As a follow-up to Unworthy 1’s post on the International House of Prayer (found here) I’ve decided to post the following eye-opening video I just discovered. The video is a news piece from CBN and is done in a favorable light (imagine that coming from false prophet Pat Robertson’s broadcasting network).
Not only does IHOP’s Mike Binkle have ties to Bob Jones, but in the beginning of the video the commentator claims that Binkle says that Christ’s return is dependent upon man.
If I had a nickle for every time one of these Charismatic Charlatans claimed that God was powerless or helpless to do what He wants, and He must rely on us for His will to be accomplished, I’d be a rich man.
Your sermon of the week is Sola Gratia – The Supremacy of Grace in Salvation by Brian Borgman. This is part six of a thirteen-part series entitled Introduction to the Reformed Faith that Pastor Borgman gave in 1998. Look for the each additional installment every couple weeks.
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DefCon is changing the day in which the Sermon of the Week will be posted. Instead of posting on Wednesday mornings, DefCon will now be posting your weekly sermon on Thursday mornings. And instead of making you wait till next Thursday (a week and a day from now) we will make this change immediately! So look for your (second) Sermon of the Week tomorrow and then every Thursday morning therafter.
Love is the Queen of the Christian graces. It is a holy disposition given to us when we are born again by God. It is the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. True spiritual love is characterized by meekness and gentleness, yet it is vastly superior to the courtesies and kindnesses of the flesh.
We must be careful not to confuse human sentimentality, carnal pleasantries, human amiability and affability with true spiritual love. The love God commands, first to Himself and then to others, is not human love. It is not the indulgent, self-seeking love which is in us by nature. If we indulgently allow our children to grow up with little or, no Scriptural discipline, Proverbs plainly says we do not love them, regardless of the human sentimentality and affection we may feel for them. Love is not a sentimental pampering of one another with a loose indifference as to our walk and obedience before the Lord. Glossing over one another’s faults to ingratiate ourselves in their esteem is not spiritual love.
The true nature of Christian love is a righteous principle which seeks the highest good of others. It is a powerful desire to promote their welfare. The exercise of love is to be in strict conformity to the revealed will of God. We must love in the truth. Love among the brethren is far more than an agreeable society where views are the same. It is loving them for what we see of Christ in them, loving them for Christ’s sake.
The Lord Jesus Himself is our example. He was not only thoughtful, gentle, self-sacrificing and patient, but He also corrected His mother, used a whip in the Temple, Severely scolded His doubting disciples, and denounced hypocrites. True spiritual love is above all faithful to God and uncompromising towards all that is evil. We cannot declare, ‘Peace and Safety’ when in reality there is spiritual decay and ruin!
True spiritual love is very difficult to exercise because it is not our natural love. By nature we would rather love sentimentally and engender good feelings. Also many times true spiritual love is not received in love, but is hated as the Pharisees hated it. We must pray that God will fill us with His love and enable us to exercise it without dissimulation toward all.
Anyone who has spent any time doing street evangelism knows how discouraging it can be at times. A book I’m reading by Ken Ham and Brit Beemer entitled Already Gone: Why Your Kids Will Quit Church And What You Can Do To Stop Ithelps us to better understand just why evangelism in America is like pushing water up a hill.
For this book 1,000 people in their twenties who used to regularly attend church–as kids and teens (including Sunday school and youth groups) but who no longer darken the door of a church–were polled on the various reasons they no longer attend. Those polled were asked 78 questions in all but one of the more revealing responses came from this question:
Do you believe you are saved and will go to heaven upon death?
Of the group who never attends church: 58.7% said yes.
Of the group who attends church on Christmas and Easter only: 72.2% said yes.
Perhaps this sheds a little light on why it is so difficult to reach the “churched” and “unchurched” with the true gospel of Jesus Christ. You can’t convince a sick man to have an operation if he fails to recognize his illness.
Thief I: One of the greatest time-wasting sins consists of idleness or sloth.
Thief II: The next thief or time-waster is excess of sleep.
