6/25/13

From Gary... A blessing in disguise


For Mike- on his 45th birthday!!!

Growing old is NOT easy.  Aches, pains, forgetfulness and other problems which the above discussion refers to are a pain.  But, think about it for a second- whether you just happen to be sixty, or seventy or maybe even eighty- you have gotten this far.  How many of our fellow human beings die way too early.  James Gandolifini was only 51 when he died- Far too young!!!  But if those who are reading this ARE SENIOR CITIZENS- rejoice.  You have something the young just don't have.  The following Scripture comes to mind...

2 Corinthians, Chapter 1
3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort;  4 who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, even so our comfort also abounds through Christ.  6 But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. 

If you have been blessed with many years, then you have lived.  Things have happened to you and not all of them good things.  So, when problems occur in the lives of those around you -YOU CAN HELP, BECAUSE YOU HAVE LIVED THROUGH MANY OF THE SAME THINGS!!!  Also, because years ago I was blessed with the understanding of sin and its remedy in Christ I can tell  you that you need to consider it before it is too late.  If you are over 60, then you have begun to appreciate how little time you have left- don't put it off another day!!!  And if you are eighty and have problems like the story, try setting your alarm clock for 5:30 in the morning and let me know how it works for you.  It could be very important to me someday.

From Bill and Laura Dayton... Ask the Question: Who is Jesus Christ?




Ask the Question: Who is Jesus Christ?




Let’s ask His friends and family.

Martha. John 11:27…” Yes Lord, you are the Christ, Son of God, who has come into the world…”
Peter. Matthew 16:16…”You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
John. John 1:1-3,14…Word, was with God, was God, became flesh, dwelt among us, only begotten
Thomas. John 20:28….. “My Lord and my God…”
His brothers. John 7:5…. “did not believe in Him.”
His mother. Acts 1:14….she was in the upper room with the disciples

Let’s ask: The angels. Luke 2:11…Savior…Christ the Lord
Gabriel. Luke 1:32…great, Son of the Highest, Lord God,
The Father. Matthew 3:17…My Son in whom I am well pleased…”

Let’s ask Jesus….

I am the way… John 14:6
I am the resurrection… John 11:25
Before Abraham was, I am. John 8:58

From Jim McGuiggan... BAPTISTS IN CONFLICT


BAPTISTS IN CONFLICT

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/11/southern-baptists-agree-to-disagree-over-calvinism_n_3424192.html?1370990511&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008

It’s no surprise to me that the Baptists are having very serious rows. Bless me, Republicans and Democrats have them about serious but temporary social, economic and political issues. Why wouldn’t serious Baptists argue fiercely over matters they see as having eternal consequences?


But can you imagine people like Calvinist Frank Page calling others to, “Let’s respect one another. We’ve been called by God to Christian civility”? 


Page preaches a God who purposed eternally to create and then damn the vast majority of the human family he created to eternal conscious torture that he inflicts on them as “punishment”! He’s the one who calls people to “Christian civility”?


If Page could have total agreement with his views by all Baptists he’d be happy to go on believing and preaching/teaching this stuff about such a God! Is that not astonishing?


Here’s where people like the hardliner John Piper does the true God a service. For the most part [though he ducks and dives about babies dying and burning in eternal torment, for even he can’t stomach his own full-bodied Calvinism which consigns such infants to such a God-ordained punishment]—for the most part Piper holds to consistent Calvinism but it’s so ugly that he would make even members of his own fellowship stand up in the name of God and say they won’t have it! Good for them!


Page and his colleagues are mainly concerned with the “vitriolic” ant-Calvinism they hear. He called it “nasty”.

       Hitler's holocaust is an unthinking misdemeanor compaed with the eternal purpose Page's God came up with and will execute. At least Hitler meant to put an end to his victims. Page's God keeps them alive so he can ceaselessly torment them forever. He calls that God "loving" and his opponents "nasty". Good grief!       


