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9/15/2023     Yesterday     Tomorrow


Daniel 1 - 3



Daniel 1

Daniel Taken to Babylon

Daniel 1:1     In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. 3 Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, 4 youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. 5 The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. 6 Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. 7 And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.

Daniel’s Faithfulness

8 But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. 9 And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, 10 and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” 11 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12 “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” 14 So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food. 16 So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.

17 As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 18 At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. 20 And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. 21 And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.

Daniel 2

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

Daniel 2:1     In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. 2 Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. 3 And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” 4 Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” 5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins. 6 But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” 7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.” 8 The king answered and said, “I know with certainty that you are trying to gain time, because you see that the word from me is firm— 9 if you do not make the dream known to me, there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the times change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.” 10 The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. 11 The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

12 Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. 13 So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them. 14 Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. 15 He declared to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the decree of the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. 16 And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.

God Reveals Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, 18 and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20 Daniel answered and said:

“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
to whom belong wisdom and might.
21  He changes times and seasons;
he removes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding;
22  he reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what is in the darkness,
and the light dwells with him.
23  To you, O God of my fathers,
I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and might,
and have now made known to me what we asked of you,
for you have made known to us the king’s matter.”

24 Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.”

25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus to him: “I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” 26 The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” 27 Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: 29 To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. 30 But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind.

Daniel Interprets the Dream

31 “You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. 32 The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

36 “This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. 37 You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, 38 and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are the head of gold. 39 Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. 40 And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these. 41 And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, 45 just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”

Daniel Is Promoted

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him. 47 The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” 48 Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king’s court.

Daniel 3

Nebuchadnezzar’s Golden Image

Daniel 3:1     King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 2 Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3 Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4 And the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 5 that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.” 7 Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

The Fiery Furnace

8 Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. 9 They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! 10 You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. 11 And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. 12 There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. 20 And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. 22 Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.

24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25 He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

The refiner is never far from the mouth of the furnace when his gold is in the fire, and the Son of God is always walking in the midst of the flames when his holy children are cast into them. Yet he that knows the frailty of man will little wonder that when we are sharply exercised, we find it hard to bear the apparent neglect of the Lord when he forbears to work our deliverance.  The Treasury of David (3 Volumes Set)

26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. 27 And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. 28 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

ESV Study Bible


What I'm Reading

Why Would God Send Good People to Hell?

By J. Warner Wallace 9/13/2017

     I’ve been blogging recently on the existence and nature of Hell and, unsurprisingly, I’ve received tremendous response from Christians and non-Christians alike (much of it hostile). The topic polarizes believers and unbelievers. Many Christians struggle to correlate God’s mercy with a place of permanent justice, while others prefer to believe God would annihilate rebellious souls rather than assign them to Hell eternally. Non-believers often point to the apparent unfairness of God related to those who either reject Jesus or haven’t heard of Him. After all, there are millions of good people in the world who are not Christians. Is it fair for God to penalize people who are otherwise good? A good God would not send good people to Hell, would He?

     Here’s the good news: God will not send good people to Hell; of this we can be sure. But, here’s the bad news: “good” people are far rarer than most skeptics (and many Christians) are willing to admit. The Christian worldview describes the true nature of humans and the incredible sovereignty of God, and once these truths are understood, no one will expect their own “goodness” to merit Heaven:

     People (By Their Very Nature) Are Not “Good” | We don’t have to teach our infants to be selfish, impatient, rude and self-serving; infants must be taught just the opposite. We don’t come into the world equipped automatically with sacrificial “goodness”. We must be taught how to love, how to think beyond our own needs and desires, how to share and how to appreciate others. The daily news headlines are filled with examples of young men and women who were not taught how to love and respect the law. When young people are not nurtured and trained in this way, they default back to their innate nature. And if we are honest with ourselves, each of us must admit we often have difficulty controlling our anger, our lust, or our pride. We are inherently fallen creatures, trying our best to constrain our fallen nature. The Bible simply recognizes the innately fallen nature of humans (as described in Romans 3:10-18).

(Ro 3:10–18) 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” ESV

     Heaven (By Its Very Nature) Is “Perfect | If there is a God, He is responsible for creating everything in the Universe. This means that God created matter from non-matter and life from non-life. If this is true, God has incredible, infinite, and unspeakable power. With muscle like that, God surely has the power to eliminate imperfection. This is why, as Christians, we believe that God is perfect; He has the ability to eliminate imperfection. The Christian God is not a “good God” after all. He is a “perfect God”. His standard is not “goodness”, it is “perfection”. The real question that each of us has to ask ourselves is not “Are we good?”, but “Are we perfect?” Can any of us answer in the affirmative here? Even if we reject the teaching of the Bible, but accept the possibility that there may be an all-powerful God, we must acknowledge that His standard will be perfection and that we will ultimately fall short of this standard.

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J. Warner Wallace is a Cold-Case Detective, a Christian Case Maker, and the author of:

God Didn’t Write a Book

By Tim Challies 9/14/2017

     The Bible is a book—God’s book. Even a child knows this, right? Except that the Bible isn’t a book. Not really.

     The Bible was at first oral transmission passed from person to person, events and conversations observed, remembered, and shared. But it was still the Bible.

     Then the Bible was a collection of scrolls, each containing a single letter or history or group of psalms. But it was still the Bible.

     Then the Bible was a series of codices, large sheets of vellum folded in half and tied together along the fold. But it was still the Bible.

     Then, at last, the Bible was printed on paper and bound between two covers. And only now was the Bible a book. It took the printing press to make the Bible a book, but it didn’t take the printing press to make the Bible the Bible.

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     Tim Challies: I am a Christian, a husband to Aileen and a father to three children aged 10 to 16. I worship and serve as an elder at Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto, Ontario. I am a book reviewer, co-founder of Cruciform Press.

     I began my web site in 2002 and have been writing there daily since 2003. It is my place to think out loud and in public while also sharing some of the interesting things I’ve discovered in my online travels.

     Tim Challies is founding blogger of Challies.com and a pastor at Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto. You can follow him on Twitter @Challies. He began his web site in 2002 and has been writing there daily since 2003. It is his place to think out loud and in public while also sharing some of the interesting things he discovers in his online travels.


     Tim Challies Books  |  Go to Books Page

An Intro To Daniel     Charles Dyer

By Charles Dyer

     THE NAME “Daniel” means “God [is] my Judge.” Daniel was deported to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar in 605 B.C. It is possible that Daniel was a member of Judah’s royal family (1:3; see Isa. 39:6–7). Daniel’s ministry was that of a statesman in Babylon. Thus his book is listed in the Hebrew Bible among the “Writings” rather than the “Prophets.”

     The date this book was written can be determined through some internal chronological markers. Daniel was taken to Babylon in 605 B.C. (Dan. 1:1), and his rise to prominence came in 603 B.C. (2:1). The latest dated prophecy in the book was “in the third year of Cyrus” (10:1) which was 536 B.C. Thus Daniel’s ministry spanned a period of about sixty-nine years (605–536 B.C.).

     Some scholars have objected to such an early date for the writing of the book, arguing instead that the book was composed almost four centuries later. Their objections (and a conservative response to those objections) follow:

A.     “The Book of Daniel is included in the Writings instead of among the Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, thus suggesting a late date.” However, the book is placed among the Writings because of Daniel’s office as a statesman in Babylon, not because of a later date of composition.

B.     “Several historical inaccuracies in the book indicate that the writer was unfamiliar with the historical situation and thus must have composed the book sometime after the time period in question.” However, the suppposed “historical inaccuracies” have been refuted by archaeology. For example, in Daniel 5 King Belshazzar of Babylon offered Daniel the position of “third highest ruler in the kingdom” (5:16). Belshazzar could offer nothing higher because he reigned as coregent with his father Nabonidus. The record of Belshazzar’s coregency had been lost by the time of Heroditus (around 450 B.C.) and was not discovered until recently. Thus Daniel must have been composed before 450 B.C., while knowledge of this fact was still available.

C.     “The Book of Daniel uses several Greek loan words, which points to a composition after 330 B.C. when the Greek language spread throughout the Middle East.” However, the Greek words can be explained by their function. The Greek words found in Daniel describe musical instruments (3:5), and it is well known that musical instruments crossed national boundaries. Also records indicate that Greeks were sold into slavery in Babylon and Persia as early as 700 B.C.

D.     “The book records the rise of the Greek Empire, which took place about 330 B.C.” This argument assumes that predictive prophecy is not possible. If one allows God to foretell the rise of Persia, Greece, and Rome, then there is no problem with Daniel predicting these nations even though he lived during the kingdom of Babylon. God specifically claimed to be revealing “what will happen in days to come” (2:28). The final vision of the book contains detailed predictions of events that occured hundreds of years after Daniel. The vision was introduced by God’s angelic messenger, who announced that “the vision concerns a time yet to come” (10:14).

Isaiah 46:10 (NASB95) Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;

     Events recorded in the Book of Daniel occurred in “the times of the Gentiles.” Daniel and his three friends were taken into captivity in 605 B.C. as part of Nebuchadnezzar’s first deportation of Jews from Jerusalem (1:1–7). Daniel assumed that “the times of the Gentiles” had begun (Nebuchadnezzar himself was the “head of gold” that began the statue of Gentile kingdoms; chapter 2), and Daniel did not record any information about the final days of Judah such as Jerusalem’s destruction in 586 B.C.

     Daniel wrote to the Jews in captivity during “the times of the Gentiles.” These Jews were under gentile domination and influence and without a king from David’s line. Daniel’s message was a message of hope to all Jews awaiting the Messiah and God’s kingdom on earth.

     Daniel’s purpose in writing blended the two themes of prophecy and piety. He wrote first to show God’s future program for the nation of Israel (in light of her fall) during and after “the times of the Gentiles.” Second, he wrote to show what the believers’ present response should be as they await the coming kingdom of God. Daniel encouraged his readers to remain faithful to God in a hostile society while they waited for God’s promised kingdom. --- Charles Dyer

By John Walvoord (1990)

The Predictive Character of Jesus’ High Priestly Power

     John 17:1–26. John 17 is a marvelous revelation of how Jesus prayed to the Father. Though, strictly speaking, it is not prophecy, the fact that all of His prayers will be answered indicates the prophetic future for the disciples in many particulars. In His prayer, Jesus rejoiced that God had given Him authority to give eternal life. Jesus asked that His ministry would glorify the Father and that the Father, in turn, would glorify the Son (vv.  2–5 ). Jesus rejoiced that the disciples had come to faith in Him and that they had regarded Him as coming from God, believing that Jesus had been sent by the Father (vv.  6–8 ).

