s Our Message Offensive? Paul called his message “the offense of the cross” (Galatians 5:11). Again and again he warned that the true Gospel of God’s grace and glory would meet with great opposition from the religious world and the natural world. “The preaching of the cross is foolishness” (I Corinthians 1:18). “The natural […]
Who makes you different from anyone else? (Charles Spurgeon) “Who maketh thee to differ from another? What hast thou, that thou did’t not receive? And if thou dids’t receive it, why dost thou boast as if thou hads’t not received it?” 1 Corinthians 4:7 It is grace—free sovereign grace, which has made you to differ! […]
MONSTROUS IMPLICATIONSLet me say at the outset, the Bible does not teach or imply that Christ died for all men without exception. He died for the elect, His sheep, His church. Yet most of what goes on under the name of Christianity teaches He died for all men without exception. There are even men who say they believe […]
Even your own relatives think you are almost insane (J. C. Philpot, “The Abiding Comforter” 1858) “The Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him,because it neither sees Him nor knows Him.”John 14:17 The world—that is, the world dead in sin, and theworld dead in profession—men destitute of the lifeand power of God—must have something […]
DISCERNMENT“And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all judgment.” – Philippians 1:9The word judgment in this verse is used only here in the New Testament. It means discernment. Paul does not pray that our knowledge and discernment will abound. He prays that our love to the person of Christ will […]
SEPARATED Acts 13: 2-3 Over time, the Holy Spirit worked in Barnabas and Saul and proved, before the others in the church at Antioch, that these were two men whom the Lord had chosen, filled, made faithful and who were proven faithful. In the beginning, Barnabas was faithful to do what the Lord enabled him […]
Natural Sense is not Spiritual Sense Isaiah 6: 10: Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. What did the Lord command Isaiah to do to […]
The Way Some Call Heresy “But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets…” (Acts. 24:14) Someone recently referred to our congregation as a cult saying, “They don’t believe […]
Exclusive and Inclusive Greg Elmquist The gospel of God’s grace in Christ Jesus is both exclusive and inclusive. It is a double-edged sword. It cuts people out and it cuts people in. The exclusivity of God’s gospel will not allow a person to be saved while believing another gospel. One’s complete hope and trust must […]
The Way Some Call Heresy “But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets…” (Acts. 24:14) Someone recently referred to our congregation as a cult saying, “They don’t believe […]