The will of God

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Answering the Hard Questions About Forgiveness

Answering the Hard Questions About Forgiveness

Selected Scriptures

John MacArthur

For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You. –Ps. 86:5

I know a young man (we’ll call him Jim) who believes he was mistreated by afellow Christian several yearsago. There was a dispute about who was wrong in the incident. Jim brought the matter to the elders of his church for resolution. The elders attempted to investigate the matter but ultimately concluded there was insufficient evidence to determine who was at fault. It was one person’s word against the other’s, with no other witnesses. The elders finally advised both Jim and the other party to forgive one another and put the dispute behind them.

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For the Love of the Truth

For the Love of the Truth

John MacArthur

Grace to You

Selected Scriptures

To acknowledge that the church often needs to fight for truth is not to suggest that the gospel–our one message to a lost world–is somehow a declaration of war. It most certainly is not; it is a manifesto of peace and a plea for reconciliation with God (2 Corinthains 5:18-20). Conversely, those who are not reconciled to God are at war with Him all the time, and the gospel is a message about the only way to end that war. So ironically, the war to uphold the truth is the only hope of peace for the enemies of God.

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A Living Lesson on Forgiveness

John MacArthur

Grace to You

Philemon 1-3

We are going to begin this morning a study of a brand new book in the New Testament, the book of Philemon. And I want you to turn to it, it’s just very brief, one chapter, 25 verses, a lesson on forgiveness. The little book of Philemon, for those of you who are wandering around in the index of your Bible, is tucked between Titus and Hebrews.

Of all of the human qualities that make men in any sense like God, none is more divine than forgiveness. God is a God of forgiveness. In fact, in Exodus chapter 34 God identifies Himself in that way. Verse 6 says, “Then the Lord passed by in front of Him and proclaimed,” this is the Lord speaking of Himself, “The Lord, the Lord God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness and truth who keeps loving kindness for thousands who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin.” He says I am the God of forgiveness. That is who I am.

Solomon said, “It is a man’s glory to overlook a transgression,” Proverbs 19:11. Man is never more like God than when he forgives

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Psalm 65

O God of Our Salvation

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.

65:1 Praise is due to you, [1] O God, in Zion,
and to you shall vows be performed.
2 O you who hear prayer,
to you shall all flesh come.
3 When iniquities prevail against me,
you atone for our transgressions.
4 Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,
to dwell in your courts!
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
the holiness of your temple!

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The Greatness of Being a Slave

The Greatness of Being a Slave

John MacArthur

Mark 10:35-45

The most profound reality for every believer is a relationship with Jesus Christ. He is our Savior, our teacher, and our friend. But the Bible teaches that at the most basic level Jesus is our Lord, our Master, which means we are His slaves.

Peruse most Bible translations and it’s easy to miss that crucial reality. That’s because many find the notion of slavery to be a cruel and embarrassing concept. John MacArthur’s new book, Slave, uncovers the conspiracy, bringing the doctrine of our slavery to Christ to its proper place in our thinking.

Embrace for yourself what the Bible really teaches about slavery—your relationship with Jesus Christ will never be the same.

http://www.gty.org/Shop/Books/451170_Slave-The-Hidden-Truth-About-Your-Identity-in-Christ-Hardcover

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A Mighty Fortress in the Storm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Mighty Fortress in the Storm – Psalm 46 God is our refuge and strength

1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

Psalm 46 is a very well-known and comforting Psalm. It is well-known that Martin Luther would sing it when he felt discouraged or sore-tried in his fight against Rome. We read that there were moments when Luther would feel something akin to despair, and he would ask with the Psalmist: “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” In such hours, he would say to Melanchthon, “Come, Philip, let us sing the 46th Psalm” and the two friends would sing it together using Luther’s famous paraphrase of it.

But this Psalm is not only a comfort in times of ecclesiastical or political conflict. It is of great comfort whenever we are facing an uncertain tomorrow or anticipate a severe trial.

