The Anthropomorphites, who dreamed of a corporeal God, because mouth, ears, eyes, hands, and feet, are often ascribed to him in Scripture, are easily refuted. For who is so devoid of intellect as not to understand that God, in so speaking, lisps with us as nurses do with little children? Such modes of expression, therefore, do not so much express what kind of a being God is, as accommodate the knowledge of him to our feebleness. In doing so, he must, of course, stoop far below his proper height.
“Anything that partakes of the nature of swamping our personality out of our control is never of God. Do we ever find a time in the life of our Lord when He was carried beyond His control? Never once. Do we ever find Him in a spiritual panic, crediting God with it? Never once; and the one great marvel of the work of the Holy Ghost is that the sanity of Jesus Christ is stamped on every bit of it.”
[…]
“Nowadays, people seem to have an idea that these ecstatic, visionary, excitable, lunatic moments glorify God; they do not, they give an opportunity to the devil. The one thing Jesus Christ did when He came in contact with lunacy was to heal it, and the greatest work of the devil is that he is producing lunacy in the name of God all over the world in the spiritual realm, making people who knew God go off on tangents…Beware of being carried off into any kind of spiritual ecstasy either in private or in public. There is nothing about ecstasy in these verses: ‘Thou shalt love the Lord they God with all thy heart.'”
Will you call Him “Lord” now–or when it’s too late?
2nd Corinthians 1:1-3—Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father andthe Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father ofour Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.
2nd Corinthians 1:13-14—For we are not writing any other things to you than what you read or understand. Now I trust you will understand, even to the end (as also you have understood us in part), that we are your boast as you also are ours, in the day ofthe Lord Jesus.
2nd Corinthians 2:12-13—Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me bythe Lord, I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I departed for Macedonia.
2nd Corinthians 3:16-18—Nevertheless when one turns tothe Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit ofthe Lordis, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory ofthe Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit ofthe Lord.
“Will you let Jesus take the heroic right out of you? Will you let Him make you see yourself as He sees you until for one moment you stand before the Cross and say, ‘Nothing in my hands I bring”? How many of us are there to-day? Talk about getting people to hear that, they won’t have it! Jesus says they won’t. No crowd on earth will ever listen to that, and if under some pretence you get them and preach the Cross of Christ they will turn with a snubbing offence from the whole thing as they did in our Lord’s day (John vi. 60, 66).
The abominable ‘show business’ is creeping into the very ranks of the saved and sanctified–‘We must get the crowds.’ We must not! We must keep true to the Cross! Let folks come and go as they will, let movements come and go, let ourselves be swept along or not, the one main thing is–true to the yoke of Christ, His Cross.”
Of the many Christian artists in the world, there are some that actually understand their calling:
By the 2005 release of his third CD “White Flag,” based on his study and teaching of the Beatitudes, Shaun was questioning what his calling really was. He knew he was made for more than just entertaining audiences, and he was getting uneasy about his family’s comfortable lifestyle.
And because of that conviction, he does not charge admission for any of his performances (unlike some who charge up to $30 for a show). Recently he posted an article on his blog about a survey conducted among college chaplains that points out what we’ve been saying all along–that much of what is called “Christian” music these days is nothing more than sugar-coated pop-tunes filled with “Jesus is my boyfriend” platitudes [all emphases mine].
According to some college chaplains at this conference I’m at this week, long term exposure to Christian music may have unsavory side-effects.
They feel like they’re fighting bad theology and unbiblical perceptions created by the music business. Their students grew up listening to K-LOVE in the minivan on the way to school with mom. They grew up in “event-driven” churches singing songs from “stars” who also came to town to play concerts.
Did the industry change the church/students or did the church/students change the industry? Either way, these guys don’t think all change has been good.
Worship songs, these chaplains say, might be too important to college students. Singers are marketed (and sometimes, apparently, behaving like) nothing but saved rock stars. And don’t even get these chaplains started on lyrics!
These guys also say college students think involvement in a “worship gathering” is optional too – students can text or talk or sing or pray…whatever they want…like a concert. “This is what happens when communion with God becomes commercial,” one said.
“Why would I bring an artist to my campus for chapel and further propagate Christian celebrity and worship as concert?” another asked.
These guys are suspicious, at best, of the Christian music business and its artists. They say we don’t think enough about what we write and sing and how it will affect people exposed to it for years and years.
1st Corinthians 1:1-3—Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God…with all who in every place call on the name ofJesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father andthe Lord Jesus Christ.
1st Corinthians 1:4-10—I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him…so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation ofour Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son,Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name ofour Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
1st Corinthians 2:7-8—But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucifiedthe Lord of glory.