Say this gently, “God eternally purposed to create multiplied millions for no other reason than to show his glory by eternally, consciously, ceaselessly torturing them in hell and he has done it according to the good pleasure of his will.”

      Does that make it sound any better?


I don’t care how gently you say that—it’s beyond “nasty”. It isn’t only false; it’s an offense to a Scripture-shaped heart.


To say it without cringing, to say it without near-panic that it might even be true is one of the wonders of historical theology. Even Calvin murmured that it was a “horrible decree”.


If it is that if you believe it’s true—what is it if you believe it is false?


Do Calvinists expect their members to be calm about it? Didn’t William Lloyd Garrison say this about the foul treatment of Afro-Americans: 


“I am aware that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or to speak, or write, with moderation. No! no! Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; — but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest — I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will not retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD. The apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal, and to hasten the resurrection of the dead.”

Then Frank Page and his colleagues and people like the hard-bitten and harsh-speaking John Piper call their protesting members to “Christian civility”! Is that not hard to fathom? It’s as if they said, “All right, but if you can’t believe what we preach and teach about the damnation of dying infants, of God’s sovereign decision to create and eternally and ceaselessly torture billions of his created children—people he purposed would never have a choice—if you can’t believe that, offer your protest civilly and calmly. We’ll just go on teaching and preaching that this is the God who is worthy of our adoration and obedience.”


And these Baptist members who can’t stomach such doctrine are supposed to respond calmly? There’s something degenerate about calmly saying this Calvinistic stuff about God! No wonder the protesters seem “vitriolic”.


Several years back one silly young man with his Calvinistic views spoke to me of his getting together for coffee for some people and having friendly arguments and laughing together while they debated the issues. Sigh.


Page and his colleagues would like to think they take the high ground here. “Let’s all respect each other. Let’s all be ‘Christianly civil’. Let’s not be ‘nasty’. Let’s all be like us, the calm ones.”


One man’s “nastiness” is an others anguished protest!


And finally there’s this remark from a Mark Dever, an outspoken supporter of Calvinism: “The things that we have in common really are more important than the disagreements that we have.”
Can you fathom that?
So the upshot of the meeting is what? In effect, Frank Page and his companions say to the protesting Baptists, "Okay, so you won't accept our view. Then don't, but keep a civil tongue in your head and don't be nasty."

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.

From Jim McGuiggan... Christ's Baptism and ours


Christ's Baptism and ours

In the NT, when people were called to be baptized into the name of Christ it was to have their sins forgiven (Acts 2:37-38 and 22:16). But there was much more to it than that. Peter’s central affirmation in Acts 2:38 is not that baptism brings remission of sins but that baptism is “in the name of” Jesus Christ. A faith-baptism in the NT is a confession of and identification with Jesus Christ and all he means and stands for. They wanted forgiveness—as a nation and as individuals they had foundationally sinned against God and wanted it made right. How are they to make it right (2:37)?
      [It’s silly at this point to say that they asked the wrong question—“What must we do?” Peter wasn’t offended by the question and those of us that verge on having a seizure every time we get a whiff of what we think is “legalism” are simply off base. See Acts 2:40-41.] 
How are they to make things right with God? They must accept Jesus Christ as the one God marks him out to be (2:22-33). And how was this to be done? In trusting repentance they were to be baptized in his name, that is, acknowledging him as God’s, Lord and Messiah (2:36).
But while this is true it isn’t enough. Clear teaching on baptism in the NT (setting aside some texts that may be mused over as indecisive) is a conscious and trusting response by repentant people to identify themselves with Jesus Christ and what that name means.
I mean more than that baptism does identify them with Jesus Christ; I’m saying that in clear NT teaching people who came to be baptized meant to and were called to identify themselves with Jesus Christ. As in the case of Israel with the baptism of John the Baptist so it is with all who are called together from the nations of the world by God through the gospel concerning Jesus Christ. Baptism for Israel was a turning to God, a conscious acceptance of God’s judgement on the nation and a turning to him. So it is with all who are called into the body of Christ by the gospel—it is more than a gift they are being offered (and it mostly certainly is sheer gift), it is a call to responsive commitment. Baptism is not a simple request for forgiveness—it is a commitment to God’s agenda in Christ and his method of gaining his purposes in Christ. Baptism is a God-induced and free response from the sinner by which he commits himself to God and all God’s purposes in and for the world.
      And certainly while Jesus Christ is uniquely God’s Son and was the sinless one by holy righteousness, he was called by God to commit himself to God’s creative and redemptive enterprise by being baptized by John. Though sinless and in no need of personal repentance, Jesus justified God’s judgment on a nation that needed to repent—a nation of which Christ was a part—by joining them in a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
In being baptized Jesus not only accepted the Father’s assessment of Israel’s state, he not only identified himself with his sinful family, he also saw that identification as having its place in God’s redeeming action and so he insisted on fulfilling all righteousness.
For the best reasons John might have wanted to debate the matter of Christ needing to be baptized but Jesus saw it as a matter of humble and holy obedience and not something to be debated. For the best reasons John would have turned Jesus from baptism (Matthew 3:13-15) but the sinless One saw it as the will of his Holy Father.
[And in the face of plain and consistent NT teaching why would we turn sinful ones away from baptism?]
What if Jesus had refused to be baptized? Would he even have debated it within himself?
I wonder who first asked the question, "Yes, but do I have to be baptized?"