     Jesus then prayed for the disciples. Because He no longer would be in the world once He went to the Father, He asked the Father to protect the disciples and give them a unity similar to the unity of the Trinity (vv.  10–11 ). Jesus rejoiced that He had kept all the disciples except Judas Iscariot (v.  12 ).

     The objective of Jesus’ prayer was that the disciples would have the full joy of fellowship with Him (v.  13 ). Though they were hated by the world, Jesus prayed that God would protect them from “the evil one” (vv.  14–15 ). As the disciples would have the task of witnessing to an evil world, Jesus prayed for their sanctification: “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified” (vv.  17–19 ).

     This prayer for sanctification is unusual, for in the Bible, sanctification normally relates to a Christian’s position in Christ as embodied in the word saint and other aspects of truth. The ongoing, progressive sanctification of believers is mentioned only occasionally in Scripture and is related to this prayer of Christ that the disciples may be sanctified — that is, set apart as holy to God and used by God as a holy entity (vv.  17–19 ).

     Jesus, however, prayed also for those who were not among the disciples at that time, having in view the larger outreach of the church to Gentiles as well as Jews. He prayed that all believers will be one in Christ (vv.  20–21 ). Their unity will be in the fact that the Father is in them and they are in the Father (v.  21 ). Jesus spoke again of the unity of believers, a theme running through the entire prayer. Jesus said, “I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (v.  23 ).

     Having prayed for His disciples who would remain in the world, He asked that they will be in glory and see the glory of Christ: “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the Creation of the world” (v.  24 ). The prayer concluded with Christ’s anticipation that the love between the Father and the Son will characterize the love of believers (vv.  25–26 ).

     The high priestly prayer of Christ emphasized the glory of God, the love relationship between the Father and the Son and the disciples, provision for the disciples’ protection in the wicked world, the joy of being a disciple, their progressive sanctification through the truth of God, and the theme of unity in the Father, the Son, and the believers in Christ, which is one of the unusual features of the church age.

Jesus’ Arrest and Betrayal

     John 18:1–11; Matthew 26:36–56; Mark 14:32–50; Luke 22:39–53. Jesus and His disciples had gone to a garden across the brook Kidron, and there Judas found Him as he was leading a detachment of soldiers to arrest Jesus ( John 18:1–3 ). As they arrested Him, however, Jesus urged them to let the disciples go (vv.  4–8 ).  John added the comment, “This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: ‘I have not lost one of those you gave me’” (v.  9 ). Peter, in his zeal to defend Christ, cut off the high priest’s servant’s ear. Jesus rebuked Peter, however, and healed and restored the ear ( Luke 22:49–51 ).

Jesus’ Arrest and Peter’s Denial as Fulfillment of Scripture

     John 18:12–19:16. John’s account of the trial and condemnation of Jesus leading up to His crucifixion is not in itself prophecy but fulfilled predictions in both the Old and New Testaments concerning the fact that Jesus would die.

The Crucifixion of Jesus as Fulfillment of Prophesy

     John 19:16–37. In giving the details of the crucifixion of Christ, John pointed out that there are several fulfillments of prophecy. One concerns the seamless garment of Christ, for which they cast lots as was predicted in  Psalm 22:18: “They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing”John 19:24 ).

     When Jesus declared, “I am thirsty”John 19:28 ),  John also mentioned that Scripture had been fulfilled. He was referring to  Psalm 69:21. Jesus, the One who could give the water of life ( John 4:14; 7:38–39 ), here was suffering for the sins of the world. With His final statement, “It is finished”19:30 ), Jesus indicated that He had completed the work of redemption and the price had been paid in full.

The Death and Resurrection of Christ as Fulfillment of Scripture

     John 19:31–42; cf.  Matthew 27:51–66; Mark 15:33–47; Luke 23:45–49. The fact that they did not break Jesus’ legs ( John 19:32–33 ) fulfilled the Scriptures: “Not one of His bones will be broken” (v.  36; cf. the prediction in  Ex. 12:46; Num. 9:12; Ps. 34:20 ).  John also quoted Scripture: “They will look on the one they have pierced” ( John 19:37; cf.  Zech. 12:10 ).

Exodus 12:46 (ESV) 46 It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones.

Numbers 9:12 (ESV) 12 They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break any of its bones; according to all the statute for the Passover they shall keep it.

Psalm 34:20 (ESV) 20 He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.

Zechariah 12:10 (ESV) 10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.

     The fact that Jesus was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea fulfilled the allusion in  Isaiah 53:9, which indicated that He would be buried with the rich.

The Resurrection as Fulfillment of Prophecy

     John 20:1–18; cf.  Matthew 28:1–15; Mark 16:1–14; Luke 24:1–32. In His resurrection, Christ fulfilled prophecies of the Old and New Testaments. Jesus revealed Himself first to Mary Magdalene ( Mark 16:9–11; John 20:11–18 ); to the women returning a second time to the tomb ( Matt. 28:8–10 ); to Peter ( Luke 24:34; 1 Cor. 15:5 ); to the disciples on the road to Emmaus ( Mark 16:12; Luke 24:30–32 ); to the disciples on the day of His resurrection in the evening, though Thomas was absent ( Mark 16:14; Luke 24:36–43; John 20:19–25 ); and a week later to all the disciples, including Thomas ( John 20:26–31; 1 Cor. 15:5 ).

     Though the events of His resurrection were a fulfillment of prophecy, Jesus Himself did not introduce many new prophecies in  John 20. In His conversation with Mary Magdalene, Jesus told her He was ascending to God the Father, and it was not proper for her to hold Him to the earth. His ascension took place forty days later ( Acts 1:9–10 ). In  John 20:23 He told the disciples, “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” The disciples had the power to acknowledge that sins were forgiven, but on the same basis as other Christians — that is, on the basis of the Word of God and its promises.

Appearances Of Jesus After The Resurrection

1.     To Mary Magdalene when she returned to the tomb ( John 20:11–17; cf. Mark 16:9–11 ).

2.     To the other women as they were returning to the tomb a second time ( Matt. 28:9–10 ).

3.     To Peter in the afternoon of resurrection day ( Luke 24:34; 1 Cor. 15:5 ).

4.     To the disciples on the road to Emmaus ( Mark 16:12–13; Luke 24:13–35 ).

5.     To the ten disciples ( Mark 16:14; Luke 24:36–43; John 20:19–23 ).

6.     To the eleven disciples a week after His resurrection, Thomas being present ( John 20:26–29 ).

7.     To the seven disciples by the Sea of Galilee ( John 21:1–23 ).

8.     To five hundred people as reported by Paul ( 1 Cor. 15:6 ).

9.     To James, the Lord’s brother ( 1 Cor. 15:7 ).

10.     To the eleven disciples on a mountain in Galilee ( Matt. 28:16–20; Mark 16:15–18 ).

11.     At the time of His ascension from the Mount of Olives ( Luke 24:44–53; Acts 1:3–9 ).

12.     To Stephen at the time of his martyrdom ( Acts 7:55–56 ).

13.     To Paul on the road to Damascus ( Acts 9:3–6; 22:6–11; 26:13–18 ).

14.     To Paul in Arabia ( Gal. 1:12, 17 ).

15.     To Paul in the temple ( Acts 22:17–21 ).

16.     To Paul in the prison in Caesarea ( Acts 23:11 ).

17.     To the apostle John at the beginning of the revelation given to him ( Rev. 1:12–20 ).

Jesus’ Final Appearances to the Disciples

     John 21. An additional appearance of Christ occurred a week after His resurrection when He met several of the disciples by the Sea of Galilee (vv.  1–2 ). In His touching interview with Peter relative to Peter’s love for Him, Jesus added the prophecy, “I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go” (v.  18 ). The prophecy indicated that Peter would be crucified (v.  19 ).

     The gospel of John closed with the statement, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (v.  25 ).

          __________________________________________________________________

Every Prophecy of the Bible: Clear Explanations for Uncertain Times

The Coming of the Kingdom part 25

By Dr. Andrew Woods 11/28/2014

Evangelical Confusion

Today's evangelical world largely believes that the church is experiencing the Messianic kingdom. To address this type of confusion, we began a study chronicling what the Bible teaches about the kingdom. In this series, the biblical teaching on the kingdom has been surveyed from  Genesis to  Revelation. We have noted thus far that what the Old Testament predicts concerning an earthly kingdom was offered to Israel during Christ's First Advent. Yet, the nation rejected this kingdom offer leading to the kingdom's postponement. In the interim, the kingdom is future as God now pursues an interim program that includes the church.

In addition, we began scrutinizing a series of texts that "kingdom now" theologians routinely employ in order to argue that the kingdom is a present reality in order to show that none of these passages, when rightly understood, teach a present, spiritual form of the kingdom. We began with the use of alleged "kingdom now" texts in the earthly ministry of Christ, such as "the kingdom of heaven is at hand"Matt. 3:2; 4:17; 10:5-7 ), "seek first His kingdom"Matt. 6:33 ), "until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence"Matt. 11:12 ), "the kingdom of God has come upon you"Matt. 12:28 ), "the kingdom of God is in your midst"Luke 17:21 ), "unless one is born again he cannot...enter into the kingdom of God"John 3:3-5 ), "some...who are standing here...will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom"Matt. 16:28 ), "the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it"Matt. 21:43 ), and "My kingdom is not of this world"John 18:36 ).

