False Christian teachings, trends….
The following teaching by pastor Baucham explains the Christian duty of identifying, exposing and fleeing from false teachers. He used a lot of scripture to make those points. He also explained why so many people are deceived by false teachers. Do you know the characteristics of a false Christian teacher; of a biblical teacher? Do you know what to do if you encounter a false teacher? Baucham clarifies such things in his message.
The purpose of this post is to add some clarity to the concept of the ‘armor of God’ as the apostle Paul spoke of it in Ephesians 6. I recently came to a simpler understanding of it via listening to a couple of sermons of John Calvins and reading his commentary on 6:10-18. … Before writing this, I read through Calvin’s commentary on that passage of Ephesians 6, to ascertain that I heard him correctly. Excerpts from Calvin’s commentary will be used to make my point below, after I define ‘God’s appointed means of grace’ for those who do not know specifically what those are.
The one-minute video meditation in this pose is about the following points: 1. God’s mind towards the world. 2. God’s gift to the world. 3. The way man obtains the benefit of God’s love. 4. How true belief in Christ may be discerned and known. The scripture text is, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” – John 3:16. Old Paths is a J C Ryle book about the weighty matters of Christianity; this is a tiny excerpt from that work.
The purpose of Dr. MacArthur’s sermon was to address the law that passed in Canada, which states that it is against the law to convert a transgender or homosexual. He used scriptures that clearly state God’s view of transgenderism and homosexuality, there is much on both in the Old and New Testaments. He emphasized that the apostle Paul described the Corinthian Christians as having been great sinners, giving a long list of particular sins, yet the government only wants to protect two of that list of sins via legislation; and that protecting those sins is taking a stand against Christ’s church, because it’s chief purpose in the world is to converts sinners. It is an excellent sermon in that Christians are informed about God’s view of our current culture and encouraged to be godly. Sermon highlights are provided because the sermon is 72 minutes long.
This post contains some words of Matthew Henry about Solomon’s quest for fulfillment and his conclusions. Henry concluded that Ecclesiastes was written by a backslidden sinner restored by God’s grace. His comments build a strong case for that and provide hope and direction for other backsliders. At the end of the post some useful definitions were provided and one verse from another book of the Bible to aid in a conclusion for contemporary Christians.
The following commentary on Proverbs 15:19 is from Charles Bridges commentary on Proverbs. A week or so ago, while doing my morning reading, I was moved to explore commentaries on this verse, Bridges had the most meaningful comments on it. I have read over his comments several times since then, because I was convicted by his words and needed to hear them and understand this problem better. Furthermore, Bridges words refocused my attention towards God, and thereby gave hope.
For failure to count the cost, the children of religious parents often do not turn out well, and they bring disgrace on Christianity. Familiar from their earliest years with the form and theory of the gospel, taught even from infancy to repeat the most common Bible verses, being used to being instructed in the gospel every week, or even to instruct others in Sunday school, they often grow up professing Christianity without knowing why or without ever having thought seriously about it. Then when the realities of grown-up life begin to press upon them, they often astound everyone by dropping all their Christian ways and plunging right into the world. Why? Because they had never thoroughly understood the sacrifices that Christianity involves….
Reverend Romesh Prakashpalan preached on 2 Timothy 4:10; based on that text, he explored why Demos apostatized. Simultaneously, he discussed the consequences of Demos’ actions. Questions were presented to listeners to keep them from doing like Demos; consequences were also clarified. The solution is to love the Lord more than one’s life and via prayer seek His help to accomplish that to the saving on you own soul. [Highlight points accompany this 55 minute sermon, for those who don’t have the time to listen.]
In the 6 minute video of this post, Jeff Mayfield explains chapter 8 of Dane Ortland’s book, Gentle and Lowly. Herein, Christ’s intercession for believers is discussed in terms of Hebrews 7:25. Once a believer realized it is impossible to make himself acceptable to God the Father, he is inclined to solely trust in Christ. This message is very encouraging if you have been struggling and failing in your fight against sin.
What does it mean to “believe” in Christ, to pick up your cross and follow Him? Pastor Piper explains these words biblically. His sermon is extremely valuable because Christian culture gets these things very wrong. This post contains a 12 minute excerpt of his 64 minute sermon; it also contains the entire sermon for those who want to know the foundation he laid before he got to the crux of the text that is stated in excerpt; and the application he proposed after the excerpt. Hopefully, the excerpt will whet your appetite to hear the entire sermon, it is valuable in this time of false gospel messages and short cuts to the Christian life