Results 5861 - 5880 of 6029
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Results from: Notes Author: DocTrinsograce Ordered by Verse |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
5861 | Membership vs Discipleship | 2 John 1:9 | DocTrinsograce | 195723 | ||
"I feel it is an interesting and profitable subject to try to decide which is the more dangerous position for a man to be in -- to state openly and avowedly that he is not at all interested in Christ and religion, or to follow Christ for the wrong and false reason. I know that, ultimately, there is no difference between these two men. The one who follows Christ for the wrong reason is as much outside the kingdom as the man who makes no pretense to follow Christ at all. That is perfectly true. But I do think there is an important distinction between the two when you regard things merely from the human standpoint. The difficulty with the man who follows Christ for a wrong reason is that he not only deludes himself, but he also deludes the church. When you are confronted by one who says he does not believe in Christ, then you know exactly what to say and what to do with him. When a man presents himself as a religious person, the church tends to take him for granted; it would be an insult to question him. The church assumes that because he acknowledges himself to be a religious man, therefore he is a Christian. One of the most dangerous places for such a man to be in is the church of the living God. I am not at all sure but that one explanation for the present state of the church is to be found at just that point: she has been far too ready to associate church membership with true discipleship, and to assume that all who join the church are really following Christ." --D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones | ||||||
5862 | Is asking for money false? | 2 John 1:10 | DocTrinsograce | 143684 | ||
Hi, Luis... You misunderstand. None of these men are "mocking God's truth." They wouldn't do that. They are men who love the truth of God. Sometimes, on the other hand, we all find the ideas of men quite worthy of a little mocking. :-) How do you reconcile your unorthodox opinions of pastoral and missions support with the explicit instructions of Paul to the contrary? Were the churches of the first century committing deeds of ultimate evil by supporting the mission trips of men like Paul and Barnabas? In Him, Doc |
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5863 | Is asking for money false? | 2 John 1:10 | DocTrinsograce | 143687 | ||
Dear Luis, Before you wrote, "it is 'the height of evil' to ask for money for proclaiming and living truth (The Gospel)." Now you have switched to saying it isn't about possessions, but some spirtual aspect of regeneration. This kind of waffling does not make for sound exegesis. Besides it confuses your audience to no end! Furthermore, the continued use of undefined (at least I haven't yet seen where you have defined them) like "mammon system" and "crucified souls" confuses even more. I'm all for church planting, and the feeding of the flock. But the flock need to be fed something they can digest. Over-spiritualizing scriptural terms, combining them as needed, and not taking the rest of scripture into account, etc... these will not make for healthy sheep, friend. I pray that the Lord will aid you to become sound and faithful in the doctrines of Christ and the Apostles, that He may use you effectively for the purpose to which you have so much zeal. In the mean time, we pray that God will be merciful and gracious to you and those you seek to teach. In Him, Doc |
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5864 | Is asking for money false? | 2 John 1:10 | DocTrinsograce | 143717 | ||
Dear Luis, Okay, I have to work from the basics up, so to properly understand, I must ask more questions. Thank you for your patience. The word "mammon" is used by Christ in three instances. One of those instances are "no man can serve two masters" (Matthew 6:24 and Luke 16:13). Since Christ was clearly lucid, coherent, and rational, we must assume that if he used the same word again, he meant the same thing. Let me ask, therefore, how your personal revelation interprets the following verses (the other places where Christ uses the word mammon): And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? (Luke 16:9-12) In Him, Doc |
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5865 | Attestation of Unity in the Truth | 3 John 1:3 | DocTrinsograce | 243953 | ||
"Unity without verity is no better than conspiracy." --John Trapp (1601-1669) |
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5866 | Living in the Truth | 3 John 1:4 | DocTrinsograce | 240767 | ||
"Let God-inspired Scripture decide between us; and on whichever side be found doctrines in harmony with the word of God, in favor of that side will be cast the vote of truth." --Basil of Caesarea (330-379) | ||||||
5867 | Distinguishing Marks of the Church | 3 John 1:10 | DocTrinsograce | 243302 | ||