All Authority Has Been Given To Me In Heaven And On Earth

A final statement by Christ that is used by "kingdom now" theologians is found in  Matthew 28:18-20. These famous verses, typically known as the Great Commission, say, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Those who teach that the Davidic Kingdom is a present reality often utilize these verses to substantiate their theology. These verses seem prominent in the thinking of Progressive Dispensationalists, who maintain that the Davidic Kingdom is present in spiritual form as Jesus now reigns from David's Throne from heaven over the church. While still holding to a future or "not yet" earthly reign of Christ following Christ's Second Advent, Progressive Dispensationalists still argue that the Davidic Kingdom is "already" here in spiritual form. Progressive Dispensationalists lean heavily on Christ's remark, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth"Matt. 28:18 ). Of this verse, leading Progressive Dispensationalist Darrell Bock says:

The point made here is like that of  Matthew 28:18, where all authority resides with Jesus, who has formed a community through which He provides spiritual blessing. This is the first stage of the kingdom program. Nonetheless, the demonstration of full authority awaits his return.[1]

Elsewhere Bock similarly observes:

...the biblical terminology and conceptual field (even the name Christ) show that the authority of Jesus is received now ( Matthew 28:18-20... ) and involves the exercise of that authority at certain key soteriological points. Jesus' executive authority in a variety of areas as shown in this listing indicates that His activity is messianic, and thus regal, not merely high priestly...If it is messianic and Davidic, then it is regal and indicates initial manifestations of Jesus' rule. [2]

However, for at least five reasons, there does not seem to be enough in this passage to construct a theology entailing a present, spiritual form of the Davidic Kingdom. First, the word "kingdom" (basileia) is absent from the context. The Gospels employ this word many times when speaking of the kingdom's nearness or its ultimate establishment ( Matt. 3:2; 4:17; 10:7; 24:14; 25:34; 26:29; Luke 10:9 ). Thus, we might expect the use of this important term somewhere in the immediate context had it been Christ's intention to here clearly convey a present, spiritual establishment of the Davidic Kingdom.

Second, the present age has little in common with the prophesied Davidic Kingdom. The prophesied Davidic Kingdom will be an age when Christ will rule in perfect justice with a rod of iron ( Rev. 12:5 ). In that day, all rebellion will be instantaneously judged ( Zech. 14:16-18; Rev. 20:7-9 ). By contrast, what is predicted for the present Church Age is ever increasing apostasy.  Second Timothy 3:1 says, "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come."  Second Timothy 3:13 explains, "But evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." Thus, Paul in this final letter anticipates an increasing drifting away from truth throughout the Church Age. Paul also predicted this coming apostasy in the presence of the Ephesian elders ( Acts 20:29-31 ).

If we are now in the Davidic Kingdom, then the deplorable spiritual condition of the churches in  Revelation 2-3 is inexplicable. Five of these seven churches in Asia Minor are in an apostate condition. Some may question whether it is possible that Christ's church could so depart from truth that she is no longer governed by Him. Yet this very scenario was what was transpiring within the Laodicean church ( Rev. 3:14-22 ). Here, Christ is depicted as standing outside the door of the church, knocking on the door, and seeking re-entry ( Rev. 3:20 ). Evangelists often explain this verse as Christ standing outside the heart of the unbeliever, knocking on the heart, and inviting the unbeliever to become a Christian. This is not a correct representation of the verse's context. Rather, it represents a church that has so apostatized from truth that Christ has been dethroned as the church's governing authority. Consequently, Christ is portrayed as standing outside the door of His own church seeking re-admittance as ruler of His own people. In fact, "Laodicea" means "ruled by the people." Newell observes, "The name comes from laos, people, and dikao, to rule: the rule of the people: 'democracy,' in other words." [3] Do these sad realities epitomize an "already" phase of the Davidic kingdom? Is what was happening in Corinth representative of the Davidic reign? Is the carnality and immaturity that is so prevalent in the typical local church ( 1 Cor. 3:1-3; Heb. 5:11-14 ) Christ's Davidic reign? These present realities do not correspond with what David was promised concerning the Messiah ruling with a rod of iron in perfect justice ( Ps. 2:9 ). A proper understanding of the biblical predictions concerning Church Age apostasy represents a worldview that is diametrically opposed to "kingdom now" theology. The only way "kingdom now" theology can be defended is to ignore what the New Testament predicts and describes concerning the church's apostasy.

Third, as noted throughout this series, a terrestrial, geo-political element involving national Israel is always included in the Old Testament's kingdom presentation. Such an abrupt change from understanding the kingdom as encompassing this physical reality to solely a spiritual reality of Jesus reigning in the church is tantamount to hermeneutically changing horses in midstream. Why would Christ introduce such a radical transition without any in-depth commentary explaining that such a transition was underway?

Fourth, the mere fact that Jesus was granted all authority just prior to His Ascension does not mean that He was exercising this authority in a regal sense. In other words, receiving authority ( Matt. 28:18 ) and exercising authority are two completely different things. The author of the Book of  Hebrews indicates that Christ in His present session following His Ascension was not yet exercising authority in His Davidic reign when he observes, "but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet" ( Heb. 10:12-13 ). By here citing  Psalm 110:1 with its inclusion of the word "until" (heos), the writer communicates that Christ had not yet entered the time in history when He will exercise authority over His enemies, which will be accomplished in His Davidic reign. Another commentary notes, "All authority has been given to Jesus, although He is not yet exercising all of it ( Phil. 2:9-11; Heb. 2:5-9; 10:12, 13; Rev. 3:21 ). He will manifest this power when He returns in all His glory ( Matt. 19:28; 1 Cor. 15:27, 28; Eph. 1:10 )." [4]

Fifth, in context, Christ is exercising limited authority, not in His Davidic reign but rather in energizing the church to fulfill the Great Commission.  Matthew 28:18 cannot be divorced from verses  19-20, which say, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." In fact, the word "therefore" (oun) at the beginning of verse  19 connects verses  19-20 back to verse  18. Because Christ had been granted all authority following His Resurrection, He used that authority in a limited sense only, not to establish His Davidic Kingdom in spiritual form but rather to empower the church to fulfill the Great Commission. The Great Commission is not to be confused with the Davidic Kingdom through Israel because "Instead of sending His disciples back to the house of Israel, they were sent into all the world." [5]

Continue Reading (Part 26 on Sept 16 web page)

ENDNOTES
[1] Darrell Bock, "The Reign of the Lord Christ," in Dispensationalism, Israel, and the Church, ed. Craig Blaising and Darrell Bock (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992), 61.

[2] Darrell Bock, "Covenants in Progressive Dispensationalism," in Three Central Issues in Contemporary Dispensationalism: A Comparison of Traditional & Progressive Views, ed. Hebert Bateman (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1999), 223.

[3] William Newell, The Book of the Revelation (Chicago: Moody, 1935), 75. See also Robert Thomas, Revelation 1–7 (Chicago: Moody, 1992), 296.

[4] Earl Radmacher, Ronald Allen, and H. Wayne House, eds., Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1999), 1202.

[5] Tim LaHaye, ed. Prophecy Study Bible: King James Version (Chattanooga: AMG, 2001), 1163.

     Dr. Andrew Woods Books

Note I copied this article from The Bible Prophecy Blog.

Dr. Andrew Woods Ministry Page, YouTube Channel, and Church.

Boldness at the Throne of Grace (Prayer)

By Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)

     O GOD! we would not speak to Thee as from a distance, nor stand like trembling Israel under the law at a distance from the burning mount, for we have not come unto Mount Sinai, but unto Mount Sion, and that is a place for holy joy and thankfulness, and not for terror and bondage. Blessed be Thy name, O Lord! We have learnt to call Thee "Our Father, which art in heaven"; so there is reverence, for Thou art in heaven ; but there is sweet familiarity, for Thou art our Father.

     We would draw very near to Thee now through Jesus Christ the Mediator, and we would make bold to speak to Thee as a man speaketh with his friend, for hast Thou not said by Thy Spirit, " Let us come boldly unto the throne of the heavenly grace." We might well start away and flee from Thy face if we only remembered our sinfulness. Lord! we do remember it with shame and sorrow ; we are grieved to think we should have offended Thee, should have neglected so long Thy sweet love and tender mercy ; but we have now returned unto the "shepherd and bishop of our souls." Led by such grace, we look to Him whom we crucified, and we have mourned for Him and then have mourned for our sin.

     Now, Lord, we confess our guilt before Thee with tenderness of heart, and we pray Thee seal home to every believer here that full and free, that perfect and irreversible charter of forgiveness which Thou gavest to all them that put their trust in Jesus Christ. Lord ! Thou hast said it : " If we confess our sins. Thou art merciful and just to forgive us our sins and to save us from all imrighteousness." There is the sin confessed : there is the ransom accepted : we therefore know we have peace with God, and we bless that glorious one who hath come "to finish transgression, to make an end of sin," to bring in everlasting righteousness, which righteousness by faith we take unto ourselves and Thou dost impute unto us.

     Now, Lord, wilt Thou be pleased to cause all Thy children's hearts to dance within them for joy ? Oh ! help Thy people to come to Jesus again today. May we be looking unto Him to-day as we did at the first. May we never take off our eyes from His Divine person, from His infinite merit, from His finished work, from His living power, or from the expectancy of His speedy coming to "judge the world in righteousness and the people with His truth."

     Bless all Thy people with some special gift, and if we might make a choice of one it would be this : "Quicken us, O Lord, according to Thy Word." We have life; give it to us more abundantly. Oh, that we might have so much life that out of the midst of us there might flow rivers of living water. The Lord make us useful. Do, dear Saviour, use the very least among us; take the one talent and let it be put out to interest for the great Father. May it please Thee to show each one of us what Thou wouldest have us to do. In our families, in our business, in the walks of ordinary life may we be serving the Lord, and may we often speak a word for His name, and help in some way to scatter the light amongst the ever-growing darkness ; and ere we go hence may we have sown some seed which we shall bring with us on our shoulders in the form of sheaves of blessing.

     O God! bless our Sunday-schools, and give a greater interest in such work, that there may be no lack of men and women who shall be glad and happy in the work of teaching the young. Do impress this, we pray Thee, upon Thy people just now. Move men who have gifts and ability also to preach the Gospel. There are many that live in villages, and there is no gospel preaching near them. Lord ! set them preaching themselves. Wilt Thou move some hearts so powerfully that their tongues cannot be quiet any longer, and may they attempt in some way, either personally or by supporting some one, to bring the gospel into dark benighted hamlets that the people may know the truth.

     O Lord ! stir up the dwellers in this great, great city. Oh ! arouse us to the spiritual destitution of the masses. O God, help us all by some means, by any means, by every means to get at the ears of men for Christ's sake that so we may reach their hearts. We would send up an exceeding great and bitter cry to Thee on behalf of the millions that enter no place of worship, but rather violate its sanctity and despise its blessed message. Lord ! wake up London, we beseech Thee. Send us another Jonah ; send us another John the Baptist. Oh ! that the Christ Himself would send forth multitudes of labourers amongst this thick standing corn, for the harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few. O God ! save this city ; save this country ; save all countries ; and let Thy kingdom come; may every knee bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

     Our most earnest prayers go up to heaven to Thee now for great sinners, for men and women that are polluted and depraved by the filthiest of sins. With sovereign mercy make a raid amongst them. Come and capture some of these that they may become great lovers of Him that shall forgive them, and may they become great champions for the cross.