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.

From Mark Copeland... Bearing Witness Of The Light (Jn.1:6-8)


                          "THE GOSPEL OF JOHN"

                  Bearing Witness Of The Light (1:6-8)

INTRODUCTION

1. In the prologue to his gospel, the apostle John introduces another
   man named John...
   a. A man who was sent from God - Jn 1:6
   b. A man who came to bear witness of the Light - Jn 1:7
   -- This man, of course, was John the Baptist

2. John the apostle makes it clear that this other "John" was not the
   Light...
   a. Not only here in the prologue - Jn 1:8
   b. But also immediately following the prologue - cf. Jn 1:19-20

3. John the Baptist's purpose in bearing witness of the Light...
   a. That all might believe - 1Jn 1:7
   b. The same reason John the apostle wrote his gospel - cf. Jn 20:
      30-31

4. John was not the only person to bear witness of the Light...
   a. Others did before he came
   b. Others have since he came

[Indeed, even we have a responsibility to bear witness of the Light! 
Before we consider how, let's note those who have done so in the
past...]

I. THE FORERUNNERS OF CHRIST

   A. THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS...
      1. They foretold the sufferings of Christ, and the glories to
         follow - 1Pe 1:10-11
         a. E.g., the prophet Isaiah - Isa 7:14; 9:6-7; 53:4-6
         b. E.g., the prophet Micah - Mic 5:2
         c. It has been estimated that there are more than 300
            prophecies concerning Christ
      2. Jesus reminded His disciples of this truth
         a. To the two disciples on the road to Emmaus - Lk 24:25-27
         b. Later to the apostles in Jerusalem - Lk 24:44-47

   B. JOHN THE BAPTIST...
      1. Foretold by Isaiah - Isa 40:3
      2. Identified as such by Matthew, Mark, and Luke - Mt 3:1-3; Mk 1:
         1-4; Lk 3:1-6
      3. John the apostle relates how John the Baptist bore witness of
         the Light
         a. Declaring Jesus to be "The Lamb of God" - Jn 1:29,35-36
         b. Declaring Jesus to be "The Son of God" - Jn 1:34

[Both the prophets and John bore witness to Jesus prior to His ministry. 
During the course of His ministry, there was another One who bore
witness of the Light...]

