Your sermon of the week is a three-part series on the controversial issue of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. If you have ever wondered what it is or if you’ve committed it, then this series is for you.
Part 1: The Unpardonable Sin
Part 2: The Blasphemy Against the Spirit
Part 3: A Plea to the Halfhearted
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, the pied pipers of the mile-wide, inch-deep church in America drop one rung lower on the ladder as they continue to lead the masses of goats down the broad path of destruction.
I thought the pragmatism of Laodicean evangelism techniques couldn’t shock me anymore but this article from the New York Times has left me speechless. Here are a few quotes form the article:
Recruitment efforts at the churches, which are predominantly white, involve fight night television viewing parties and lecture series that use ultimate fighting to explain how Christ fought for what he believed in. Other ministers go further, hosting or participating in live events. The goal, these pastors say, is to inject some machismo into their ministries — and into the image of Jesus — in the hope of making Christianity more appealing. “Compassion and love — we agree with all that stuff, too,” said Brandon Beals, 37, the lead pastor at Canyon Creek Church outside of Seattle. “But what led me to find Christ was that Jesus was a fighter.”
The sport is seen as a legitimate outreach tool by the youth ministry affiliate of the National Association of Evangelicals, which represents more than 45,000 churches.
Nondenominational evangelical churches have a long history of using popular culture — rock music, skateboarding and even yoga — to reach new followers. Yet even among more experimental sects, mixed martial arts has critics.
I can’t even begin to imagine what will come next in the name of “evangelism.”
For more, checkout this post too.
The Word declares, “The carnal mind is enmity against God” (Romans 8:7). Multitudes go through the form of paying homage to God, but of a “god” of their own imagination. They hate the living God, and, were it possible, would rid the universe of Him. This is clear from their treatment of Christ, for He was none other than “God . . . manifest in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16). They hated and hounded Him to death, and nothing short of death by crucifixion would appease them. At Calvary the real character of man was revealed, and the desperate wickedness of his heart laid bare.
– A.W. Pink
1886 – 1952
Please watch the video below where James White from Alpha and Omega critically analyzes Catholic Answer’s Tim Staples’ purgatorial arguments. He also shares about the Catholic doctrine of purgatory which statues that nearly all Catholics must endure the purging flames of purgatory to make full expiation for their sins. Sins that the Catholic Jesus was unable to remove from his work at Calvary.
If our homes are to reflect our position as the people of God in the midst of the opposition of a pagan culture, we, like the Israelites, must learn to love. Our homes must be rife with the aroma of love. Those who visit us should notice immediately that they have left the world of self-serving, egocentric narcissism and have entered a safe harbor where people value and esteem others above themselves. Outsiders should enter our homes and never want to leave. Our neighbors should find excuses to visit us just to get another whiff of the fragrant aroma of love. The brokenhearted should long to be near us. The downtrodden and the abused should seek us out. Families on the brink of disaster should point to us and say, “Why can’t out homes be like that?”
– Voddie Baucham
I was recently reading Jonah when I discovered something throughout the book: The thread of the Father’s sovereignty which leads to the Son’s deity.
You can see God’s sovereignty throughout Jonah in the following verses where He displays His majestic control over His creation.
God is sovereign over . . .
1:7 – The lots. (You didn’t really think it was coincidence it revealed Jonah, did you? See Proverbs 16:33.)
1:14, 1:15, 4:8 – The storms and the wind.
1:17, 2:10 – The fish of the sea. (Even the really, really big ones. Who did you think directed the animals onto Noah’s Ark, and who did you think directed the ravens to bring Elijah food in 1 Kings 17:6?)
2:6 – Jonah’s very life.
3:5 – The salvation of an entire city of over 120,000. (This is also known as election.)
3:9, 4:2 – His own anger.
3:10, 4:2 – Calamity. (Yes, even in places like Haiti.)
4:6 – The plants.
4:7 – The insects. (Remember that little plague of insects the Egyptians had to endure prior to the Exodus?)
In the midst of all this, two things stand out to me in these verses that should not be missed.
1). Only God can forgive sins (Psalm 79:9, Isaiah 55:7).
2). Man can’t even control the wind (Ecclesiastes 8:8) but God controls the storms (Psalm 65:7, 89:9, 107:29, 135:7).
