
Notes


For more:
January 2, 2011 | Matthew 8:1-17 - "Be Cleansed":  The Great Healer & His Great Gospel
January 16, 2011 | Matthew 8:18-27 - The High Worth of Discipleship   
January 23, 2011 | Matthew 8:23-34 - Knowing is Only Half the Battle:  The Authority & Power of King Jesus
January 30, 2011 | Matthew 8:1-9:8 - Chasing a Tail Named Idolatrous:  Our Enslaved Idolatry and How Jesus Sets Us Free 
February 6, 2011 | Matthew 9:1-8 - Anything You Can Do . . .:  Why Forgiveness Is Greater Than All Our Sin 
February 13, 2011 | Matthew 9:9-13 - "Its Just a Flesh Wound:  Jesus, the Liberating and Transforming Gospel, and Why We Need It 
February 27, 2011 | Matthew 9:14-17 
March 6, 2011 | Matthew 9:18-10:4 - Be Ye Restored:  The Gospel of Jesus & the Gift of Restoration 
The Sermon on the Mount Series
Matthew Thus Far:  Matthew 1-5
The Last Week of Jesus: From Triumphal Entry to Triumphal Grave Series