False Christian teachings, trends….
Alistair Begg preached this two-part sermon for the New Year, to orient his congregation in accordance with God’s purposes in this world. Sermon series title: Behold Your God He had two points, the message and the mission: those need to be the chief concern of the individual Christian and the church. We are not to listen to some new prophet claiming to have a new, improved message for the church… but commit, recommit to God’s gospel message and its propagation.
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 the first few pages of J C Ryle’s book, Holiness; this chapter is about ‘The Fight.’ I pasted in enough of the book to provide the foundational aspects of the fight. A few relevant links are provided at the end of the post, one is to a wonderful reading of The Pilgrim’s Progress
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.
I do not say for a moment that holiness shuts out the presence of indwelling sin. No – far from it. It is the greatest misery of a holy man that he carries about with him a body of death (Romans 7:24); that often when he wants to do good, evil is present with him (Romans 7:21); that the old nature is blocking all his movements and, as it were, trying to prevent every step he takes. It is the excellence of a holy man, though, that he is not at peace with indwelling sin, as others are. He hates it, mourns over it, and longs to be free from its company. The work of sanctification within him is like the wall of Jerusalem – the building goes forward even in troublous times (Daniel 9:25).
…I will try, by God’s help, to examine what true holiness is and the reason why it is so needful. Then I will try to point out the only way in which holiness can be attained. I have already approached this subject from a doctrinal side. Let me now try to present it in a more plain and practical point of view. …What, then, is true practical holiness? …Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God, according as we find His mind described in Scripture. It is the habit of agreeing with God’s judgment – hating what He hates, loving what He loves, and measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word. He who most entirely agrees with God is the one who is the most holy.
This post contains material from chapter 3 of J C Ryle’s book, Holiness; specifically, what he identified ten visible behaviors that characterize one who is becoming sanctified.
This post is the first of two about sanctification; it consists of passages copied and pasted from chapter 3 of J C Ryle’s book, Holiness. The contemporary evangelical church errs greatly in its understanding of basic doctrines of the faith: regeneration, repentance, faith, justification and sanctification. This mini series based on Ryle’s book will provide information about those topics for Christians who want to walk in the narrow way. Most of the church today is on the broad way, according to, for example, what Jesus taught in Matthew; and what Paul taught in Romans and Galatians. Ryle’s book is biblical.
The purpose of this post is to provide a biblical definition of sin. I believe this is important because mainstream Christianity focuses on grace, believing they can ignore the Old Testament, sin, hell-fire preaching…. If you have read through the Bible, then you know that they are making up their way as they go along. They are on the wide road that leads to destruction, according to Jesus in Matthew 7. When Jesus opened His ministry in Matthew 4, His first words were, Repent and believe the gospel. To repent of known sin, one must know how to define it first of all….
David wanted his heart renewed because he did not like how his sin had changed him; that is, sin was an expression of his character, BUT it also made his heart worse – it derives from what a person is, yet it also makes one worse. We are not in a static state; we are deteriorating as a person if we are not going forward and improving; that is, in your sanctification, unless you are working to go forward, then you are backsliding; one cannot stand still in the Christian race. David knew that he had harmed his soul and he wanted God to make him the kind of person he was before, a consistent, god-fearing person. Are you a Christian who no longer has zeal, earnestness, passion for Christ? Are you praying that God would give that to you again?