I blush today to think about the religious fodder that is now being handed out to children. There was a day when they sat around as the fire crackled in the hearth and listened to a serious but kindly old grandfather read Pilgrim’s Progress, and the young Canadian and the young American grew up knowing all about Mr. Facing-Both-Ways and all the rest of that gang. And now we read cheap junk that ought to be shoveled out and gotten rid of.
I have an old Methodist hymnal that rolled off the press 111 years ago and I found forty-nine hymns on the attributes of God in it. I have heard it said that we shouldn’t sing hymns with so much theology because people’s minds are different now. We think differently now. Did you know that those Methodist hymns were sung mostly by uneducated people? They were farmers and sheep herders and cattle ranchers, coal miners and blacksmiths, carpenters and cotton pickers—plain people all over this continent. They sang those songs. There are over 1,100 hymns in that hymnbook of mine and there isn’t a cheap one in the whole bunch.
Our fathers sang “O God, Our Help in Ages Past,” and we sing junk.
Romans 1:1-3—Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His SonJesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh.
Romans 1:7—To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father andthe Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 4:23-24—Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised upJesus our Lordfrom the dead.
Romans 5:1—Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God throughour Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:11—And not only that, but we also rejoice in God throughour Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
You will be shocked–SHOCKED!!–at who was one of the earliest promoters of “Lordship Salvation”. That is, the fact that if one is a Christian, they will grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and their lives will be marked by repentance and good works. Not works leading to salvation, but rather works springing from salvation.
All the “Easy-Believers®” who want to toss men like John MacArthur and Paul Washer under the bus for teaching that the life of a true Christian will be radically different from a Non-Christian because the believer’s life will be marked by repentance from sin, obedience to Christ, and “fruits worthy of repentance”–these “Easy-Believers®” will also have to consign the great Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards to the same fate.
Next in this series, we look through the Book of Acts to see that Jesus is declared to be “Lord” there. The clearest examples are placed first, here:
Acts 2:34-36—“For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”‘ Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus…both Lord and Christ.”
Acts 10:36-37—“The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached.”
————————————————————————————-
The apostles of Christ refer to Him as “Lord”
Acts 1:4-6—And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father,“which,”He said,“you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Acts 15:25-26—“It seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Peter
Acts 1:21-22—“Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
Acts 2:16, 20-21—“But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:…’The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved.'”
Acts 11:16-17—“Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?”
Acts 15:11—“But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.”
“The whole strength of the personal life, the personal spirit, is to be so gripped by the Spirit of God that we begin to comprehend His meaning. It is always risky to use a phrase with a fringe, a phrase that has a kernel of definite meaning but a fringe of something that is not definite. The way we get off on the fringe is by ecstasy, and ecstasies may mean anything from the devil to God. An ecstasy is something that takes us clear beyond our own control and we do not know what we are doing, whether we are being inspired by God or the devil, whether we are jabbering with angels’ tongues or demons’.
When you come to the words of Our Lord or of the apostle Paul the one great safeguard is the absolute sanity of the whole thing. “…that ye may be able to comprehend…and to know”–there is no ecstasy there, no being carried out of yourself into a swoon, no danger of what the mystics of the Middle Ages called ‘Quietism’, no dangers of losing the conditions of morality.”
Part 1 of a new series, going through the Scriptures and showing that Jesus is not waiting for us to call Him Lord–“HE ALREADY IS!!”
Over the last few years, a growing heresy has crept into the church. It is the belief that you can get saved today, call upon Jesus as your Savior, and then, when you feel up to it, sometime down the road, you can give Him the privilege of confessing Him as Lord. Or not—it doesn’t matter! Whatever you want—it’s all about you! You may hear, in many churches, an appeal for the people to “Make Jesus Lord today!” That is about as heretical a statement as you will ever hear.
The people who teach this atrocious doctrine accuse us of linking salvation with works—as if confessing Jesus as Lord is a “work.” Whenever I hear these accusations I often wonder—“Why would they want to deny Jesus His rightful glory as Lord? Do they not want people to think that He is Lord?” What I hope you will take away from this series is the fact that if you want to be saved, you MUST confess that Jesus is Lord.
The overarching Scripture for this series is Romans 10:9 (ESV)—IF you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. What is the opposite of this statement? That if you don’t confess that Jesus is Lord, you will not be saved. It’s really that simple. Remember, these are not my words—this is what is clear from the Scriptures (unless you don’t want to believe the Scriptures).
The best place to start is in the Gospels themselves. We’re going to see that in the gospels that Jesus is declared to be Lord. In fact, Jesus is called “Lord” 124 times in the gospels alone. Granted, many of these are simply repeated in more than one gospel. But since it is the Holy Spirit who spoke to the writers, don’t you think that maybe God thinks this is a wee bit important?
So let’s begin, and see who it is that calls Jesus “Lord.”