"We have stated that the marks by which the Church is to be distinguished [identified and characterized], are, the preaching of the word, and the administration of the sacraments [ordinances of baptism and communion]. For these can no where exist without bringing forth fruit, and being prospered with the blessing of God [John 12:24; 15:5, 8. I assert not that wherever the word is preached, the good effects of it immediately appear; but that it is never received so as to obtain a permanent establishment, except in order that it may be efficacious. However this may be, where the word is heard with reverence, and the sacraments are not neglected, there we discover, while that is the case, an appearance of the Church, which is liable to no suspicion or uncertainty, of which no one can safely despise the authority, or reject the admonitions, or resist the counsels, or slight the censures, much less separate from it and break up its unity. For so highly does the Lord esteem the communion of his Church, that He considers every one as a traitor and apostate from religion, who perversely withdraws Himself from any Christian society which preserves the true ministry of the word and sacraments [1 John 2:19]. He commends the authority of the Church, in such a manner as to account every violation of it an infringement of His own [Jude 1-3]. For it is not a trivial circumstance, that the Church is called 'the house of God, the pillar and ground of truth.' [1 Timothy 3:15] For in these words Paul signifies that in order to keep the truth of God from being lost in the world, the Church is its faithful guardian; because it has been the will of God, by the ministry of the Church, to preserve the pure preaching of His word [Galatians 1:8-9], and to manifest Himself as our affectionate Father [John 14:21], while He nourishes us with spiritual food [Isaiah 49:10; John 6:33-35], and provides all things conducive to our salvation [Romans 8:31-34]. Nor is it small praise, that the Church is chosen and separated by Christ to be His spouse [Revelation 12:1], 'not having spot or wrinkle,' to be 'His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.' [Ephesians 1:23] Hence it follows, that a departure from the Church is a renunciation of God and Christ. And such a criminal dissention is so much the more to be avoided; because while we endeavour, as far as lies in our power, to destroy the truth of God, we deserve to be crushed with the most powerful thunders of His wrath. Nor is it possible to imagine a more atrocious crime, than that sacrilegious perfidy [treachery or deceit], which violates the conjugal relation [marriage] that the only begotten Son of God has condescended to form with us. [Daniel 7:25; 1 Corinthians 16:22; 2 Corinthians 13:8]" --John Calvin from his "Institutes of the Christian Religion" (Book IV, Chapter 1, Section 10) | ||||||
5868 | Did God create evil? | 3 John 1:11 | DocTrinsograce | 207903 | ||
Dear FlintyJoe, You're replying to a post that is some seven years old. It is unlikely you'll receive a reply from the poster. :-) So, tell us, what church do you attend? Your views are pretty eclectic. In Him, Doc |
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5869 | Did God create evil? | 3 John 1:11 | DocTrinsograce | 207904 | ||
"Many are very busy trying to construct a god for themselves, such as they think God ought to be. And it generally turns out that they fashion a god like themselves, for that saying of the psalmist concerning idols and 'idol makers' is still true, 'And those who make them are just like them, as are all who trust in them.' Psalm 135:18 These modern manufacturers of gods make them blind because they are themselves blind, and deaf because they are deaf, and dead because they are spiritually dead. Some quarrel with God as a Sovereign, and no doctrine makes them grind their teeth like the glorious truth of divine sovereignty. They profess to want a god, but... he must not be on a throne; he must not be King; he must not be absolute and universal Monarch. He must do as his creatures tell him, not as he himself wills. Their effeminate deity is not worthy to be known by the name of God!" --Charles H. Spurgeon | ||||||
5870 | His Adorable Perfection | 3 John 1:11 | DocTrinsograce | 221250 | ||
"Imitate God in this His adorable perfection, by 'speaking the truth in love,' Ephesians 4:15. Let the strictest rules of truth and sincerity be observed by you in all your dealings and intercourse with men. Lay aside all lying, falsehood, and dissimulation, all equivocations and secret reservations in your words and promises, and speak the truth every man with his neighbor. ...we have given you a short description of what God is. Imperfect it is, and imperfect it must be, seeing He is incomprehensible. Do ye study to believe what is taught you of God, and apply to Him [approach Him], through the Son of His love, for further discoveries of His glorious perfections and excellencies; and at length ye shall see Him as He is, having a more enlarged and extensive knowledge of Him, His nature and ways; though even then ye will not be able to comprehend Him. For it was a wise and judicious answer of one that was asked, What God is? that if he knew that fully, he should be a God himself. And indeed that being which we can comprehend, cannot be God, because He is infinite. O study God and ye will increase in the knowledge of Him." --Thomas Boston | ||||||
