Brief Introduction to the Psalms

I once said to a friend, “I’m reading the Psalms.” He replied, “I living the Psalms.” He was going through deep waters and was finding comfort in the Psalms. David the main contributor of the Psalms wrote many of the Psalms out of great affliction, such as, when he was fleeing as a fugitive from jealous King Saul or dealing with the rebellion of his son Absalom.

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The Victory Song: First Recorded Song in God's Word

This is the first recorded “song” (15:1) in the Bible. The first recorded song in the Word of God was composed by Moses who wrote two other songs (Deuteronomy 32 and Psalm 90). This song was sung “then” i.e., immediately after Israel’s faith was tested and God supernaturally delivered the children of Israel through the miraculous parting of the Red Sea.

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Answers to Twenty-Five Advanced Salvation Questions

Here is the second of twenty-five salvation questions answered:

2. What is Universalism?

            Charles Ryrie lists the verses that universalists use to support their view: John 12:32; 1 Corinthians 15:22; Philippians 2:11, and 1 Timothy 2:4.[1] These verses, however, can be shown not to teach universalism. In John 12:32, Jesus said he would “draw all men unto myself.” Jesus also mentions judgment on His rejecters in 12:48. Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:22 promises that “in Christ shall all be made alive.” The promise is not to all but to all who are in Christ who will be resurrected in the first resurrection. John notes that there is a “first resurrection” and adds “Blessed and holy is he that has a part in the first resurrection: on such the second death has no part” (Revelation 20:5-6). Paul in Philippians 2:11 does predict “that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” This is a future prophecy of all people including the unsaved bowing to the Lordship of Christ, but Paul does not promise that all unsaved are going to acknowledge Him as Savior. So many other Scriptures teach against second changes after death (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 16:19-31; Revelation 20:11-15). 1 Timothy 2:4 like 2 Peter 3:8 expresses God’s desire or wish for all sinners to be saved not His determination that all unsaved will be saved. Another strong argument is the fate of the two human opponents of Christ: the antichrist and false prophet in Revelation. At Christ’s second coming, both are cast into “the lake of fire burning with brimstone” (19:20). One thousand years later after the millennium, Satan is “cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are” (20:10) and have been for 1000 years. Then John adds “and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

            [1] Charles Ryrie. Basic Theology (Chicago: Moody Press, 1986), 607.

 

Answers to Twenty-Five Advanced Salvation Quesions

Here is the first of twenty-five salvation questions answered:

1. What is Restorationism?

            Michael Horton stated that “the concept of universal restoration (apokatastasis) was taught by the ancient Gnostics.”[1] So Horton shows the similarity between restorationism and apokatastasis and universalism. Horton also calls apokatastasis and universal restoration inclusivism. Horton notes the conflicting views of Karl Barth on universal restoration. In one place in his Church Dogmatics, he writes “There is no one who does not participate in Christ in this turning to God... There is no one who is not raised and exalted with him to true humanity.” But for them, Barth insists, “The Church ought not to preach Apokatastasis.”[2]

            The difference between restorationism and universalism seems to be that restorationism emphasizes the restoration of even Satan and his demons. Horton refutes universal restoration. “Any notion of a final restoration of all spiritual beings, including Satan and his demonic forces, is dispelled by the clear teaching of Scripture that they will be destroyed.”[3] As argued under universalism, Satan, the antichrist, and the false prophets eternally perish according to Revelation 19:20 and 20:10. Origen, however, in his Apokatastasis also taught the restoration of Satan and his demons. So, it is difficult to find a clear distinction between restorationism and apokatastasis, and universalism.

            [1] Michael Horton. The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims On The Way (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011), 976.

            [2] Karl Barth. Church Dogmatics, vol 4. 2, (New York: The Tower Building, 2010), 27.

            [3] Michael Horton. The Christian Faith, 981.

Praise the Lord For What He has Done and For Who He Is!

How can I glorify God? Psalm 50:23 names one specific way. God said, “Whoso offers praise glorifies me.” We don’t need to use this as a Saturday night confession, “I’ll fix sinning all week with this one confession.” We can, however, salvage a wasted day of not glorifying God by praising Him.

In Psalm 103:1-2, David starts with three principles of praise before he actually starts praising the Lord.

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Prayer Life of George Mueller

In his journals alone, Muller recorded over 50,000 specific answers to prayer in his lifetime[4]. Given that example, we now want to investigate further to see what it is about George Muller’s faithful prayer that we need to remember.

J. Hudson Taylor has said that the spiritual maturation of a Christian is just the opposite of the physical maturation of humanity. Physically, we move from the cradle to independence. Spiritually, we move from independence to the cradle. Of George Muller, A.T. Pierson writes, “George Muller was never so really, truly, fully a little child in all his relations to his Father, as when in the ninety-third year of his age.” Pierson, 43.

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Prayer in the Book of Acts

Warren W. Wiersbe noted, “This is certainly a good lesson for the church today. Prayer is both the thermometer and the thermostat of the local church; for the “spiritual temperature” either goes up or down, depending on how God’s people pray.”[1]

In almost every chapter in Acts, you find a reference to prayer, and the book makes it very clear that something happens when God’s people pray.