Matthew 12:8, Mark 2:28, Luke 6:5—“For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Matthew 21:2-3, Mark 11:3, Luke 19:30-31—“Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her…And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them…”
John 13:13—“You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for I am.”
“Should not every Christian be expected by his ninth or tenth year to know all the holy Gospels, containing as they do his very name and life? A spinner or a seamstress teaches her daughter her trade while she is young, but now even the most learned prelates and bishops do not know the Gospel.
Oh, how badly we treat all these poor young people that are entrusted to us for discipline and instruction! and a heavy reckoning shall we have to give for it that we keep them from the word of God; their fate is that described by Jeremiah: “Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people, because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city. They say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine? when they swooned as the wounded in the streets of the city, when their soul was poured out into their mothers’ bosom” (Lam. ii. 11, 12).
We do not perceive all this misery, how the young folk are being pitifully corrupted in the midst of Christendom, all for want of the Gospel, which we should always read and study with them.”
In the whole debate over “Lordship Salvation”, John MacArthur has had a big red target painted on him, and those who teach “easy-believism” have strung him up and flung him into the depths of Hell because of one paragraph of one book he wrote 7 years ago (“Hard To Believe”). See, the “easy-believer®” doesn’t want to hear the fact that if a person is saved, they will show evidence of their salvation through good works (even though the Holy Writ is clear in many places, such as James 2:14-24 and Ephesians 2:10) that believers are saved in order to perform good works–not that those good works save them. They are so focused on painting Johnny Mac as a heretic, that–well, why bother letting the facts get in the way?
Now, let me ask you this: who would give you a better and more accurate picture of what I believe–someone who heard me say something seven years ago–or someone who hears me teach every week, who knows me personally, and has heard me explain my beliefs over the last several years?
The same question can be asked of those who continue to bash Dr. MacArthur. Who would give you a better and more accurate picture of what he believes–someone who read one paragraph of one book written seven years ago–or someone who knows him personally, works with him every day, and in fact is the editor of most of Dr. MacArthur’s books?
Phil Johnson is the editor of Dr. MacArthur’s books, and is closer–much closer–to Dr. MacArthur than those who continue to smear Dr. MacArthur’s name with accusations based on a statement that Dr. MacArthur never made to begin with. The statement in question is:
Salvation isn’t the result of an intellectual exercise. It comes from a life lived in obedience and service to Christ as revealed in the Scripture; it’s the fruit of actions, not intentions.
Now, it certainly sounds like Dr. MacArthur is teaching salvation by works. But, here’s the kicker–Dr. MacArthur never wrote those words! Here is the explanation from Phil Johnson, posted over at Paleoevangelical (Phil Johnson’s words are in green, Lou Martuneac’s words are in blue, text pertaining to the revision is in purple)–
Is it necessary, for a person who is saved, to confess Jesus Christ as Lord? Well, the answer to that question is, of course–YES!! I have put together a couple videos, based on Romans 10:9-10, to show that if one desires to be saved, then confessing Christ as Lord is a necessary requirement.
There is a movement that has been around for quite some time now. It is based on the absurd belief that a person can be saved, even if they do not confess Jesus Christ as Lord. It is not new by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, John MacArthur preached a message on this very subject back in 1988. Allow me to share a couple of quotes from that message:
This view is so popular that recently when I was doing a Bible conference at one of the major Christian institutions in America, a man spoke to the student body every day for the week, as I did as well, he said to them, “The point at which you really become a disciple, the point at which you really make Christ Lord of your life usually comes some time in your thirties.” And I was shocked, to put it mildly, that he had just basically told a group of young people to put their spiritual commitment on hold until they reached their thirties. He was holding to a view that it’s enough to accept Jesus as Savior, take your forgiveness, take your guarantee of heaven and then live any way you want until you come to some crisis point, hopefully sooner than later, when you make Christ Lord.
I’ve had parents say to me, “I know my…my son is a homosexual. He has chosen that life style. I know my daughter has absolutely no regard for the things of Christ. But I know they were saved. I remember the time they made their decision.” Parents cling to this. Spouses may cling to this for their partner. Friends may cling to this for someone they love deeply. It conveys the idea that salvation is some momentary transaction that secures forever but doesn’t necessarily transform your life and does not involve acknowledging Jesus as Lord of your life and submitting your life to Him. That kind of thing is behind most contemporary evangelism. You listen, when do you hear someone say, “Are you willing to commit your life to following Jesus?” When do you hear someone say, “Are you willing to repent of your sin and bow your knee in submission to the Lordship of Christ?” “Are you willing to allow Jesus Christ to take over as King and ruler of your life?” What you hear is, “Accept Christ…receive Christ…make a decision for Christ.”