II. THE FATHER OF CHRIST

   A. HE BORE WITNESS THROUGH SIGNS...
      1. Through the miracles Jesus did - cf. Jn 5:36-37; 10:25,37-38
      2. Even as Nicodemus and the man born blind realized - cf. Jn 3:2;
         9:32-33

   B. HE BORE WITNESS THROUGH HIS VOICE FROM HEAVEN...
      1. At the baptism of Jesus - Mt 3:16-17
      2. At the mount of transfiguration - Mt 17:5
      3. At Jerusalem during the last week - Jn 12:27-30

   C. HE BORE WITNESS THROUGH RAISING JESUS FROM THE DEAD...
      1. Declaring Jesus to be the Son of God with power - Ro 1:3-4
      2. Declaring Jesus to be One will judge the world - Ac 17:30-31

[When the Father raised Jesus from the dead, He was seen by select
witnesses who in turn were commanded to add their witness of the Light
(Ac 10:40-43).  But not just the apostles; in some ways we can say that
witnesses of the Light includes all...]

III. THE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST

   A. THE APOSTLES OF CHRIST...
      1. They bore witness through their eyewitness testimony
         a. In this they are very special witnesses - cf. Jn 15:27
            Ac 1:8; 5:30-32; 13:30-31
         b. Providing empirical evidence - cf. 1Jn 1:1-2; 2Pe 1:16-18
      2. They bore witness through their lives and death
         a. Enduring great hardship for their testimony - cf. 1Co 4:
            9-13
         b. Giving credence to the truthfulness of their testimony!

   B. THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST...
      1. Their unity with one another bears witness - Jn 17:20-23
         a. Through our unity we bear witness to the fact:
            1) Jesus was sent by God
            2) God loves the world
         b. Should make one think how Jesus feels about congregational
            infighting, denominational division, etc.
            1) We know how Paul feels - cf. 1Co 1:10-13; 3:3-4
            2) We know what conduct is worthy of our calling - cf. Ep 4:
               1-3
      2. Their transformed lives also bears witness
         a. As evidence of the influence of Christ in their lives - cf.
            2Co 3:18; 4:6
            1) Whose truth teaches us how to live in righteousness and
               holiness - cf. Ep 4:17-24
            2) Enabling us to shine as lights in the world as we reflect
               the glory of His light in our lives - Php 2:12-16  
         b. Should make one think how we can be of much use if we are
            not being transformed
            1) By failing to renew of our minds - cf. Ro 12:1-2
            2) By failing to put on the new man (a Christ-like
               character) - cf. Col 3:9-17
      3. Their proclamation of the Word bears witness
         a. Our duty as the elect people of God is to proclaim His
            praises - 1Pe 2:9-10
            1) How He called us into His marvelous light
            2) How we obtained His mercy
         b. Should make one think of how little use we are if we remain
            silent
            1) By not spreading the gospel - cf. Ac 8:4
            2) By not sounding forth the Word - cf. 1Th 1:8


CONCLUSION

1. Those in the past faithfully bore witness of the Light...
   a. The forerunners (the prophets and John the Baptist)
   b. The followers (the apostles and early disciples)

2. What about us today...?
   a. Do we bear witness of the Light by our unity with one another?
   b. Do we bear witness of the Light through transformed lives?
   c. Do we bear witness of the Light through proclaiming the Word?

The purpose of bearing witness of the Light is so others can believe (Jn
1:7).  Do we help or hinder those around us to believe in Jesus? 

Don't quench the Father's efforts, who would have each of us bear
witness of the Light!

   "For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness,
   who has shone in our hearts to [give] the light of the knowledge
   of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2Co 4:6)

   "For you were once darkness, but now [you are] light in the Lord.
   Walk as children of light." (Ep 5:8)


Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

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From Mark Copeland... The Pre-existence Of Christ (Jn.1:1-5)


                          "THE GOSPEL OF JOHN"

                  The Pre-existence Of Christ (1:1-5)

INTRODUCTION

1. The gospel of John was written for a simple purpose...
   a. To produce faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God - Jn 20:
      30-31a
   b. To share the "life" that comes through such faith - Jn 20:31b

2. To encourage us to have faith in Jesus Christ...
   a. John begins his gospel with a prologue - Jn 1:1-18
   b. In which he makes several claims as to who Jesus was
      1) He refers to Jesus in this prologue as "the Word"
      2) That he refers to Jesus is evident from verses 14-18

3. The very first claim pertains to the pre-existence of Christ...
   a. That He existed in the beginning, long before being born of Mary
      - cf. Jn 1:1-2
   b. That His work in the beginning has great significance for us - cf.
      Jn 1:3-5

[John is not alone in proclaiming "The Pre-Existence Of Christ."
Elsewhere in the Scriptures we find...]