Thief III: The next thief or time-waster is an inordinate adorning of the body.
Thief IV: Another time-wasting thief is unnecessary pomp and curiosity in retinue, attendance, house furniture, provision and entertainments, together with excess of compliment and ceremony, and servitude to the humors and expectations of time-wasters.
Thief V: Another time-wasting sin is needless and tedious feastings, gluttony, and tippling. (Tippling – drinking)
Thief VI: Another time-waster is idle talk.
Thief VII: Another thief which by the aforesaid means would steal your time, is vain and sinful company.
Thief VIII: Another notorious time-wasting thief, is needless, inordinate sports and games, which are stigmatized by the offenders themselves, with the infamous name of pastimes, and masked with deceitful title of recreations;
Thief IX: Another time-wasting thief is excess of worldly cares and business.
Thief X: Another time-waster is vain ungoverned and sinful thoughts.
Thief XI: Another dangerous time-waster sin is the reading of vain books, play-books, romances, and feigned histories; and also unprofitable studies, undertaken but for vain-glory, or the pleasing of a carnal or curious mind.
Thief XII: But the master-thief that robs men of their time is an unsancitified, ungodly heart; for this loseth time whatever men are doing; because they never intend the glory of God.
In the creation, man was made in God’s image; in the incarnation God was made in man’s image. . . . He took our flesh that He might take our sins, and so appease God’s wrath. . . . Christ’s taking our flesh was one of the lowest steps of His humiliation. For Christ to be made flesh was more humility than for the angels to be made worms. . . . He stripped Himself of the robes of His glory, and covered Himself with the rags of our humanity.
I recently heard Don Kistler make the statement that “sin is the reason for the season” and he is absolutely right. Christ coming to earth as a human wasn’t for . . .
Your self-esteem . . .
Your personal finances . . .
Your financial success . . .
Your gift exchange party . . .
Your social status . . .
Your temporal happiness . . .
Nope, Jesus came because of your sin and mine. He was the perfect substitution for the object of God’s righteous wrath that we so justly deserve. So this holiday, remember sin is the real reason for the season!
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. Mark 10:45
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21
Your sermon of the week is Christ the Lord by Alistair Begg. This message is from his series The Gospel According to Luke and is a perfect sermon for Christmas. Enjoy.
Similar to the previous post Thanksgiving Perspectives, I wanted to take the opportunity to recommend that you keep the Christmasholiday in perspective. I offer the following two things I believe will help you to do this: Download and listen to this sobering message by Bill Wilson and view the video on this post.
There’s a new purveyor of false doctrine in town, and they’re using the same argument often used by Atheists to deny God’s justice and punishment of the wicked. The New Covenant Group argues against Hell using a famous but woefully ignorant line of argumentation commonly employed by those who deny God’s existence. Before I address this and show you not only the absurdity of the argument but how to easily dismantle it, I want you to watch the following video from NCG to better understand the problem:
Ioriginally found the above video on The Museum of Idolatry and the following was Chris Rosebrough’s commentary:
Here’s a nifty trick used by almost ALL false teachers. Ignore the clear teaching of the Bible and build a straw man argument based upon a distorted view of the evidence (in this case via suppression of clear Biblical data). Then beat up on the straw man that you’ve constructed (that shouldn’t be because hard [sic] straw men don’t fight back). Once the straw man is good and dead then assert your own position as if it were the truth.
That’s precisely what’s happening in this video put out by the “New Covenant Group” that claims there is no hell. Pay REAL CLOSE attention to the fact that NONE of the passages where Jesus teaches the doctrines of God’s wrath and eternal punishment are discussed. Instead, there is only an appeal to an artificially constructed Jesus that was built using only partial data and warped human reasoning.
Chris certainly hit the nail on the head and now I would like to explore this straw man that the thespian and his pastor in the above video concocted.
First of all I want to make it clear that the sovereign, glorious, majestic, holy God of all creation isn’t a grovelling middle-aged, balding man like the theatrical blasphemer in the above video. Secondly, God begs and grovels for no man! Until you begin to understand the infinite holiness and unparalleled awesomeness of God you won’t begin to understand the fallacy of their argument.