     Lord, look upon the multitudes of rich people in this city that know nothing about the gospel and do not wish to know. Oh ! that somehow the poor rich might be rich with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And then, Lord, look upon the multitude of the poor and the working classes that think religion to be a perfectly unnecessary thing for them. Do, by some means we pray Thee, get them to think and bring them to listen that faith may come by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

     Above all, O Holy Spirit, descend more mightily. Would, God, Thou wouldest flood the land till there should be streams of righteousness ; for is there not a promise, " I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground." Lord, set Thy people praying; stir up the Church to greater prayerfulness.

     Now, as Thou hast bidden us, we pray for the people among whom we dwell. We pray for those in authority in the land, asking every blessing for the Sovereign, and Thy guidance and direction to the Parliament, Thy benediction to all judges and rulers as also upon the poorest of the poor and the lowest of the low. Lord, bless the people ; let the people praise Thee, O God ! yea, let all the people praise Thee, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen and Amen.

The Unreasonableness of Secular Public Reason

By Matthew J. Franck 8/28/2015

     When voters and legislators act on religiously informed moral convictions in making the law, it may entail a blending of religion and politics that is disquieting to the secular liberal mind, but it closes no gap in the “separation of church and state.”

     Although it may come as a surprise to some, the Constitution does not enact Mr. John Rawls’s Political Liberalism. That is to say, it is a category error to attribute to the Constitution (via the establishment clause of the First Amendment) the Rawlsian concept that “public reason” and political discourse should exclude “comprehensive doctrines” such as religious belief systems.

     The accents of this argument could be heard in the Iowa supreme court’s marriage ruling in 2009, in which the court held that “religious opposition to same-sex marriage” was the real reason the state protected conjugal marriage in its law. Therefore, the judgment went, the law lacked a rational basis and was unconstitutional. Likewise, Judge Vaughn Walker of the federal district court that struck down California’s Proposition 8 claimed to “find” as a “fact” that “moral and religious views form the only basis for a belief that same-sex couples are different from opposite-sex couples” with respect to marriage. For Walker, “moral” was fungible with “religious,” and therefore Prop 8—you guessed it—lacked a rational basis.

     The granddaddy of this strange argument is the view of Justice John Paul Stevens in the 1989 abortion case of Webster v. Reproductive Health Services. Stevens preposterously argued that a Missouri abortion law lacked “any secular purpose for the legislative declarations that life begins at conception and that conception occurs at fertilization” (which happen to be two uncontroversial scientific facts); that he could perceive only theological propositions at work in such legislation; and that therefore it violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

     This transparent attempt to cripple legislative efforts to regulate or prohibit abortions was predicated not only on a willful blindness about the character of the arguments employed by pro-life legislators, but on a tortured reading of the Establishment Clause. For even if it were the case that prohibition of abortion rested, in the final analysis for every one of its supporters, on a theological proposition about the sanctity of human life, such a prohibition would not violate any reasonable reading of the First Amendment.

Click here to go to source

     Matthew J. Franck is the director of the William E. and Carol G. Simon Center on Religion and the Constitution at the Witherspoon Institute. These remarks were prepared for a symposium on “Religion and Public Discourse” at Case Western Reserve University Law School on March 6, 2015.

What is Rosh HaShanah? Sept 15, 2023

By Amir Tsarfati Sept 14, 2023

     Imagine receiving an invitation from a friend to a June 30th party. You arrive and are surprised to find the other attendees wearing “Happy New Year” headbands and glasses in the shape of “2023”. When the countdown reaches midnight, everyone cries out and starts dancing around and tooting their little horns. It’s now July 1st, and they are ushering in the beginning of the new year.

     Welcome to Rosh HaShanah! Translated, it means “head of the year”, and popularly it is known as the celebration of the Jewish New Year. However, if you know the Hebrew calendar at all, you will recognize that its celebration this year from September 15-17 is actually on the first day of Tishrei, the seventh month. New Year’s Day in the middle of the year. How did this happen?

     There are many traditional explanations, but none of them are biblical. What we do know from the Scriptures is that Rosh HaShanah coincides with a very important, and very strange, Jewish festival – the Feast of Trumpets.

     Leviticus 23:23–25 (NASB95) 23 Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
24 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.
25 ‘You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD.’ ”


     The Lord told Israel, “In perpetuity, I want you to gather as a people on the first day of the seventh month, blow a trumpet, then go home.” While the celebration seems strangely random, when we look at it in context the pieces begin to fall together – both for the purpose for the Feast of Trumpets and the reason it is considered the beginning of the New Year.

     While still in the wilderness, God commanded Moses to make two silver trumpets (Numbers 10:1-8). Their purpose? Preparation and direction. When blown one way, it called different groups to assemble. When the trumpets were blown another way, it told the Israelites to pack up their things and prepare to move. When blown again, it signified that it was time to commence their trekking.

     Armed with this understanding of the trumpets, our glance at the Hebrew calendar will unlock the mystery of this feast. The blast of the horns on Rosh HaShanah is a signal for preparation. What is it that the people should prepare for? Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which takes place ten days later. That trumpet blast was the signal for the Israelites to enter into a time of repentance and introspection, known as the 10 Days of Awe, so that they would be prepared when the time came for that holiest of all days on the Jewish calendar.

     In the same way businesses often have both a calendar year and a fiscal year, the Jews were given both a calendar year and a spiritual year. The spiritual year began with the Feast of Trumpets and the trumpet blast of preparation. This led to ten days of getting one’s heart ready which culminated in the Day of Atonement, a somber and sorrowful time during which the sins of the people were covered over through the work of the High Priest. But the calendar doesn’t end there. Five days later, Sukkot or The Feast of Tabernacles begins, a week-long celebration of God’s grace and provision.

     In these three special days – Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles – we find a great model for how we should approach God. We begin by preparing ourselves to enter into His presence. We reflect on His majesty and our humility. It is then that we are ready to truly repent of our sins, trusting not in the offerings of a high priest but the personal sacrifice of the Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, when he died on the cross to provide for our forgiveness. Then comes the time of celebration when we remember God’s grace and mercy that He’s given to us and the hope and joy that we have as a result.

     So, take time today and celebrate Rosh HaShanah by preparing yourself for a fresh start with God. Let today be the beginning of your spiritual new year!

     Amir Tsarfati | Behold Israel

Read The Psalms In "1" Year

Psalm 103

Bless the LORD, O My Soul
103 Of David.

6 The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.

ESV Study Bible

The Continual Burnt Offering (Romans 6:6)

By H.A. Ironside - 1941

September 15
Romans 6:6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin.    ESV

     My old man is not merely my old nature. It is rather all that I was as a man in the flesh, the “old man,” the unsaved man with all his habits and desires. That man was crucified with Christ. When Jesus died I (as a man after the flesh) died too. I was seen by God on that cross with His blessed Son.

     How many people were crucified on Calvary? There were the thieves, there was Christ Himself—three! But are these all? Paul says in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ.” He was there too; so that makes four. And each believer can say, “Our old man is crucified with him.” So untold millions were seen by God as hanging there upon that cross with Christ. And this was not merely that our sins were being dealt with, but that we ourselves as sinners, as children of Adam’s fallen race, might be removed from under the eye of God and our old standing come to an end forever.


Death and judgment are behind us,
Grace and glory are before;
All the billows rolled o’er Jesus,
There they spent their utmost power.
“First-fruits” of the resurrection,
He is risen from the tomb;
Now we stand in new creation,
Free, because beyond our doom,
Jesus died, and we died with Him.
“Buried” in His grave we lay,
One with Him in resurrection,
Now “in Him” in heaven’s bright day.
--- Mrs. J. A. Trench

The Continual Burnt Offering: Daily Meditations on the Word of God


  • Stand To Reason
  • Dr. Michael L. Brown
  • Albert Mohler

Story of Reality  Stand To Reason

 

Did Jesus Claim  to be God?

 

More Than you Can Imagine SBTS

 


     Devotionals, notes, poetry and more

UCB The Word For Today
     (Sept 15)    Bob Gass

(1 Jn 1:7–8) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ESV

     Going to church, doing your best, and subscribing to fuzzy notions about God won’t get you into heaven. Here’s the testimony of those already in heaven: ‘To him who loves us…freed us from our sins by his blood, and…made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father…be glory and power for ever and ever!’ (Revelation 1:5-6 NIV 2011 Edition). There’s an interesting story behind a broken rope on display at the Matterhorn Museum in Zermatt, Switzerland. Some climbers who scaled the Matterhorn used it to rope themselves together for the return descent. But one climber slipped and dragged three others with him into an abyss. The other team members braced for the shock on the rope linking them all together, expecting it to halt their companions’ fall. But the tug came, and to everyone’s horror the rope snapped, plunging them to their deaths. Nobody knows why an inferior rope was used. But they do know it wasn’t genuine Alpine rope, which is guaranteed and distinguished by a red strand running through it. There’s a lesson here. From Genesis to Revelation the Bible has a red strand running through it, and it represents the only thing that can save you - the blood of Jesus. Old Testament believers looked forward to the cross, and New Testament believers looked back to it. By trusting in Christ’s finished work, you’re accepted by God, and one day the door of heaven will open and you’ll live with Him forever. And it’s all based on this truth: ‘The blood of Jesus Christ…cleanses us from all sin.’ No more is required, and nothing less will get you through the door!

Is 26-27
Eph 2

UCB The Word For Today

American Minute
     by Bill Federer

     He was the only US President to also serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He was appointed by President McKinley as the first governor of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War and by President Theodore Roosevelt as Secretary of War. The largest President, weighing over 300 lbs, a bathtub was installed for him in the White House, big enough to hold four men. His name was William Howard Taft, and he was born this day September 15, 1857. President Taft stated: “A God-fearing nation, like ours, owes it to its inborn… sense of moral duty to testify… devout gratitude to the All-Giver for… countless benefits.”