5871 | No Other Foundation | Jude 1:4 | DocTrinsograce | 190391 | ||
"Little, however, did I think I should live to see this kind of stuff taught in the pulpit; I had no idea that there would arise teaching which would bring down God’s moral government from the solemn aspect in which Scripture reveals it, to a namby-pamby sentimentalism, which adores a deity destitute of every masculine virtue. But we never know today what may occur tomorrow. "We have lived to see a certain sort of men, -- thank God, they are not Baptists! -- (though I am sorry to say there are a great many Baptists who are beginning to follow in their trail) who seek to teach, nowadays, that God is a universal Father, and that our ideas of His dealing with the impenitent as a Judge, and not as a Father, are remnants of antiquated error. Sin, according to these men, is a disorder rather than an offence, an error rather than a crime. Love is the only attribute they can discern, and the full-orbed Deity they have not known. Some of these men push their way very far into the bogs and mire of falsehood, until they inform us that eternal punishment is ridiculed as a dream. "In fact, books now appear which teach us that there is no such thing as the vicarious sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. They use the word atonement, it is true; but, in regard to its meaning, they have removed the ancient landmark. They acknowledge that the Father has shown His great love to poor sinful man by sending His Son; but not that God was inflexibly just in the exhibition of His mercy, nor that He punished Christ on the behalf of His people, nor that, indeed, God ever will punish anybody in His wrath, or that there is such a thing as justice apart from discipline. "Even sin and hell are but old words employed henceforth in a new and altered sense. Those are old-fashioned notions, and we poor souls, who go on talking about election and imputed righteousness, are behind our time. "Aye, and the gentlemen who bring out books on this subject applaud Mr. Maurice, and Professor Scott, and the like, but are too cowardly to follow them, and boldly propound these sentiments. These are the new men whom God has sent down from Heaven, to tell us that the apostle Paul was all wrong, that our faith is vain, that we have been quite mistaken, that there was no need for propitiating blood to wash away our sins; that the fact was, our sins needed discipline, but penal vengeance and righteous wrath are quite out of the question! … "Well, brethren, I am happy to say that sort of stuff has not gained entrance into this pulpit. "I dare say the worms will eat the wood before there will be anything of that sort sounded in this place; and may these bones be picked by vultures, and this flesh be rent in sunder by lions, and may every nerve in this body suffer pangs and tortures, ere these lips shall give utterance to any such doctrines or sentiments! "We are content to remain among the vulgar souls who believe the old doctrines of grace. We are willing still to be behind in the great march of intellect, and stand by that unmoving cross, which, like the pole star, never advances, because it never stirs, but always abides in its place, the guide of the soul to Heaven, the one foundation other than which no man can lay, and without building upon which no man shall ever see the face of God and live." --Charles H. Spurgeon |
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5872 | Brothers and sisters | Jude 1:4 | DocTrinsograce | 231221 | ||
Dear Atterbury, I was hoping you'd come out of John 14 and 15 with about 30 attributes. The fruit of the Spirit has nothing to do with the world's definition of these things. For example, sometimes the most loving thing we can do for people is to rebuke, correct, and retrain. Iron sharpens iron. It is not all warm and fuzzy. Applying the truth to a situation can be highly painful. Nevertheless, failing to correct ungodly behavior is not a matter of love, but a matter of hatred (e.g., Proverbs 13:24). The Puritans used to say, "Being kind to the wolves is being cruel to the sheep." In Him, Doc |
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5873 | Brothers and sisters | Jude 1:4 | DocTrinsograce | 231229 | ||
Hi, Atterbury... Again, careful of adopting worldly definitions to terms. Find out what is the biblical definition of judging. Also, if you are concerned that someone is being slandered, then show kindness to the people involved by pointing it out -- with proof -- so that the truth can be known. Yes, we deal with a Lord who will not be trifled with. Let us seek to honor Him fully in all we do and say, but also to honor Him not neglecting anything He says. If you speak peace and safety, in God's name, when it is not from the Lord, then you do so at your own peril (Jeremiah 23:10-32). In Him, Doc |
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5874 | Living in Two Kingdoms | Jude 1:8 | DocTrinsograce | 243318 | ||