When one compares these truths of God the Father with that of His Son we plainly see that the only person to walk this earth that not only controlled storms (Matthew 8:26-27 and Luke 8:24-25) but could forgive sins (Matthew 9:2, Mark 2:5-6, and Luke 5:20-21) was none other than the glorious Mediator between man and God, the perfect spotless Lamb of God, the eternal Son, Emmanuel, Yeshua Ha’Mashiach, God in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you struggle with the doctrine of Limited Atonement, I have just the sermon for you. I am confident that after listening to Grace secured – Limited Atonement, you will now be able to confidently place an “L” smack dab in the middle of your T.U.L.I.P.
Brian Borgman does a fabulous job in demonstrating from Scripture that Christ died for His elect, and not for everyone (e.g. those who reject Him).
You may want to have a pen and paper handy to jot down the copious Scriptural references that Borgman provides (and feel free to share them with DefCon readers in the comments section).
This is part nine of Borgman’s thirteen-part series on the Doctrines of Grace entitled Introduction to the Reformed Faith. Look for the each additional installment every couple weeks.
None of them have ever been found!
From the works of Martin Luther (1483-1546)
What is the whole papacy but a beautiful false front and a deceptively glittering holiness under which the wretched devil lies in hiding? The devil always desires to imitate God in this way. He cannot bear to observe God speaking. If he cannot prevent it or hinder God’s Word by force, he opposes it with a semblance of piety, takes the very words God had spoken and so twist them as to peddle his lies and poison under their name. (What Luther Says, II: 10007)
Since the papal church not only neglects the command of Christ but even compels the people to ignore it and to act against it, it is certain that it is not Christ’s church but the synagogue of Satan which prescribes sin and prohibits righteousness. It clearly and indisputably follows that it must be the abomination of Antichrist and the furious harlot of the devil. (What Luther Says, II: 1019)
The negotiation about doctrinal agreement displeases me altogether, for this is utterly impossible unless the pope has his papacy abolished. Therefore avoid and flee those who seek the middle of the road. Think of me after I am dead and such middle-of-the-road men arise, for nothing good will come of it. There can be no compromise. (What Luther Says, II: 1019)
Read the rest of the article here.
This is the thought that should be uppermost on your mind in all you do for your children. In every step you take about them, in every plan and scheme and arrangement that concerns them, do not leave out that mighty question, “How will this affect their souls?”
– J.C. Ryle
1816 – 1900
So what do you do when you’re preaching to a church full of people and you want to persuade them to believe that a sin (that’s clearly defined in Scripture) isn’t really a sin?
Well, if you’re Jay Bakker, you first go for the shock of it all then follow it up with making the congregation feel stupid. If that doesn’t work, make them feel guilty. And if that still doesn’t work turn on the tears to manipulate their emotions.
And what do you do if none of this works? If you’re the Sundance Channel you make a short video of the incident, insert some sentimental music at just right spot, and make it available to upload to YouTube.
Your sermon of the week is a two part message by John MacArthur entitled Sheep Among Wolves. MacArthur identifies how to spot the wolves, what methods they will use to kill the sheep, and how the sheep should respond to the presence of wolves. I highly recommend this to the readers of DefCon.
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See the DefCon post: Are We Supposed To Pray For The Wolves?
Instead of the Bible’s masculine doctrine of salvation in which an initiating God acts with efficacious love to subdue His chosen people to Himself, much of the church now proclaims a passive God who offers His love but would not think of imposing His love on His bride. The pallid Jesus stands at the door and knocks, hoping we’ll let Him in. God is no longer presented as the very archetype of masculine power and love. This kind of feminized doctrine has contributed to the proliferation of feminized men who stand fearful even before their wives. If God is feminized, what chance do Christian men have?
– Philip Lancaster
Over the past couple years DefCon has compiled a large cache of sermons available for free to download, and every Thursday we feature a new message for our Sermon of the week. So our repository of over 160 sermons continues to grow. Because of this DefCon now features a Sermons Page at the top of this blog for an easy way to get to the many sermons DefCon features.