American Minute
Lean Into God
     Compiled by Richard S. Adams


Through a woman we were sent to destruction;
through a woman salvation was restored to us.
Mankind is divided into two sorts:
such as live according to man,
and such as live according to God.
These we call the ‘two cities,’
the one predestined to reign eternally with God,
and the other condemned to perpetual torment with Satan.
--- Saint Augustine of Hippo Bishop


Of all the blessings bestowed on man, the greatest lies in the fact that God's face is forever hidden from him.
--- Isaac Bashevis Singer

The spirit of liberty is the spirit of Him who,
nearly two thousand years ago,
taught mankind the lesson it has never learned,
but has never quite forgotten--
that there may be a kingdom where the least shall be…
side by side with the greatest.
--- Judge Learned Hand

Unity that is formed on expedience is, in reality, grounded upon an implicit ignorance. As everyone knows, all colors will look the same in the dark.
--- Francis Bacon

... from here, there and everywhere

History of the Destruction of Jerusalem
     Thanks to Meir Yona

     CHAPTER 10.

     How The Soldiers, Both In Judea And Egypt, Proclaimed Vespasian Emperor; And How Vespasian Released Josephus From His Bonds.

     1. Now about this very time it was that heavy calamities came about Rome on all sides; for Vitellius was come from Germany with his soldiery, and drew along with him a great multitude of other men besides. And when the spaces allotted for soldiers could not contain them, he made all Rome itself his camp, and filled all the houses with his armed men; which men, when they saw the riches of Rome with those eyes which had never seen such riches before, and found themselves shone round about on all sides with silver and gold, they had much ado to contain their covetous desires, and were ready to betake themselves to plunder, and to the slaughter of such as should stand in their way. And this was the state of affairs in Italy at that time.

     2. But when Vespasian had overthrown all the places that were near to Jerusalem, he returned to Cesarea, and heard of the troubles that were at Rome, and that Vitellius was emperor. This produced indignation in him, although he well knew how to be governed as well as to govern, and could not, with any satisfaction, own him for his lord who acted so madly, and seized upon the government as if it were absolutely destitute of a governor. And as this sorrow of his was violent, he was not able to support the torments he was under, nor to apply himself further in other wars, when his native country was laid waste; but then, as much as his passion excited him to avenge his country, so much was he restrained by the consideration of his distance therefrom; because fortune might prevent him, and do a world of mischief before he could himself sail over the sea to Italy, especially as it was still the winter season; so he restrained his anger, how vehement so ever it was at this time.

     3. But now his commanders and soldiers met in several companies, and consulted openly about changing the public affairs; and, out of their indignation, cried out, how "at Rome there are soldiers that live delicately, and when they have not ventured so much as to hear the fame of war, they ordain whom they please for our governors, and in hopes of gain make them emperors; while you, who have gone through so many labors, and are grown into years under your helmets, give leave to others to use such a power, when yet you have among yourselves one more worthy to rule than any whom they have set up. Now what juster opportunity shall they ever have of requiting their generals, if they do not make use of this that is now before them? while there is so much juster reasons for Vespasian's being emperor than for Vitellius; as they are themselves more deserving than those that made the other emperors; for that they have undergone as great wars as have the troops that come from Germany; nor are they inferior in war to those that have brought that tyrant to Rome, nor have they undergone smaller labors than they; for that neither will the Roman senate, nor people, bear such a lascivious emperor as Vitellius, if he be compared with their chaste Vespasian; nor will they endure a most barbarous tyrant, instead of a good governor, nor choose one that hath no child 20 to preside over them, instead of him that is a father; because the advancement of men's own children to dignities is certainly the greatest security kings can have for themselves. Whether, therefore, we estimate the capacity of governing from the skill of a person in years, we ought to have Vespasian, or whether from the strength of a young man, we ought to have Titus; for by this means we shall have the advantage of both their ages, for that they will afford strength to those that shall be made emperors, they having already three legions, besides other auxiliaries from the neighboring kings, and will have further all the armies in the east to support them, as also those in Europe, so they as they are out of the distance and dread of Vitellius, besides such auxiliaries as they may have in Italy itself; that is, Vespasian's brother, 21 and his other son [Domitian]; the one of whom will bring in a great many of those young men that are of dignity, while the other is intrusted with the government of the city, which office of his will be no small means of Vespasian's obtaining the government. Upon the whole, the case may be such, that if we ourselves make further delays, the senate may choose an emperor, whom the soldiers, who are the saviors of the empire, will have in contempt."

     4. These were the discourses the soldiers had in their several companies; after which they got together in a great body, and, encouraging one another, they declared Vespasian emperor, 22 and exhorted him to save the government, which was now in danger. Now Vespasian's concern had been for a considerable time about the public, yet did he not intend to set up for governor himself, though his actions showed him to deserve it, while he preferred that safety which is in a private life before the dangers in a state of such dignity; but when he refused the empire, the commanders insisted the more earnestly upon his acceptance; and the soldiers came about him, with their drawn swords in their hands, and threatened to kill him, unless he would now live according to his dignity. And when he had shown his reluctance a great while, and had endeavored to thrust away this dominion from him, he at length, being not able to persuade them, yielded to their solicitations that would salute him emperor.

     The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem, by Flavius Josephus Translator: William Whiston

The War of the Jews: The History of the Destruction of Jerusalem (complete edition, 7 books)
Proverbs 24:28-29
     by D.H. Stern

28     Don’t be a witness against your neighbor for no reason—
would you use your lips to deceive?

29     Don’t say, “I’ll do to him what he did to me,
I’ll pay him back what his deeds deserve.”


Complete Jewish Bible : An English Version of the Tanakh (Old Testament) and B'Rit Hadashah (New Testament)
My Utmost For The Highest
     A Daily Devotional by Oswald Chambers


                What to renounce

     But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty. --- 2 Cor. 4:2.

     Have you “renounced the hidden things of dishonesty”—the things that your sense of honour will not allow to come to the light? You can easily hide them. Is there a thought in your heart about anyone which you would not like to be dragged into the light? Renounce it as soon as it springs up; renounce the whole thing until there is no hidden thing of dishonesty or craftiness about you. Envy, jealousy, strife—these things arise not necessarily from the disposition of sin, but from the make-up of your body which was used for this kind of thing in days gone by (see Romans 6:19 and 1 Peter 4:1–2): Maintain a continual watchfulness so that nothing of which you would be ashamed arises in your life.

     “Not walking in craftiness,” that is, resorting to what will carry your point. This is a great snare. You know that God will only let you work in one way, then be careful never to catch people the other way; God’s blight will be upon you if you do. Others are doing things which to you would be walking in craftiness, but it may not be so with them; God has given you another standpoint. Never blunt the sense of your Utmost for His Highest. For you to do a certain thing would mean the incoming of craftiness for an end other than the highest, and the blunting of the motive God has given you. Many have gone back because they are afraid of looking at things from God’s stand-point. The crisis comes spiritually when a man has to emerge a bit farther on than the creed he has accepted.

My Utmost for His Highest
Kierkegaard (Pieta)
     the Poetry of RS Thomas


                Kierkegaard (Pieta)

And beyond the window Denmark
  Waited, but refused to adopt
  This family that wore itself out
  On its conscience, up and down
  In the one room.
              Meanwhile the acres
  Of the imagination grew
  Unhindered, though always they paused
  At that labourer, the indictment
  Of whose gesture was a warped
  Crucifix upon a hill
  In Jutland. The stern father
  Looked at it and a hard tear
  Formed, that the child's frightened
  Sympathy could not convert
  To a plaything.
              He lived on,
  Soren, with the deed's terrible lightning
  About him, as though a bone
  Had broken in the adored body
  Of his God. The streets emptied
  Of their people but for a girl
  Already beginning to feel
  The iron in her answering his magnet's
  Pull. Her hair was to be
  The moonlight towards which he leaned
  From darkness. The husband stared
  Through life's bars, venturing a hand
  To pluck her from the shrill fire
  Of his genius. The press sharpened
  Its rapier; wounded, he crawled
  To the monastery of his chaste thought
  To offer up his crumpled amen.

Selected poems, 1946-1968
Searching For Meaning In Midrash
     D’RASH


     Some people leave their mark on history, and their names become entries in the encyclopedia. A select few leave their mark on our language, and their names become entries in the cultural “dictionary.” To be an Einstein (Albert, 1879–1955) is to be a genius; to be a Rockefeller (John D., 1834–1937) is to be exceedingly rich. A Beau Brummel (George B., 1778–1840) is a fancy dresser. A Houdini (Harry, 1875–1926) makes an amazing escape or disappearance. A Mother Teresa (twentieth century) is a saintlike person who devotes herself to others. A Casanova (Giovanni, eighteenth century) is a prolific lover.

     There are other names that have become symbols of shame or evil. There’s Captain Bligh (William, 1754–1817), a cruel taskmaster; Machiavelli (Niccolo, 1469–1527) an amoral politician or schemer; and, of course, Benedict Arnold (1741–1801), a traitor.

     Then there’s the case of Vidkun Quisling (1887–1945), a Norwegian military officer. After the Nazis invaded Norway in April 1940, Quisling collaborated with the enemy and with their help assumed power. He ruled as a Nazi puppet and was known for his megalomania and cruelty. Following the war, he was arrested and tried for murder and treason and was executed by firing squad. His name became a part of the language: In the dictionary, quisling (with a lower case “q”) came to mean “a person who betrays his country by helping the enemy to invade and occupy.”

     Imagine the difficulty for members of Quisling’s family (or even people who are not related but have the same last name). Though they may not have done anything wrong, they carry a name that actually means traitor and that evokes suspicion, anger, or hatred in those who encounter it. Think of assassins or serial killers in America’s history and how their last names have been brands of shame for family members. There are no doubt many people in recent times who have had their last names changed in order to escape the very strong reactions that their surnames evoked.

     Adolf Hitler had a half-brother, Alois, who moved to England before the First World War. Alois’s son, William, eventually came to the United States, where he denounced the führer and later served in the U.S. Navy. William Hitler had three sons, each of whom changed his last name. They reside in New York’s Long Island, where they keep their infamous ancestry a family secret.

     A name is something very precious. We need to remember to carry it always with pride. We also need to keep in mind (even those of us who will never become famous or infamous) that when we act in such a way that tarnishes our name, we harm more than just ourselves; we hurt everyone else who also carries that name.

     ANOTHER D’RASH

     “Pop, why do you always do that? Why do you always say ‘My father, zikhrono livrakhah’?”

     “What do ya mean? Why do I mention my father, zikhrono livrakhah, so often?”

     “Well, ya, that—and the fact that every time you talk about him—which is quite often—you add the words zikhrono livrakhah. ‘My father, zikhrono livrakhah.’ He died over sixty years ago!”