"First, before we enter into the matter itself, we must keep in mind that distinction which we previously laid down so that we do not (as commonly happens) unwisely mingle these two, which have a completely different nature. For certain men, when they hear that the gospel promises a freedom that acknowledges no king and no magistrate among men, but looks to Christ alone, think that they cannot benefit by their freedom so long as they see any power set up over them [e.g., Felix Manz, Anabaptist]. They therefore think that nothing will be safe unless the whole world is reshaped to a new form, where there are neither courts, nor laws, nor magistrates, nor anything which in their opinion restricts their freedom [cf contemporary Dominion Theology]. But whoever knows how to distinguish between body and soul, between this present fleeting life and that future eternal life, will without difficulty know that Christ's spiritual Kingdom and the civil jurisdiction are things completely distinct. Since, then, it is a Jewish vanity to seek and enclose Christ's Kingdom within the elements of this world, let us rather ponder that what Scripture clearly teaches is a spiritual fruit, which we gather from Christ's grace; and let us remember to keep within its own limits all that freedom which is promised and offered to us in Him [cf Romans 6:1, 2; Galatians 5:13; 2 Peter 2:18, 21]. For why is it that the same apostle who bids us stand and not submit to the 'yoke of bondage' [Gal. 5:1] elsewhere forbids slaves to be anxious about their state [1 Corinthians 7:21], unless it be that spiritual freedom can perfectly well exist along with civil bondage? These statements of his must also be taken in the same sense: In the Kingdom of God 'there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither male nor female, neither slave nor free' [Gal. 3:28, Vg.; order changed]. And again, 'there is not Jew nor Greek, uncircumcised and circumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, freeman; but Christ is all in all' [Colossians 3:11]. By these statements he means that it makes no difference what your condition among men may be or under what nation's laws you live, since the Kingdom of Christ does not at all consist in these things [John 18:36]." --John Calvin, from his Institutes of the Christian Religion (1559) |
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5875 | Impregnable Rock of Holy Scripture | Jude 1:10 | DocTrinsograce | 234194 | ||
"We all therefore have to face this ultimate and final question: Do we accept the Bible as the Word of God, as the sole authority in all matters of faith and practice, or do we not? Is the whole of my thinking governed by Scripture, or do I come with my reason and pick and choose out of Scripture and sit in judgment upon it, putting myself and modern knowledge forward as the ultimate standard and authority? The issue is crystal clear. Do I accept Scripture as a revelation from God, or do I trust to speculation, human knowledge, human learning, human understanding and human reasons Or, putting it still more simply, Do I pin my faith to, and subject all my thinking to, what I read in the Bible? Or do I defer to modern knowledge, to modern learning, to what people think today, to what we know at this present time which was not known in the past? It is inevitable that we occupy one or the other of those two positions. "The Protestant position, as was the position of the early Church in the first centuries, is that the Bible is the Word of God. Not that it 'contains' it, but that it is the Word of God, uniquely inspired and inerrant. The Protestant Reformers believed not only that the Bible contained the revelation of God's truth to men, but that God safeguarded the truth by controlling the men who wrote it by the Holy Spirit, and that He kept them from error and from blemishes and from anything that was wrong. That is the traditional Protestant position, and the moment we abandon it we have already started on the road that leads back to one of the false authorities, and probably ultimately to Rome itself. In the last analysis it is the only alternative. "... "We are back again in that exact position, and I am concerned about the matter, not only from the standpoint of the Church in general, but also from the standpoint of our own individual experiences. How can we fight the devil? How can we know how we are to live? How can we answer the things we hear, the things we read, and all the subtle suggestions of the devil? Where can I find this truth that I must gird on, as I put on all this armour of God? Where can I find it if I cannot find it in the Bible? Either my foundation is one of sand that gives way beneath my feet, and I do not know where I am, or else I stand on what W. E. Gladstone called 'The Impregnable Rock of Holy Scripture'." --Martyn Lloyd-Jones |
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5876 | Distinguishing Mark of a False Teacher | Jude 1:12 | DocTrinsograce | 236627 | ||