“The next week,” says the sinner, “I will begin to be sober and temperate, serious and devout.” But the true sense of what he says is this, “I am fully bent to spend this present week in riot and excess, in sensuality and profaneness, or whatever vice it is that I indulge myself in.” And if we do this often, and it becomes our common practice to put off our repentance from time to time, this is a shrewd sign that we never intended to repent at all. . . . It is with the wicked men in this case, as it is with a bankrupt. When his creditors are loud and clamorous, speaking big and threatening high, he answers them with many good words and fair promises. He arranges for them to come another day, entreats their patience but a little longer, and then he will satisfy them all, when all the time the man never intends to pay them one farthing. . . . In the same way men endeavor to pacify and calm their consciences, by telling them they will listen to them another time. All this is only to delude and cheat their consciences with good words and specious pretenses, making them believe they will certainly do what they cannot endure to think of, and what they would fully desire to excuse themselves from.
– Edmund Calamy
1671 – 1732
A very important presentation by Richard Bennett from Bearean Beacon given to an audience in London about Roman Catholic mysticism and its promotion by the Emerging/Emergent Church. From the YouTube posting we read:
Mysticism attempts to gain ultimate knowledge of God by a direct experience that bypasses the mind. Catholic mysticism, now officially married to the Emerging Church, needs to be reexamined. Old-time mystics such as Loyola, Teresa of Avila, and John of the Cross need to be examined again along with modern so-called evangelical mystics such as Richard Foster. All of this, and more, is accomplished in this professional presentation along with graphic inserts of persons and events. An analysis is also made of Phyllis Tickle who has surfaced as a formidable leader of this toxic movement. The fall from power of Tony Jones, a former leading light of the movement, is also documented.
Please watch to get educated on this critically important subject and share with others.
Recently Joel Osteen “blessed” Annise Parker, the new mayor of Houston, Texas who is openly homosexual. (See articles here, here, and here.)
“… We ask that everything we do would bring honor to you … and we just lift up especially Mayor Annise Parker. … Lord, we thank you just for raising her up and just for your goodness, your mercy in her life, and just for supernatural wisdom, Father. We honor her today and our other officials, and Lord, we count it a joy and honor to be here in your presence with all of our friends and we just thank you for this day. In Jesus name, amen.”
This is as mind boggling as the wolf who “blessed” an abortion mill, calling it “sacred ground.”
Ingrid Schlueter hits the nail on the head regarding Joel Osteen with this excerpt from her commentary:
We bring honor to God by asking Him to bless a woman who is living in conduct that He calls an “abomination”? Does Joel Osteen even possess a Bible?
Can you identify which of the following three lyric excerpts come from Christian musical artists and which are from secular musical artists? I admit it won’t be easy, but differentiating between Christian lyrics and worldly lyrics shouldn’t be that difficult, right?
For more, be sure to check out DefCon’s other Christian music lyrics quiz.
1.
Lack of understanding lack of communication
Lack of a desire for expanding education
Lack of inspiration lack of innovation
The fact you can’t respect another mans creation
Lack of motivation lack of restoration
The fact we lack unity and enjoy separation
Lack of destination because you know what I feel
I feel that humans lack the ability to be realDo not tell me what I can and cannot do when I rock
2.
Welcome to the world of a girl named Susie
Susie’s only crime was that she was born a cutie
Physically abused by her uncle and his friends
Alcohol let ’em all leave the house with grins
But Susie couldn’t shake off the memories
Forced to find her own kind of remedy
A man-eater for the rest of her days
Three kids, three men, no daddies by eleventh grade
3.
The secret side of me, I never let you see
I keep it caged but I can’t control it
So stay away from me, the beast is ugly
I feel the rage and I just can’t hold itIt’s scratching on the walls, in the closet, in the halls
It comes awake and I can’t control it
Hiding under the bed, in my body, in my head
Why won’t somebody come and save me from this, make it end?I feel it deep within, it’s just beneath the skin
I must confess that I feel like a monster
I hate what I’ve become, the nightmare’s just begun
I must confess that I feel like a monsterI, I feel like a monster
I, I feel like a monster
Answers . . .
The Law speaks of what man must do for God; grace tells of what Christ has done for men. The Law demanded righteousness from men; grace brings righteousness to men. The Law brought out God to men; grace brings in men to God. The Law sentenced a living man to death; grace brings a dead man to life. The Law never had a missionary; the Gospel is to be preached to every creature. The Law makes known the will of God; grace reveals the heart of God!
– A.W. Pink
1886 – 1952
Christ Alone Wyoming 