The proposition that God wants us to love Him but if we don’t He will then send us to Hell for all eternity is a misrepresentation of the Gospel and is the product of this very poorly constructed straw man.
It’s not a matter of if we don’t love Him then He’ll cast us into Hell, mankind is already going there. There is no neutrality in the issue of man standing before God. God is not wringing His hands hoping someone, somewhere, will love Him. We are born into iniquity, there is no good in us, we are always doing evil, and we do not seek after God (Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 3:11, 23).
Secondly, we are already in judgment. The Bible is clear that the wrath of God already abides on sinners (John 3:36) and that those who do not believe in the Son of God are already judged (John 3:18). We are not floating around this life in a state of neutrality and after our death we’ll then find out if we are going to receive Heaven or Hell. No, we are drudging around this life with the fetters of sin constantly about us. We are tethered to the abyss of Hell from birth because we are born unregenerate and hostile to God; it is our very nature.
Thirdly, their argument is absolutely fallacious because God knows that unless He calls us, we aren’t going to love Him anyway (John 6:44, John 17:2). And every one of us who are His elect, His chosen, His children were on that same road. It wasn’t until God in His infinite grace, mercy, and love toward us (while we were yet still sinners) rescued us from our rebellious and hostile stance against Him.
The concept that God wants us to love Him or He’ll throw us into Hell is a concept absolutely foreign to Scripture and any serious Bible student should know that. This warped depiction of the holy Triune God of all creation by these mockers in the above video is based solely on their blatant misrepresentation of Scripture (or more specifically a total absence of Scripture). And the furtherance of their lie is wholly dependent upon the biblical illiteracy of their church members.
We are not saved by our act of choosing to love God, and conversely we don’t have to refuse to love God to be found guilty and thus be cast into Hell. Without Christ we already stand condemned!
But the good news is that God loved us so much that He offered His only Son as a propitiation for our sins. Jesus Christ took on human form and willingly gave up His life as a perfect substitute to save us from the wrath of God and from the Hell that we so justly deserve. The condition of escaping Hell is not based on our loving God, it is based on the finished work of Christ at Calvary.
The deeper you dig into the mire of Catholicism the more gems you discover. Here is one I would like to share with you about how all the “layman” Catholic apologists of YouTube fame, the Web and elsewhere should be “bound in the fetters of excommunication” as they are violating one of their papal decrees. A decree that is still on the books that forbids public and private disputatations (i.e. debates) with heretics on the Catholic faith. This law of the Catholic land being given by decree of Alexander IV (1254-1261) in “Sextus Decretalium”, Lib. V, c. ii. We read:
We furthermore forbid any lay person to engage in dispute, either private or public, concerning the Catholic Faith. Whosoever shall act contrary to this decree, let him be bound in the fetters of excommunication. [Online source]
So, the next time you are earnestly contending for the faith once delivered unto the saints with a Roman Catholic, you might want to point this little tidbit out to them and see how they react.
O, the work that sin has done in the world! This is the enemy that has brought in death; that has robbed and enslaved man, that has turned the world upside down, and sown the dissensions between man and the creatures, between man and man, yea, between man and himself, setting the physical part against the rational, the will against the judgment, lust against conscience; yea, worst of all, between God and man, making the sinner both hateful to God and the hater of God. This is the traitor that thirsted for the blood of the Son of God, that sold Him, that mocked Him, that scourged Him, that spat in His face, that mangled His body . . . condemned Him, nailed Him, crucified Him. . . . This is the bloody executioner that has killed the prophets, burned the martyrs, murdered all the apostles, all the patriarchs, all the kings and potentates; that has destroyed cities, swallowed empires, and devoured whole nations. Whatever weapon it was done by, it was sin that caused the execution. Do you still think it is only a small thing? If Adam and all his children could be dug out of their graves, and their bodies piled up to heaven, and an inquest was made as to what matchless murderer was guilty of all this, it would be all found in sin.
