Celebrities who died in 2023 – Contemplation: Hebrews 9:27 …as it is appointed for man to die…

The video of this post announces the names of 63 well-known people who died in 2023: 11 musicians / singers; many actors; a few football greats; and a few wrestlers. The purpose of this post is to remind readers that life is very fragile and short; and that it is essential to put some time into considering what happens after you leave this world. The welfare of your eternal soul depends upon knowing what God wants from you; being trendy; socially acceptable in your faith will certainly cause you spiritual ‘ship wreck.’ 

The Curse Motif of the Atonement – R C Sproul

R C’s sermon carefully explained The Day of Atonement; covenant blessings and curses; propitiation; expiation; the cross; imputation; substitution… the foundation stones of the gospel. If you  desire to know the biblical gospel message; bolster your own gratitude to the Lord; draw nearer to Him by possessing greater knowledge of Him…, then this sermon can benefit you.  If you have been in a false church, this sermon will help you specifically understand what is false about it.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ – Booklet – by Paul Washer

This post is for people who aren’t quite clear on the gospel and want to know it better; or for those who have witnessed the gospel and want to also provide material for reviewing discussion points…. The initial couple of minutes of the video explaining Washer’s booklet cover the following points: who is God; what is man – it is essential that believers understand these two points from a biblical perspective; what God has done to satisfy His own justice and to simultaneously be able to show mercy to the wicked; why was the resurrection necessary; what does it mean to believe; how can you know that you believe; what does it mean to repent; how can you know that you actually have repented; what is assurance and how can you grow in it….

The Background for the Gospel Message – Pastor Patrick Hines – video short

The following 1-minute video short was excerpted from a recent podcast by pastor Hines: Romans 1:18-22 – God’s Wrath & Mercy, Man’s Truth Suppression. Herein, pastor Hines explains that the background for the biblical gospel message is God’s wrath against sin. He talked briefly about the ‘Christian Liberal’ message that is devoid of God’s wrath, as contested by J Gresham Machen in the early 20th century via his still very relevant book, Christianity and Liberalism:

ON LUST – PURITAN JOHN OWEN

This post contains a 12-minute video, read by Pastor Mark Fitpatrick of Arann Reformed Baptist Church. Arann Reformed Baptist Church www.arann-reformed.com. It is from Christian Sermons and Audio Books, YouTube. [Owen is still regarded as a foremost authority on the topics of temptation and the mortification of sin. All Christians have to understand this topic and have tools for fighting the good fight….]

Romans 1:8-17 by Pastor Patrick Hines

This post contains an 11-minute video podcast by Pastor Patrick Hines on Romans 1:8-17. Verses 16 and 17 are about the gospel; he spent time speaking about justification by faith alone and trusting in the finished work of Christ. He plans to do podcasts through Romans, so this topic and the various important, related topics will come up numerous times. [However, I have to say that I have spent many years trying to firmly grasp the idea of trusting ‘only’ in Christ’s finished work and that is a very difficult thing to do; that is, to do it, you must clearly see when you are trusting in your performance or in some other thing besides Christ’s work. The Holy Spirit shows one what he/she is placing trust in, rather than Christ. The next post will deal with this topic. Pastor Hines will likely deal with it at some point, but I don’t think a believer can hear to much about this critical topic.]

The Fearful End of Ignorance – Studies in The Pilgrim’s Progress by Thomas Sullivan

This post is about a sermon on The Pilgrim’s Progress, focusing on the character ‘ignorance.’ The contents of the post emphasized how this is relevant to all Christians who are born again and walking in the WAY; in other words, on pilgrimage through the wilderness of this world. Highlight points identify the contents of the 40-minute sermon with some statements from the sermon. Also, there is a link to a post from last week that identifies all the characters in Bunyan’s book and concepts, themes…. Besides the Bible, Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress is the most meaningful book you will read about the Christian walk. It identifies many aspects of the Christian battle, especially diversions temptations, lies, false teachers… that take a believer off the true path. The believer must return to that path after becoming aware of being temporarily duped, deceived, tricked….

Proverbs 5:22  The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him…. [Explained from Commentaries]

The two verses looked at in this post are some of the most frightening in the Bible. They are about those people who think they are getting away with sinning. These not only apply to the believer who is backsliding, but to those marauders who are doing smash and grabs; to those manipulators cheating to win elections; those malevolent globalists creating vaccines to harm others and rid the earth of them, or who are orchestrating famines to accomplish that end… but they are God’s words to all who think they can get away with sinning: the act of sin carries its own punishment. [I reviewed these for my own edification, as my attitude towards some sins is not yet biblical; hopefully, others will find this post worthy of contemplating.]

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