Every Christian may sing this Psalm, for this Psalm is given by our Lord, that we may sing with Him. He speaks of Himself apart from us, but once in verse 10 where He says, “I am God.” But everywhere else, He puts Himself as one amongst us that we may sing with Him as ‘we’ and ‘us’.

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STUDY GUIDE:”BEWARE THE PRETENDERS”

Part 1 of 6 Jude 1-2

THE ETERNAL SECURITY OF THE CHRISTIAN
by John F. MacArthur

A. The Analysis of the Epistle

The book of Jude is probably one of the most neglected books in the Bible. In spite of its short length, it is extremely important. The beginning of the Church Age is described in the Acts of the Apostles; its end is dealt with in the Epistle of Jude (which somebody has titled, “The Acts of the Apostates”). The book of Acts describes the deeds and teachings of men of God who began to build the church, and Jude, the last New Testament epistle, relates the deeds and teachings of evil men who will be living when the Church Age comes to an end. In fact, it is the only book in the Bible that is devoted to discussing the great apostasy (departure from the faith) that is to come before the return of Jesus Christ.

In the gospels, our Lord predicted that people under the name of Christianity would turn their backs on the truth. Paul, Peter, and John, along with Jude and James explicitly state or imply the reality of that apostasy. The Epistle of Jude plays a very important part in developing a complete understanding of that event. It details God’s attitude toward those who depart from the faith.

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Guarding Against Sin

John MacArthur

“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord,
entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling
with which you have been called.” – Ephesians 4:1

Knowing and obeying God’s Word helps us walk worthy by protecting us from sin.

While we are discussing the importance of knowing right doctrine before right duty, let’s see one way knowing the Bible helps us to walk worthy: it protects us from sin. From time to time you might hear people who have a fatalistic attitude toward sin saying, “I couldn’t help myself” or “The Devil made me do it.” Such excuses are foolish for Christians to make since God has given us the means to resist temptation. The psalmist said, “Thy word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee” (Ps. 119:11). Without knowledge, we are defenseless and vulnerable. Knowing God’s truth—by study and by application—enables us to say no to sin and yes to righteousness. Anyone who puts his faith in Jesus Christ but who does not keep God’s Word constantly at the forefront of his mind will find himself entrapped in sin again and again.

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Hermeneutics in Everyday Life

From the Beacon Deacon Web Site

Suppose you’re traveling to work and you see a stop sign. What do you do? That depends on how you exegete the stop sign.

1. A postmodernist deconstructs the sign (knocks it over with his car), ending forever the tyranny of the north-south traffic over the east-west traffic.

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Modern Reformation

The Pelagian Captivity of the Church

R. C. Sproul

Shortly after the Reformation began, in the first few years after Martin Luther posted the Ninety-Five Theses on the church door at Wittenberg, he issued some short booklets on a variety of subjects. One of the most provocative was titled The Babylonian Captivity of the Church. In this book Luther was looking back to that period of Old Testament history when Jerusalem was destroyed by the invading armies of Babylon and the elite of the people were carried off into captivity. Luther in the sixteenth century took the image of the historic Babylonian captivity and reapplied it to his era and talked about the new Babylonian captivity of the Church. He was speaking of Rome as the modern Babylon that held the Gospel hostage with its rejection of the biblical understanding of justification. You can understand how fierce the controversy was, how polemical this title would be in that period by saying that the Church had not simply erred or strayed, but had fallen-that it’s actually now Babylonian; it is now in pagan captivity.
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Faith & Reason Conference Gauteng – 12 May 2010

By GV Swart – 22 May 2010

The conference was held at Kerk Sonder Mure in Centurion, which was kindly provided to the organisers free of charge. In itself I believe a charitable gesture and certainly not a cheap one. The venue is state of the art modern church buildings / auditorium with all the expected bells and whistles. Sound systems, lighting, stages, projection systems, CCTV in various areas, large auditorium seating +/-2000, other smaller conference rooms, kitchen areas, gardens, parking lots, guards on duty, foyer with book stalls, etc.