"The fifth distinguishing mark of false teachers is that they cleverly disguise their dangerous principles and soul-deceiving notions with very attractive speeches and golden expressions. Many in these days are bewitched and deceived by the magnificent words, lofty strains and stately terms of deceivers, such as illumination, revelation, and deification. As harlots paint their faces and adorn and perfume their beds, the better to allure and deceive simple souls, so false teachers will put a great deal of paint and garnish upon their most dangerous principles and blasphemies, in order that they may better deceive and delude poor ignorant souls. They know that sugared poison goes down sweetly: they wrap up their pernicious, soul-killing pills in gold. In the days of Hadrian the emperor, there was a man Ben-Cosbi who gathered a multitude of Jews together, and called himself Bencocuba, the son of a star, applying the promise of Numbers 24:17 to himself, but he proved to be Barchosaba, the son of a lie. And so will all false teachers, for all their lofty expressions will prove at last to be the sons of lies." --Thomas Brooks (1608-1680) | ||||||
5877 | Makeovers or Death and Resurrection | Jude 1:13 | DocTrinsograce | 237980 | ||
"Liberalism started off by downplaying doctrine in favor of moralism and inner experience, losing Christ by degrees. Nevertheless, it is not heresy as much as silliness that is killing us softly. God is not denied but trivialized -- used for our life programs rather than received, worshiped, and enjoyed. Christ is a source of empowerment, but is He widely regarded among us today as the source of redemption for the powerless? He helps the morally sensitive to become better, but does He save the ungodly -- including Christians? He heals broken lives, but does He raise those who are 'dead in trespasses and sins' (Ephesians 2:1 NKJV)? Does Christ come merely to improve our existence in Adam or to end it, sweeping us into His new creation? Is Christianity all about spiritual and moral makeovers or about death and resurrection—radical judgment and radical grace? Is the Word of God a resource for what we have already decided we want and need, or is it God’s living and active criticism of our religion, morality, and pious experience? In other words, is the Bible God's story, centering on Christ's redeeming work, that rewrites our stories, or is it something we use to make our stories a little more exciting and interesting? Conservatives and liberals moralize, minimize, and trivialize Christ in different ways, of course, with different political and social agendas, showing their allegiance either to elite culture or popular culture, but it is still moralism." --Michael Horton (2008), from his book "Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church" | ||||||
5878 | The Truth of the Scripture | Jude 1:15 | DocTrinsograce | 237313 | ||
"And now, if I say this to you, although I have repeated it many times, I know that it is not absurd so to do. For it is a ridiculous thing to see the sun, and the moon, and the other stars, continually keeping the same course, and bringing round the different seasons; and to see the computer who may be asked how many are twice two, because he has frequently said that they are four, not ceasing to say again that they are four; and equally so other things, which are confidently admitted, to be continually mentioned and admitted in like manner; yet that he who founds his discourse on the prophetic Scriptures should leave them and abstain from constantly referring to the same Scriptures, because it is thought he can bring forth something better than Scripture." --Justin Martyr (100-165) | ||||||
5879 | The Scripture-Plus of False Teachers | Jude 1:16 | DocTrinsograce | 234955 | ||
"By all this we see, that the yielding to lesser sins, draws the soul to the committing of greater. Ah! how many in these days have fallen, first to have low thoughts of Scripture and ordinances, and then to slight Scripture and ordinances, and then to make a nose of wax of Scripture and ordinances [twisting them], and then to cast off Scripture and ordinances, and then at last to advance and lift up themselves, and their Christ-dishonoring and soul-damning opinions, above Scripture and ordinances." --Thomas Brooks (1608-1680), from "Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices" | ||||||
5880 | Scriptural Selectivity | Jude 1:17 | DocTrinsograce | 237102 | ||
"Heresy is not so much rejecting as selecting. The heretic simply selects the parts of the Scripture he wants to emphasize and lets the rest go. This is shown by the etymology of the word heresy and by the practice of the heretic. 'Beware,' an editorial scribe of the fourteenth century warned his readers in the preface to a book. 'Beware thou take not one thing after thy affection and liking, and leave another: for that is the condition of an heretique. But take everything with other.' (sic) The old scribe knew well how prone we are to take to ourselves those parts of the truth that please us and ignore the other parts. And that is heresy. --A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), from his book "We Travel An Appointed Way" | ||||||
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