I. EVIDENCE FOR THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF CHRIST

   A. FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS...
      1. Micah prophesied of the pre-existence of the Messiah to come
         - Mic 5:2
      2. Isaiah spoke of the King to come as "Everlasting Father" - Isa 9:6-7
      3. Zechariah recorded the Messiah's own promise to come - Zech 2:
         10-11

   B. AFFIRMED BY JESUS HIMSELF...
      1. In His claim to have existed in Abraham's day - Jn 8:56-58
      2. In His prayer shortly before His arrest and crucifixion -  Jn17:4-5,24
      3. In the revelation He gave to John - Re 22:13

   C. DECLARED BY HIS APOSTLES...
      1. By John in his gospel, and also his epistle - Jn 1:1-4; 1Jn 2:
         14
      2. By Paul in his epistles
         a. To the church in Corinth - 1Co 10:1-4; 2Co 8:9
         b. To the church in Philippi - Php 2:5-8
         c. To the church in Colosse - Col 1:16-17

   D. ILLUSTRATED BY THE CREATION...
      1. All things were created by Jesus - Jn 1:3; He 1:2-3
      2. Necessitating His existence before creation - Col 1:16-17
      3. Implying His own eternal power and divine nature - Ro 1:20

[These are remarkable claims concerning Jesus, even blasphemous if not
true.  Yet if true (and John's gospel is design to prove that it is),
consider...]

II. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF CHRIST

   A. HE IS DEITY...!
      1. Especially when we consider the nature of His pre-existence
         a. His going forths were "from everlasting" - cf. Mic 5:2
         b. He was the eternal "I Am" - Jn 8:58; cf. Exo 3:13-14
      2. As made clear in John's prologue - Jn 1:1-2
         a. He was "with" God (implying a personal communion with God)
         b. He "was" God (explicitly stating His deity)
      -- Thus He is worthy of our love and adoration - cf. Jn 20:28

   B. HE IS LIFE...!
      1. By virtue of being the Creator and the Sustainer of life
         a. All things were made by Him - Col 1:16
         b. All things are held together (NASV, NRSV) by Him - Col 1:17
      2. Again, as John makes clear in his prologue - Jn 1:3-4
         a. Without Him, nothing was made
         b. In Him was life itself
      -- Thus He gives us hope for our own resurrection! - cf. Jn 5:21;
         11:25

   C. HE IS LIGHT...!
      1. We live in a world of darkness...
         a. Where people spend their lives stumbling in ignorance
         b. Alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance
            - cf. Ep 4:17-19
      2. As the Creator and Sustainer of life itself...
         a. Jesus is uniquely qualified to bring light into the world
            - Jn 1:4
         b. He calls for us to believe that we might become "sons of
            light" - Jn 12:35-36
      -- Thus Jesus offers us the "light of life" - Jn 8:12

CONCLUSION

1. Sadly, many resist the life and light Jesus offers...
   a. Some tried to destroy Him, but did not succeed - cf. Jn 1:5 (NRSV)
   b. Many try to avoid Him, knowing that it will mean changes to their
      lifestyle - cf. Jn 3:19-20

2. But for those willing to come to Jesus...
   a. He offers us hope and guidance in this life - cf. Mic 5:4-5a
   b. He is capable of fulfilling His promises - cf. Mt 11:28-30

For He is no mere man, whose existence began when born by Mary, but
"whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting." - Mic 5:2


Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

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