     “Sixty-two years ago. When I was eleven years old.”

     “I know. I know. You’ve told me the story often. ‘He worked in a factory, twelve, thirteen hours a day. One day, he came home and just collapsed into bed and never woke up again.’ But why, after all these years, do you still invoke his name with ‘zikhrono livrakhah’?”

     “Zikhrono livrakhah means ‘of blessed memory.’ When he died, the rabbi told me: ‘Young man, you will think about your father often. You will remember how he worked hard to support your family. You’ll remember how he was an honest and kind-hearted man,’ ”

     “And?…”

     “ ‘And each time you recall him, you will say zikhrono livrakhah, of blessed memory.’ The rabbi explained how this is based on a verse from the Book of Proverbs: ‘The memory of the righteous is for a blessing.’ He told me that each time I think about my father and say zikhrono livrakhah, of blessed memory, I am keeping my father’s memory alive—and keeping him alive. Look, my father was too young when he died. He should have lived another twenty, thirty years at least. I figure that by talking about him and mentioning him often, I’m giving him another sixty-plus years of life.”

     “But, Pop, he’s not alive, really.”

     “Maybe not. But his memory is. And that’s a great source of comfort to me. And I know it would have been to him.”

     “It just seems kind of creepy, that’s all.”

     “Look, boychik, there are people in this world today—alive and breathing—who are as good as dead. No one notices them. They make no impact on the world. When they die, no one will miss them. They are ‘the living dead.’ My father, zikhrono livrakhah, had an influence on the world. I knew him only eleven years, but in that time, he taught me the values of hard work, concern for family, honest living. He loved me, and I loved him. So for me, he is still alive.”

Searching for Meaning in Midrash: Lessons for Everyday Living
Take Heart
     September 15

     “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!” declares the LORD Almighty. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.”
---
Zechariah 13:7

     Did the sword of divine justice smite the Shepherd, and at the same time [remove] all his outward comforts? (Works of John Flavel (6 Vol. Set)) “Of the Manner of Christ’s Death, in Respect to the Solitariness Thereof,” sermon 28 in a series, The Fountain of Life Opened Up, from The Works of John Flavel , vol. 1 (London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1968) Then learn that the holiest people have no reason to despond though God should at once strip them of all their outward and inward comforts. In one day Christ loses both heavenly and earthly comforts. Now as God dealt with Christ, he may at one time or other deal with his people. You have your comforts from heaven; so had Christ. He had comforts from his little flock; you have your comforts from the society of the saints, comfortable relations, and so on. Yet none of these are so firmly settled on you that you may not be left destitute of them all in one day. God took all comfort from Christ, both outward and inward—and are we greater than he?

     Should the Lord deal thus with any of you, the following considerations will be seasonable and relieving.

     First, though the Lord deal thus with you, yet this is no new thing; he has so dealt with others, yes, with Jesus Christ who was his equal. How little reason have we to complain?

     Secondly, this befell Jesus Christ so that the similar condition might be sanctified to you when you are brought into it. Jesus Christ passed through such conditions on purpose that he might take away the curse and leave a blessing in those conditions, in preparation for the time that you would come into them.

     Thirdly, though inward and outward comforts were both removed from Christ in one day, yet he did not lack support: “You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me” (John 16:32)—with me by way of support when not by way of comfort. Your God can in like manner support you when all tangible comforts shrink away from your soul and body in one day.

     Remark that this comfortless, forsaken condition of Christ immediately preceded the day of his greatest glory and comfort. It was so with Christ, it may be so with you. Therefore act your faith on this, that the most glorious light usually follows the thickest darkness. The louder your groans are now, the louder your triumphs hereafter will be. The horror of your present will but add to the luster of your future state.
--- John Flavel

Take Heart: Daily Devotions with the Church's Great Preachers
On This Day
     My Parish  September 15

     Antoinette Brown, born in a log cabin in New York, was moved by the ministry of Charles Finney at age six and joined the Congregational Church at age nine. She excelled in school. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1847, she created a stir among the faculty when she returned for graduate studies in theology. No woman had yet studied theology at Oberlin. Her family grew alarmed and stopped supporting her. At the end of her studies, she was given no part in the commencement exercises, and her name didn’t appear in the alumni catalog.

     When she attended the World’s Temperance Convention in New York City, she was not allowed to speak. This so incensed Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune that he reported: This convention has completed three of its four business sessions, and the results may be summed up as follows: First Day—Crowding a woman off the platform. Second Day—Gagging her. Third Day—Voting that she shall stay gagged. Having thus disposed of the main question, we presume the incidentals will be finished this Morning.

     Greeley’s words catapulted Antoinette Brown to prominence, and she was offered a preaching ministry at a large New York City church. But she felt too inexperienced for a large metropolitan pulpit, accepting a call instead to a small Congregational church, having “neither steeple or bell,” in South Butler, New York.

     There on September 15, 1853, Antoinette Brown became the first regularly ordained woman minister in America. Rev. Luther Lee preached the ordination message from
Galatians 3:28: Faith in Christ is what makes each of you equal with each other, whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a man or a woman.

     Brown wrote in her journal: This is a very poor and small church, ample I believe for my needs in this small community. My parish will be a miniature world in good and evil. To get humanity condensed into so small a compass that I can study each individual, opens a new chapter of experience. It is what I want.

     All of you are God’s children because of your faith in Christ Jesus. And when you were baptized, it was as though you had put on Christ in the same way you put on new clothes. Faith in Christ Jesus is what makes each of you equal with each other, whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a man or a woman.
--- Galatians 3:26-28.

On This Day 365 Amazing And Inspiring Stories About Saints, Martyrs And Heroes
Morning and Evening
     Daily Readings / CHARLES H. SPURGEON

          Morning - September 15

     "He shall not be afraid of evil tidings." --- Psalm 112:7.

     Christian, you ought not to dread the arrival of evil tidings; because if you are distressed by them, what do you more than other men? Other men have not your God to fly to; they have never proved his faithfulness as you have done, and it is no wonder if they are bowed down with alarm and cowed with fear: but you profess to be of another spirit; you have been begotten again unto a lively hope, and your heart lives in heaven and not on earthly things; now, if you are seen to be distracted as other men, what is the value of that grace which you profess to have received? Where is the dignity of that new nature which you claim to possess?

     Again, if you should be filled with alarm, as others are, you would, doubtless, be led into the sins so common to others under trying circumstances. The ungodly, when they are overtaken by evil tidings, rebel against God; they murmur, and think that God deals hardly with them. Will you fall into that same sin? Will you provoke the Lord as they do?

     Moreover, unconverted men often run to wrong means in order to escape from difficulties, and you will be sure to do the same if your mind yields to the present pressure. Trust in the Lord, and wait patiently for him. Your wisest course is to do as Moses did at the Red Sea, “Stand still and see the salvation of God.” For if you give way to fear when you hear of evil tidings, you will be unable to meet the trouble with that calm composure which nerves for duty, and sustains under adversity. How can you glorify God if you play the coward? Saints have often sung God’s high praises in the fires, but will your doubting and desponding, as if you had none to help you, magnify the Most High? Then take courage, and relying in sure confidence upon the faithfulness of your covenant God, “let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”


          Evening - September 15

     “A people near unto him.” --- Psalm 148:14.

     The dispensation of the old covenant was that of distance. When God appeared even to his servant Moses, he said, “Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet”; and when he manifested himself upon Mount Sinai, to his own chosen and separated people, one of the first commands was, “Thou shalt set bounds about the mount.” Both in the sacred worship of the tabernacle and the temple, the thought of distance was always prominent. The mass of the people did not even enter the outer court. Into the inner court none but the priests might dare to intrude; while into the innermost place, or the holy of holies, the high priest entered but once in the year. It was as if the Lord in those early ages would teach man that sin was so utterly loathsome to him, that he must treat men as lepers put without the camp; and when he came nearest to them, he yet made them feel the width of the separation between a holy God and an impure sinner. When the Gospel came, we were placed on quite another footing. The word “Go” was exchanged for “Come”; distance was made to give place to nearness, and we who aforetime were afar off, were made nigh by the blood of Jesus Christ. Incarnate Deity has no wall of fire about it. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” is the joyful proclamation of God as he appears in human flesh. Not now does he teach the leper his leprosy by setting him at a distance, but by himself suffering the penalty of his defilement. What a state of safety and privilege is this nearness to God through Jesus! Do you know it by experience? If you know it, are you living in the power of it? Marvellous is this nearness, yet it is to be followed by a dispensation of greater nearness still, when it shall be said, “The tabernacle of God is with men, and he doth dwell among them.” Hasten it, O Lord.

Morning and Evening
Amazing Grace
     September 15

          HOW SWEET THE NAME OF JESUS SOUNDS

     John Newton, 1725–1807

     Unto you therefore which believe He is precious. (1 Peter 2:7) KJV

     One of the important activities we need for our spiritual growth and maturity is to spend time daily in quiet meditation and communion with our Lord. Although Bible reading and prayer are absolutely necessary, it is still possible to engage in these pursuits without ever experiencing real communion with Christ Himself. We must learn to say --

     Once His gifts I wanted, now the Giver own;
     Once I sought for blessing, now Himself alone!

     --- A. B. Simpson

     John Newton has given believers an excellent text for extolling and meditating upon Christ. This worship of our Lord reaches its crescendo in the fourth stanza when Newton lists ten consecutive titles for Jesus: Shepherd, Brother, Friend, Prophet, Priest, King, Lord, Life, Way, End. In the fifth and sixth stanzas, Newton realizes that a Christian’s praise of Christ’s names will always be inadequate until He is finally viewed in heaven. But we must never cease trying.

     The story is told of this converted slave ship captain preaching one of his final RS Thomas before his home-going at the age of 82. His eyesight was nearly gone and his memory had become faulty. It was necessary for an assistant to stand in the pulpit to help him with his sermon. One Sunday Newton had twice read the words, “Jesus Christ is precious.” “You have already said that twice,” whispered his helper; “go on.” “I said that twice, and I am going to say it again,” replied Newton. Then the rafters rang as the old preacher shouted, “JESUS CHRIST IS PRECIOUS!”

     How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer’s ear! It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and drives away his fear.