First impressions on arrival were formed by a large GDOP (Global Day of Prayer 2010) banner prominently positioned on the corner outside the building. organisers, participating speakers, presenters and audience members who were gathering within the building, however, presented quite a different picture. Wonderful how God works to enable His Truth to be promoted via all means. The venue certainly had no relevance to the message which issued from it; simply a set of walls enclosing a group of God’s people for a few hours.

Prof William Lane Craig, Pastor Ray Ciervo and Mike Willenborg, three Americans from what constituted the main body of the Faith and Reason team 2010, did presentations. Details of each presentation are far too extensive to mention here. Suffice to say that their impeccable preparations, evident depth of knowledge of the subject and most strikingly, their motivation by means of true faith made for an event which I will certainly not easily forget. Once again it glaringly exposes the dire need for quality impartation of the Word in our country, and the severe lack of guidance with which we currently struggle. Another fact which comes to mind is that these speakers needed no media assistance (TV, music, slideshows, side acts) to bolster their presentations.

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Christians vs Non-Christians

Sakkie Spangenberg & Hansie Wolmarans (non-Christians)

Prof. William Lane Craig and Prof. Michael Licona (Christians)

Faith & Reason Conference – Christians vs Non-Christians

By Grant Swart.

Faith & Reason Conference Gauteng debate took place on Wednesday evening, 12 May 2010 at the University of Pretoria.

TOPIC: “How should we understand the narratives about Jesus’ resurrection?”

Participants:

Prof. William Lane Craig and Prof. Michael Licona  (Christians)

Prof. Sakkie Spangenberg and Prof. Hansie Wolmarans  (Non-Christians)

The Americans are learned, and obviously very adept and experienced at this type of debate. They are unphased by inferior arguments, especially when such arguments are completely unsustainable, undefendable and ridiculous. Their knowledge of the Word and the power which it has in Truth, puts them into a different league on the floor, naturally. Praise His Omnipotence.

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Everlasting Gospel from Atheist Central

Ray Comfort

But those 100 or so celebrities were just the tip of the iceberg of those who died in the past year. If statistics hold true, more than 54 million died in 2010, and 54 million will die in 2011. If my number comes up, I’m ready. Are you?

Here then is the “everlasting gospel” one more time for 2010. I hope you will listen. I would be so delighted to hear that you have given up battling against God, and surrendered to His will:

Each of us will die because we have broken God’s moral Law. Let’s see if you have broken

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New Years Resolutions for the Christian

“What sort of New Year’s Resolution should a Christian make?”

The practice of making New Year’s resolutions goes back over 3000 years to the ancient Babylonians. There is just something about the start of a New Year that gives us the feeling of a fresh start and a new beginning. In reality, there is no difference between December 31st and January 1st. Nothing mystical occurs at midnight on December 31st. The Bible does not speak for or against the concept of New Year’s resolutions. However, if a Christian determines to make a New Year’s resolution, what kind of resolution should he or she make?
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A Good Soldier

John MacArhur from Grace to You

On June 12, 1944, just six days after D-Day in World War II, a young lieutenant named Richard Winters led his men to the outskirts of Carentan. As the officer in charge of Easy Company, of the 101st Airborne, he was tasked to clear the large French town of its German defenders. It would be a small battle, but it played a significant role in the massive effort to rid the world of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

As Winters led his company up the road toward town, the company started taking machine gun fire from a German MG42. The men instinctively dived for cover into ditches on either side of the road, and stayed there–they froze. Not only was the success of the mission in jeopardy, but the men were easy targets for enemy machine gun and sniper fire.

What happened next proved to be the turning point in the battle for Carentan–it’s the stuff legends are made of. Lt. Winters went into the middle of the road and, with bullets hissing past him, started yelling at his troops to get up out of the ditches and engage the enemy. His words, coupled with his heroic action, motivated the men to get up, get in the fight, and gain a decisive victory over the Germans.

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