As a follow-up to Fourpointer’s post from two days ago, I want to direct your attention to a situation that has arisen between Perry Noble’s church and Dr. James Duncan, a vocal critic of Noble.
I will not attempt to rehash the ugly situation here, but will direct you to the following piece written by Dr. Duncan on the matter: Holy Rage at the Spring
I also highly recommend a fantastic two-part podcast from Pirate Christian Radio on this situation. In the first half of part one of this podcast Chris Rosebrough interviews Dr. Duncan regarding the character assassination and wholly unbiblical and non-Christian acts perpetrated against Dr. Duncan by staff of NewsSpring in retaliation to his vocal opposition to Noble. The second half of part one concludes with Rosebrough’s critique of a Perry Noble sermon. Part two of the podcast is Rosebrough’s continuation of this critique.
Frankly, I am not surprised that this whole awful situation has transpired. The current culture that’s being fostered in such churches as NewSpring is that the leader is not to be questioned. When the cults act this way it’s identified as a sign of conditioning and thought-control, but when mega-churches act this way we’re supposed to shut up because Noble’s god told him that those outside of his church who criticize him are jackasses and are to be ignored.
The intolerance and anger that comes from Noble is nothing that his critics should be surprised at. After all, this is the guy, if you’ll recall, who gave a tongue-lashing to his own congregation for expecting their pastor to . . . . well, be a pastor.
Welcome to Laodicea, where peace is defined as the absence of all opposition.
This is the third of a series of four videos on Jesse Duplantis’ utterly heretical teachings that we’re featuring here on DefCon so you can better understand just how sinister the Charismatic Word of Faith movement really is (see parts one here and two here).
In the following video watch how this great deceiver twists yet more Scripture and subtly manipulates his undiscerning followers to believe his Satanically inspired closing point that “there’s nothing man can’t do.”
Come Judgment Day I am certain he will be singing a different tune, but for his biblically illiterate followers it will be too late.
If only his blind followers read the Scriptures for themselves they’d know they were being lied to.
The LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men HAD BUILT.
Genesis 11:5
So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they STOPPED BUILDING the city.
The problem is that the needed reformation within evangelicalism won’t occur at all if false ideas that undermine our core theological convictions cannot be openly attacked and excluded. When peaceful coexistence “with our deepest differences” becomes priority one and conflict per se is demonized as inherently sub-Christian, any and every false religious belief can and will demand an equal voice in the “conversation.”
That has actually been happening for some time already. Listen, for example, to what some of the leading voices in and around the Emergent movement have said. Tony Campolo is a popular speaker and author who has a major influence in evangelical circles. He believes evangelicals should be in dialogue with Islam, seeking common ground. In an interview conducted by Shane Claiborne,Campolo said:
I think that the last election aggravated a significant minority of the evangelical community, believing that they did not want to come across as anti-gay, anti-women, anti-environment, pro war, pro capital punishment, and anti-Islam. There is going to be one segment of evangelicalism, just like there is one segment in Islam that is not going to be interested in dialogue. But there are other evangelicals who will want to talk and establish a common commitment to a goodness with Islamic people and Jewish people particularly.
Brian McLaren is perhaps the best-known figure in the Emergent conversation. He thinks the future of the planet—not to mention the salvation of religion itself (including Christianity)—depends on a cooperative search for the real meaning of Jesus’ message. In McLaren’s assessment, this means an ongoing dialogue between Christians and followers of all other religions. This, he is convinced, is of the utmost urgency:
In an age of global terrorism and rising religious conflict, it’s significant to note that all Muslims regard Jesus as a great prophet, that many Hindus are willing to consider Jesus as a legitimate manifestation of the divine, that many Buddhists see Jesus as one of humanity’s most enlightened people, and that Jesus himself was a Jew, and without understanding his Jewishness, one doesn’t understand Jesus. A shared reappraisal of Jesus’ message could provide a unique space or common ground for urgently needed religious dialogue—and it doesn’t seem an exaggeration to say that the future of our planet may depend on such dialogue. This reappraisal of Jesus’ message may be the only project capable of saving a number of religions, including Christianity.