     Dear name! the Rock on which I build, my Shield and Hiding place, my never failing Treasury filled with boundless stores of grace.
     Jesus! my Shepherd, Brother, Friend, my Prophet, Priest and King, my Lord, my Life, my Way, my End, accept the praise I bring.
     Weak is the effort of my heart, and cold my warmest thought; but when I see Thee as Thou art I’ll praise Thee as I ought.
     Till then I would Thy love proclaim with ev’ry fleeting breath; and may the music of Thy name refresh my soul in death.


     For Today: Psalm 8:9; 104:34; Song of Solomon 1:3; Matthew 11:28

     Ask this question: “How often do I spend time in worship and adoration of Christ simply for who He is?” Begin now by singing this musical message ---

Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions
The Existence and Attributes of God
     Stephen Charnock

          DISCOURSE V - ON THE ETERNITY OF GOD

     Use 2. Of comfort. What foundation of comfort can we have in any of God’s attributes, were it not for his infiniteness and eternity, though he be “merciful, good, wise, faithful?” What support could there be, if they were perfections belonging to a corruptible God? What hopes of a resurrection to happiness can we have, or of the duration of it, if that God that promised it were not immortal to continue it, as well as powerful to effect it? His power were not Almighty, if his duration were not eternal.

     1. If God be eternal, his covenant will be so. It is founded upon the eternity of God; the oath whereby he confirms it, is by his life. Since there is none greater than himself, he swears by himself (Heb. 6:13), or by his own life, which he engageth together with his eternity for the full performance; so that if he lives forever, the covenant shall not be disannulled; it is an “immutable counsel” (ver. 16, 17). The immutability of his counsel follows the immutability of his nature. Immutability and eternity go hand in hand together. The promise of eternal life is as ancient as God himself in regard of the purpose of the promise, or in regard of the promise made to Christ for us. “Eternal life which God promised before the world began.” (Tit. 1:2): As it hath an ante-eternity, so it hath a posteternity; therefore the gospel, which is the new covenant published, is termed the “everlasting gospel” (Rev. 14:6), which can no more be altered and perish, than God can change and vanish into nothing; he can as little morally deny his truth, as he can naturally desert his life. The covenant is there represented in a green color, to note its perpetual verdure; the rainbow, the emblem of the covenant “about the throne, was like to an emerald” (Rev. 4:3), a stone of a green color, whereas the natural rainbow had many colors; this but one, to signify its eternity.

     2. If God be eternal, he being our God in covenant, is an eternal good and possession. “This God is our God forever and ever” (Psalm 48:14): “He is a dwelling place in all generations.” We shall traverse the world awhile, and then arrive at the blessings Jacob wished for Joseph, “the blessings of the everlasting hills” (Gen. 49:26). If an estate of a thousand pound per annum render a man’s life comfortable for a short term, how much more may the soul be swallowed up with joy in the enjoyment of the Creator, whose years never fail, who lives forever to be enjoyed, and can keep us in life forever to enjoy him! Death, indeed, will seize upon us by God’s irreversible order, but the immortal Creator will make him disgorge his morsel, and land us in a glorious immortality; our souls at their dissolution, and our bodies at the resurrection, after which they shall remain forever, and employ the extent of that boundless eternity, in the fruition of the sovereign and eternal God; for it is impossible that the believer, who is united to the immortal God that is from everlasting to everlasting, can ever perish; for being in conjunction with him who is an ever-flowing fountain of life, he cannot suffer him to remain in the jaws of death. While God is eternal, and always the same, it is not possible that those that partake of his spiritual life, should not also partake of his eternal. It is from the consideration of the endlessness of the years of God that the church comforts herself that “her children shall continue, and their seed be established forever” (Psalm 102:27, 28). And from the eternity of God Habakkuk (chap. 1:12) concludes the eternity of believers, “Art not thou from everlasting, O Lord, my God, my Holy One? we shall not die, O Lord.” After they are retired from this world, they shall live forever with God, without any change by the multitude of those imaginable years and ages that shall run forever. It is that God that hath neither beginning nor end, that is our God; who hath not only immortality in himself, but immortality to give out to others. As he hath “abundance of spirit” to quicken them (Mal. 2:15), so he hath abundance of immortality to continue them. It is only in the consideration of this a man can with wisdom say, “Soul, take thy ease; thou hast goods laid up for many years” (Luke 12:19, 20): to say it of any other possession is the greatest folly in the judgment of our Saviour. “Mortality shall be swallowed up of immortality;” “rivers of pleasure” shall be “for evermore.” Death is a word never spoken there by any; never heard by any in that possession of eternity; it is forever put out as one of Christ’s conquered enemies. The happiness depends upon the presence of God, with whom believers shall be forever present. Happiness cannot perish as long as God lives; he is the first and the last; the first of all delights, nothing before him; the last of all pleasures, nothing beyond him; a paradise of delights in every point, without a flaming sword.

     3. The enjoyment of God will be as fresh and glorious after many ages, as it was at first. God is eternal, and eternity knows no change; there will then be the fullest possession without any decay in the object enjoyed. There can be nothing past, nothing future; time neither adds to it, nor detracts from it; that infinite fulness of perfection which flourisheth in him now, will flourish eternally, without any discoloring of it in the least, by those innumerable ages that shall run to eternity, much less any despoiling him of them: “He is the same in his endless duration” (Psalm 102:27). As God is, so will the eternity of him be, without succession, without division; the fulness of joy will be always present; without past to be thought of with regret for being gone; without future to be expected with tormenting desires. When we enjoy God, we enjoy him in his eternity without any flux; an entire possession of all together, without the passing away of pleasures that may be wished to return, or expectation of future joys which might be desired to hasten. Time is fluid, but eternity is stable; and after many ages, the joys will be as savory and satisfying as if they had been but that moment first tasted by our hungry appetites. When the glory of the Lord shall rise upon you, it shall be so far from ever setting, that after millions of years are expired, as numerous as the sands on the seashore, the sun, in the light of whose countenance you shall live, shall be as bright as at the first appearance; he will be so far from ceasing to flow, that he will flow as strong, as full, as at the first communication of himself in glory to the creature. God, therefore, as sitting upon his throne of grace, and acting according to his covenant, is like a jasper-stone, which is of a green color, a color always delightful (Rev. 4:3); because God is always vigorous and flourishing; a pure act of life, sparkling new and fresh rays of life and light to the creature, flourishing with a perpetual spring, and contenting the most capacious desire; forming your interest, pleasure, and satisfaction; with an infinite variety, without any change or succession; he will have variety to increase delights, and eternity to perpetuate them; this will be the fruit of the enjoyment of an infinite and eternal God: be is not a cistern, but a fountain, wherein water is always living, and never putrefies.

     4. If God be eternal, here is a strong ground of comfort against all the distresses of the church, and the threats of the church’s enemies. God’s abiding forever is the plea Jeremy makes for his return to his forsaken church: “Thou, O Lord, remainest forever; thy throne from generation to generation” (Lam. 5:19, 20). The church is weak; created things are easily cut off; what prop is there, but that God that lives forever? What, though Jerusalem lost its bulwarks, the temple were defaced, the land wasted; yet the God of Jerusalem sits upon an eternal throne, and from everlasting to everlasting there is no diminution of his power. The prophet intimates in this complaint, that it is not agreeable to God’s eternity to forget his people, to whom he hath from eternity borne good-will. In the greatest confusions, the church’s eyes are to be fixed upon the eternity of God’s throne, where he sits as governor of the world. No creature can take any comfort in this perfection, but the church; other creatures depend upon God, but the church is united to him. The first discovery of the name “I am,” which signifies the divine eternity, as well as immutability, was for the comfort of the “oppressed Israelites in Egypt” (Exod. 3:14, 15): it was then published from the secret place of the Almighty, as the only strong cordial to refresh them: it hath not yet, it shall not ever lose its virtue in any of the miseries that have, or shall successively befall the church. It is a comfort as durable as the God whose name it is; he is still “I Am;” and the same to the church, as he was then to his Israel. His spiritual Israel have a greater right to the glories of it, than the carnal Israel could have. No oppression can be greater than theirs; what was a comfort suited to that distress, hath the same suitableness to every other oppression. It was not a temporary name, but a name forever; his “memorial to all generations” (ver. 15), and reacheth to the church of the Gentiles with whom he treats as the God of Abraham; ratifying that covenant by the Messiah, which he made with Abraham, the father of the faithful. The church’s enemies are not to be feared; they may spring as the grass, but soon after do wither by their own inward principles of decdy, or are cut down by the hand of God (Psalm 92:7–9). They may be instruments of the anger of God, but “they shall be scattered as the workers of iniquity by the hand of the Lord, that is high for evermore” (ver. 8), and is engaged by his promise, to preserve a church in the world. They may threaten, but their breath may vanish as soon as their threatenings are pronounced; for they carry their breath in no surer a place than their own nostrils, upon which the eternal God can put his hand, and sink them with all their rage. Do the prophets and instructers of the church “live forever” (Zech. 1:5)? No: shall, then, the adversaries and disturbers of the church live forever? They shall vanish as a shadow; their being depends upon the eternal God of the faithful, and the everlasting Judge of the wicked. He that inhabits eternity is above them that inhabit mortality; and must, whether they will or no, “say to corruption, Thou art my father, and to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister” (Job 17:14.) When they will act with a confidence, as if they were living gods, he will not be mated; but evidence himself to be a living God above them. Why, then, should mortal men be feared in their frowns, when an immortal God hath promised protection in his word, and lives forever to perform it?