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Is Cremation a Christian Option?

Conservatives like John Davis, Rod Decker, and Norman Geisler all agree that even though Scriptures do not explicitly forbid cremation, burial should still be the Christian method of laying to rest our loved ones. The overall pattern of Scripture is interment. G. Campbell Morgan favored cremation.

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Are we Celebrating Independence or Insurrection on July 4th (Part 5)

Wayne Grudem lists many examples of Christians positively and significantly influencing government: “Christians influence on government was primarily responsible for outlawing infanticide, child abandonment, and abortion in the Roman Empire in AD 374; outlawing the brutal battles-to-the-death in which thousands of gladiators had died in AD 404….In England, William Wilberforce, a devout Christian, led the successful effort to abolish the slave trade and then slavery itself throughout the British Empire in 1840” (Politics: According to the Bible, pages 49-50).

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Are we Celebrating Independence or Insurrection on July Fourth (Part 4)

Can Evangelism and Politics Mix?

Put bluntly, America is becoming more secular. Albert Mohler identifies the problem: “Recent studies have indicated that the single greatest predictor of voting patterns is the frequency of church attendance. Far fewer Americans now attend church, and a recent study indicated that fully 20% of all Americans identify with no religious preference at all. The secularizing of the electorate will have monumental consequences.” While constitutionally, the church and the state are separate. But practically, the church has an influence on the state even in the outcome of elections.

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Is the Use of Musical Instruments Forbidden According to the Regulative Principle?

The regulative principle of worship (include in worship only what Scripture endorses, which was Calvin’s view) and the normative principle (include whatever is not prohibited in Scripture, which was Luther’s view who wanted to retain much of Roman Catholicism's rituals). Most churches use both principles to varying degrees. We must be regulative regarding the pattern seen in Acts 2:42-47. But normative with parts of our worship not directly addressed in Scripture such as announcements, length and order of service, sound equipment, technology, padded pews, and please don’t forget the nursery.

Does the regulative principle determine the use of musical instruments in a worship service or the style of music?

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Preaching through Books of the Bible

W. A. Criswell was pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas from 1944-1991. He demonstrated the importance of preaching through books of the Bible. In Why I Preach That the Bible is Literally True W. A. Criswell wrote that “Soon after coming to the pastorate of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, I made an announcement that I would preach through the Bible. It was my first intention to go through the Book much faster than I finally did. In fact, at first, I did preach rapidly through the books of the Old Testament. But as the days multiplied, I found myself going slower and slower and slower. Finally, I came to the place where I preached for several years on some of the sections of the New Testament. In all, from Genesis to Revelation, I spent seventeen years and eight months going through the Book. where I left off Sunday morning, I began Sunday evening; where I left off the previous Sunday night, I began the following Sunday morning.

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Heritage of Expository Preaching

Walter Kaiser, a leading evangelical scholar, issued a simple but striking statement in his commencement address at Dallas Theological Seminary in April 2000. “When a man preaches, he should never remove his finger from the Scriptures, Kaiser affirmed. If he is gesturing with his right hand, he should keep his left hand’s finger on the text. If he reverses hands for gesturing, then he should also reverse hands for holding his spot in the text. He should always be pointing to the Scriptures” (Steven J. Lawson, The Pattern of Biblical Preaching: An Expository Study of Ezra 7:10 and Nehemiah 8:1-18, Bibliotheca Sacra 158 October-December 200: 451).

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Top Three Commentary Sets

Andrew David Naselli gives an excellent review of the top three sets of commentaries for serious students. This review is in the Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 12 (2007): 81-99 entitled A REVIEW ARTICLE PNTC, BECNT, and NIGTC: Three New Testament Commentary Series Available Electronically in Libronix

The three sets are Pillar New Testament Commentary (PNTC), Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (BECNT), and New International Greek Testament Commentary (NIGTC).

Here are some excerpts that give a general summary of the three sets just to whet your appetite to read the entire article:

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The Bible Interpretation Principle of Progressive Revelation

A. J. Jacobs gave what is now a well-known TED talk on My Year of Living the Bible in December 2007. He turned the speech into a book entitled: The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible. This book was on the NYT bestseller’s list for three months.

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The First Major Theological Textbook of Western Theology

Like so many theologians, Peter Lombard’s writings originated in his classroom teaching.

Peter Lombard taught theology in the cathedral school of Notre Dame which evidently became The Four Sentences. Gregg Allison notes that The Four Sentences became “a standard textbook of theology until the time of Reformation.”[1] McGrath agreed when he wrote: The first major theological textbook of western theology is Peter Lombard’s Four Books of the Sentences, compiled at the University of Paris during the twelfth century, probably during the years 1155–8. In essence, the work is a collection of quotations (or “sentences”), drawn from patristic writers in general, and Augustine in particular.[2] Lombard later became a bishop in Paris in 1159.

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