I watched a film this afternoon for the second time, I watched it a day ago because the first time I watched it I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was sent out to our church. It was sent to me because it was to be distributed all across this entire country to every church that had an AWANA program. It was a film designed to instruct people how to lead someone to Christ. The film used some graphics, posed some questions and then asked if they were true or false. Let me tell you what some of the questions were and what the answer was.
In presenting the gospel, the narrator of the film said, should you ever ask these questions? Here are the questions.
* Question number one: Should you say to someone, will you give your heart to Christ? Answer: False, you never want to say that to anyone. You never want to ask anyone to give anything to Christ. You don’t want to ask them to give their life to Christ, you just ask them to believe.
* Second question: Will you surrender your life to Christ? Answer: False, don’t ever ask anyone to surrender anything.
* Question number three: will you commit your life to Christ? Answer: False, don’t ever ask anyone to do that.
* Question number four: will you make Christ Lord of your life? Answer: Don’t ever ask anyone to acknowledge that He has to be Lord of their life.
* Question number five: will you repent of your sins? Answer: False, don’t ever ask anyone to repent of their sins.
* Question number six: are you willing to forsake your sins? Answer: False, don’t ask anyone to do that.
It is enough then, said the narrator, to ask them: do you believe that Jesus died for your sins? That is enough. That is enough? The devils believe and…what?…and tremble.
Another writer says, and I’m quoting, “It is possible, even probable, that when a believer out of fellowship falls for certain types of philosophy, if he is a logical thinker he will become an unbelieving believer. Believers who are agnostics are still saved. They are still born again.” Listen to this one. “You can even become an atheist. But if you once accept Christ as Savior, you cannot lose your salvation even though you deny God,” end quote.
He finishes up the message thus:
Jesus wanted the two things to come clear to that young man [The rich young ruler in Mark chapter 8–4*P]. When you want into the Kingdom, when you want eternal life, it is not as simple as just a decision, believing some facts. There must be an acknowledgment and turning from sin and there must be a willingness to submit to My authority even if I ask you to do the most difficult thing in your life…to give up that which you love the most. Let’s establish, number one, the depth of your sinfulness and, number two, the height of My sovereignty, that’s the issue. The man left.
So today we are starting a new series showing that whether or not you say Jesus is Lord, He still is! It is not US who make Jesus Lord–God has already made Him both Lord and Christ.
Romans 10:8-10 (NASB)—8 But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”–that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
I bet you didn’t know that, huh? That all those songs they sang about drinking and sex and partying and all other kinds of debauchery were actually declaring the gospel? Well, that’s because you weren’t blessed with the same kind of discernment as Perry Noble of NewSpring church!
Why, if you had simply listened to their lyrics, you would know that Bret Michaels & Co were very faithful in declaring the whole counsel of God! After all, if they weren’t faithful to God’s word, do you really think that Perry Noble would let the “praise” band at NewSpring play their hit song “Nothin’ But A Good Time?”
[/sarcasm]
Oh, yeah, you’re right.
He would……AND HE DID.
You’ll have to go to A Little Leaven to see the video; it won’t embed on WordPress. Of course, it’s just as well.
WOW!! If I had only known that all that time that I thought I was rocking out to Poison because they were singing about the same desires I had–sexual gratification, drunkenness and revelry–they were actually trying to lead me to Jesus!
Er………something.
Just more proof that Perry Noble doesn’t care about preaching the word of God, and that he’s more comfortable joining the filth of the world to the things of God, and creating a worship of his own making, and not according to the ways of God.
Wrapping up the series with Paul reinforcing Christ’s teachings to his young proteges in the “Pastoral Epistles.” Hopefully this has been a helpful series, and next time you hear someone claim that they deny Paul’s writings because he “never quoted Jesus” you can show them that they are clearly wrong.
1st Timothy 1:12-13—And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man.
Acts 26:14-18—“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads…I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.”
1st Timothy 1:15—This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
Luke 19:10—“The Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost.”
1st Timothy 2:5-6—For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all.
Matthew 20:28—“The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
1st Timothy 6:6-10—Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Matthew 6:24-25—“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”
1st Thessalonians 1:9-10—For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
John 17:3—“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
1st Thessalonians 2:14-16—For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins; but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost.
Matthew 23:13-15—“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”
Matthew 23:29-36—“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.”
The Anthropomorphites, who dreamed of a corporeal God, because mouth, ears, eyes, hands, and feet, are often ascribed to him in Scripture, are easily refuted. For who is so devoid of intellect as not to understand that God, in so speaking, lisps with us as nurses do with little children? Such modes of expression, therefore, do not so much express what kind of a being God is, as accommodate the knowledge of him to our feebleness. In doing so, he must, of course, stoop far below his proper height.
Christ Alone Wyoming 