     5. Hence follows another comfort; since God is eternal, he hath as much power as will to be as good as his word. His promises are established upon his eternity; and his perfection is a main ground of trust; “Trust in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength” (Isa. 26:4). טם צול צור יהוח ביה His name is doubled; that name, Jah and Jehovah, which was always the strength of his people; and not a single one, but the strength or rock of eternities: not a failing, but an eternal truth and power; that as his strength is eternal, so our trust in him should imitate his eternity in its perpetuity; and therefore in the despondency of his people, as if God had forgot his promises, and made no account of them, or his word, and were weary of doing good, he calls them to reflect on what they had heard of his eternity, which is attended with immutability, who hath an infiniteness of power to perform his will, and an infiniteness of understanding to judge of the right seasons of it. His wisdom, will, truth, have always been, and will to eternity be the same (Isa. 40:27, 28). He wants not life, any more than love, forever to help us; since his word is past, he will never fail us; since his life continues, he can never be out of a capacity to relieve us; and, therefore, whenever we foolishly charge him by our distrustful thoughts, we forget his love, which made the promise, and his eternal life, which can accomplish it. As his word is the bottom of our trust, and his truth is the assurance of his sincerity, so his eternity is the assurance of his ability to perform: “His word stands forever” (ver. 8). A man may be my friend this day, and be in another world to-morrow; and though he be never so sincere in his word, yet death snaps his life asunder, and forbids the execution. But as God cannot die, so he cannot lie; because he is the eternity of Israel: “The strength of Israel will not lie, nor repent,” נצח perpetuity, or eternity of Israel (1 Sam. 15:29). Eternity implies immutability; we could have no ground for our hopes, if we knew him not to be longer lived than ourselves. The Psalmist beats off our hands from trust in men, “because their breath goes forth, they return to their earth, and in that day their thoughts perish” (Psalm 146:3, 4). And if the God of Jacob were like them, what happiness could we have in making him our help? As his sovereignty in giving precepts had not been a strong ground of obedience, without considering him as an eternal lawgiver, who could maintain his rights; so his kindness in making the promises had not been a strong ground of confidence, without considering him as an eternal promiser, whose thoughts and whose life can never perish. And this may be one reason why the Holy Ghost mentions so often the post-eternity of God, and so little his ante-eternity; because that is the strongest foundation of our faith and hope, which respects chiefly that which is future, and not that which is past; yet, indeed, no assurance of his after-eternity can be had, if his ante-eternity be not certain. If he had a beginning, he may have an end; and if he had a change in his nature, he might have in his counsels; but since all the resolves of God are as himself is, eternal, and all the promises of God are the fruits of his counsel, therefore they cannot be changed; if he should change them for the better, he would not have been eternally wise, to know what was best; if for the worse, he had not been eternally good or just. Men may break their promises, because they are made without foresight; but God, that inhabits eternity, foreknows all things that shall be done under the sun, as if they had been then acting before him; and nothing can intervene, or work a change in his resolves; because the least circumstances were eternally foreseen by him. Though there may be variations, and changes to our sight, the wind may tack about, and every hour new and cross accidents happen; yet the eternal God, who is eternally true to his word, sits at the helm, and the winds and the waves obey him. And though he should defer his promise a thousand years, yet he is “not slack” (2 Pet. 3:8, 9); for he defers it but a day to his eternity: and who would not with comfort stay a day in expectation of a considerable advantage?

The Existence and Attributes of God

The Bondage of the Will
     Martin Luther | (1483-1546)


     Sect. CLVIII. — Now let us hear an example of “Free-will.” — Nicodemus is a man in whom there is every thing that you can desire, which “Free-will” is able to do. For what does that man omit either of devoted effort, or endeavour? He confesses Christ to be true, and to have come from God; he declares His miracles; he comes by night to hear Him, and to converse with Him. Does he not appear to have sought after, by the power of “Free-will,” those things which pertain unto piety and salvation? But mark what shipwreck he makes. When he hears the true way of salvation by a new-birth to be taught by Christ, does he acknowledge it, or confess that he had ever sought after it? Nay, he revolts from it, and is confounded; so much so, that he does not only say he does not understand it, but heaves against it as impossible — “How (says he) can these things be?” (John iii. 9).

     And no wonder: for who ever heard, that man must be born again unto salvation “of water and of the Spirit?” (5). Who ever thought, that the Son of God must be exalted, “that whosoever should believe in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life?” (15). Did the greatest and most acute philosophers ever make mention of this? Did the princes of this world ever possess this knowledge? Did the “Free-will” of any man ever attain unto this, by endeavours? Does not Paul confess it to be “wisdom hidden in a mystery,” foretold indeed by the Prophets, but revealed by the Gospel? So that, it was secret and hidden from the world.

     In a word: Ask experience: and the whole world, human reason itself, and in consequence, “Free-will” itself is compelled to confess, that it never knew Christ, nor heard of Him, before the Gospel came into the world. And if it did not know Him, much less could it seek after Him, search for Him, or endeavour to come unto Him. But Christ is “the way” of truth, life, and salvation. It must confess, therefore, whether it will or no, that, of its own powers, it neither knew nor could seek after those things which pertain unto the way of truth and salvation. And yet, contrary to this our own very confession and experience, like madmen we dispute in empty words, that there is in us that power remaining, which can both know and apply itself unto those things which pertain unto salvation! This is nothing more or less than saying, that Christ the Son of God was exalted for us, when no one could ever have known it or thought of it; but that, nevertheless, this very ignorance is not an ignorance, but a knowledge of Christ; that is, of those things which pertain unto salvation.

     Do you not yet then see and palpably feel out, that the assertors of “Free-will” are plainly mad, while they call that knowledge, which they themselves confess to be ignorance? Is this not to “put darkness for light?” (Isaiah v. 20). But so it is, though God so powerfully stop the mouth of “Free-will” by its own confession and experience, yet even then, it cannot keep silence and give God the glory.

     Sect. CLIX. — AND now farther, as Christ is said to be “the way, the truth, and the life,” (John xiv. 6), and that, by positive assertion, so that whatever is not Christ is not the way but error, is not the truth but a lie, is not the life but death, it of necessity follows, that “Free-will,” as it is neither Christ nor in Christ, must be bound in error, in a lie, and in death. Where now will be found that medium and neuter — that the power of “Free-will,” which is not in Christ, that is, in the way, the truth, and the life, is yet not, of necessity, either error, or a lie, or death?

     For if all things which are said concerning Christ and grace were not said by positive assertion, that they might be opposed to their contraries; that is, that out of Christ there is nothing but Satan, out of grace nothing but wrath, out of the light nothing but darkness, out of the life nothing but death — what, I ask you, would be the use of all the Writings of the Apostles, nay, of the whole Scripture? The whole would be written in vain; because, they would not fix the point, that Christ is necessary (which, nevertheless, is their especial design) and for this reason, — because a medium would be found out, which of itself, would be neither evil nor good, neither of Christ nor of Satan, neither true nor false, neither alive nor dead, and perhaps, neither any thing nor nothing; and that would be called, ‘that which is most excellent and most exalted’ in the whole race of men!

     Take it therefore which way you will. — If you grant that the Scriptures speak in positive assertion, you can say nothing for “Free-will,” but that which is contrary to Christ: that is, you will say, that error, death, Satan, and all evils, reign in Him. If you do not grant that they speak in positive assertion, you weaken the Scriptures, make them to establish nothing, not even to prove that Christ is necessary. And thus, while you establish “Free-will,” you make Christ void, and bring the whole Scripture to destruction. And though you may pretend, verbally, that you confess Christ; yet, in reality and in heart, you deny Him. For if the power of “Free-will” be not a thing erroneous altogether, and damnable, but sees and wills those things which are good and meritorious, and which pertain unto salvation, it is whole, it wants not the physician Christ, nor does Christ redeem that part of man. — For what need is there for light and life, where there is light and life already?

     Moreover, if that power be not redeemed, the best part in man is not redeemed, but is of itself good and whole. And then also, God is unjust if He damn any man; because, He damns that which is the most excellent in man, and whole; that is, He damns him when innocent. For there is no man who has not “Free-will.” And although the evil man abuse this, yet this power itself, (according to what you teach) is not so destroyed, but that it can, and does endeavour towards good. And if it be such, it is without doubt good, holy, and just: wherefore, it ought not to be damned, but to be distinctly separated from the man who is to be damned. But this cannot be done, and even if it could be done, man would then be without “Free-will,” nay, he would not be man at all, he would neither have merit nor demerit, he could neither be damned nor saved, but would be completely a brute, and no longer immortal. It follows therefore, that God is unjust who damns that good, just, and holy power, which, though it be in an evil man, does not need Christ as the evil man does.

     Sect. CLX. — BUT let us proceed with John. “He that believeth on Him, (saith he) is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed on the Name of the only begotten Son of God. (John iii. 18).

     Tell me! — Is “Free-will” included in the number of those that believe, or not? If it be, then again, it has no need of grace; because, of itself, it believes on Christ — whom, of itself it never knew nor thought of! If it be not, then it is judged already and what is this but saying, that it is damned in the sight of God? But God damns none but the ungodly: therefore, it is ungodly. And what godliness can that which is ungodly endeavour after? For I do not think that the power of “Free-will” can be excepted; seeing that, he speaks of the whole man as being condemned.

     Moreover, unbelief is not one of the grosser affections, but is that chief affection seated and ruling on the throne of the will and reason; just the same as its contrary, faith. For to be unbelieving, is to deny God, and to make him a liar; “If we believe not we make God a liar,” (1 John v. 10). How then can that power, which is contrary to God, and which makes Him a liar, endeavour after that which is good? And if that power be not unbelieving and ungodly, John ought not to say of the whole man that he is condemned already, but to speak thus, — Man, according to his ‘grosser affections,’ is condemned already; but according to that which is best and ‘most excellent,’ he is not condemned; because, that endeavours after faith, or rather, is already believing.

     Hence, where the Scripture so often saith, “All men are liars,” we must, upon the authority of “Free-will,” on the contrary say — the Scripture rather, lies; because, man is not a liar as to his best part, that is, his reason and will, but as to his flesh only, that is, his blood and his grosser part: so that that whole, according to which he is called man, that is, his reason and his will, is sound and holy. Again, there is that of the Baptist, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John iii. 36). We must understand “upon him” thus: — that is, the wrath of God abideth upon the ‘grosser affections’ of the man: but upon that power of “Free-will,” that is, upon his will and his reason, abide grace and everlasting life.

     Hence, according to this, in order that “Free-will” might stand, whatever is in the Scriptures said against the ungodly, you are, by the figure synecdoche, to twist round to apply to that brutal part of man, that the truly rational and human part might remain safe. I have therefore, to render thanks to the assertors of “Free-will;” because, I may sin with all confidence; knowing that, my reason and will, or my “Free-will,” cannot be damned, because it cannot be destroyed by my sinning, but for ever remains sound, righteous, and holy. And thus, happy in my will and reason, I shall rejoice that my filthy and brutal flesh is distinctly separated from me, and damned; so far shall I be from wishing Christ to become its Redeemer! — You see, here, to what the doctrine of “Free-will” brings us — it denies all things, divine and human, temporal and eternal; and with all these enormities, makes a laughing-stock of itself!

The Bondage of the Will   or   Christian Classics Ethereal Library
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     Gary Hamrick


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     Brett Meador | Athey Creek

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