Indiscriminate congeniality, the quest for spiritual common ground, and peace at any price all naturally have great appeal, especially in an intellectual climate where practically the worst gaffe any thoughtful person could make is claiming to know what’s true when so many other people think something else is true. Besides, dialogue does sound nicer than debate. Who but a fool wouldn’t prefer a calm conversation instead of conflict and confrontation?
In fact, let’s state this plainly once more: Generally speaking, avoiding conflicts is a good idea. Warmth and congeniality are normally preferable to cold harshness. Civility, compassion, and good manners are in short supply these days, and we ought to have more of them. Gentleness, a soft answer, and a kind word usually go farther than an argument or a rebuke. That which edifies is more helpful and more fruitful in the long run than criticism. Cultivating friends is more pleasant and more profitable than crusading against enemies. And it’s ordinarily better to be tender and mild rather than curt or combative—especially to the victims of false teaching.
But those qualifying words are vital: usually, ordinarily, generally. Avoiding conflict is not always the right thing. Sometimes it is downright sinful. Particularly in times like these, when almost no error is deemed too serious to be excluded from the evangelical conversation, and while the Lord’s flock is being infiltrated by wolves dressed like prophets, declaring visions of peace when there is no peace (cf. Ezekiel 13:16). Even the kindest, gentlest shepherd sometimes needs to throw rocks at the wolves who come in sheep’s clothing.
We cannot prescribe how God should be glorified. . . . How have men fooled themselves and dishonored God in the matter of worship! They invent and prescribe forms and modes, when they have no ground to believe that He will accept them. . . . We must not determine these things ourselves, as to how, when, where, whom we please, for this would dishonor rather than credit the cause of God, because this matter wholly depends upon His pleasure. Now anything of our will would . . . subtract from that divine symmetry and concord which encompasses the wisdom, holiness, power, and sovereign grace of God. And we might as well teach Him how He should govern the world, as how He should dispose of us. . . . God is not glorified but in His own way.
In the comment thread of another post, reader “David T” linked to a revealing article on Mark Driscoll from the blog The Christian Worldview which I wished to highlight in this post. You can read it here:
I caution you, however, that discretion is needed because the article quotes Mark Driscoll heavily. It’s unfortunate I have to provide a caution regarding what comes out of the mouth of a “minister,” but these are the times in which we live.
I hope that the article linked above will help those who are on the fence in regards to Driscoll. But beware, you may feel the need to take a shower after reading some of Driscoll’s quotes.
And for those who feel the need to defend their man Driscoll, before you leave your comments you must first reconcile Driscoll’s speech with the following Scriptures, or don’t expect your comments to be approved.
A worthless person, a wicked man, is the one who walks with a perverse mouth . . . Proverbs 6:12
The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverted mouth, I hate. Proverbs 8:13
The lips of the righteous bring forth what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked what is perverted. Proverbs 10:32
Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than he who is perverse in speech and is a fool. Proverbs 19:1
Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us. Titus 2:6-8
Your sermon of the week is 
In the creation, man was made in God’s image; in the incarnation God was made in man’s image. . . . He took our flesh that He might take our sins, and so appease God’s wrath. . . . Christ’s taking our flesh was one of the lowest steps of His humiliation. For Christ to be made flesh was more humility than for the angels to be made worms. . . . He stripped Himself of the robes of His glory, and covered Himself with the rags of our humanity.
We cannot prescribe how God should be glorified. . . . How have men fooled themselves and dishonored God in the matter of worship! They invent and prescribe forms and modes, when they have no ground to believe that He will accept them. . . . We must not determine these things ourselves, as to how, when, where, whom we please, for this would dishonor rather than credit the cause of God, because this matter wholly depends upon His pleasure. Now anything of our will would . . . subtract from that divine symmetry and concord which encompasses the wisdom, holiness, power, and sovereign grace of God. And we might as well teach Him how He should govern the world, as how He should dispose of us. . . . God is not glorified but in His own way.
Christ Alone Wyoming 