Month: April 2009

Melchizedek

The need for a priest originates in the first book of the Bible. The fall of mankind caused a serious change in man’s relationship with his Maker. Instead of enjoying fellowship with God during walks in “the cool of the day,” Adam and Eve suddenly hid in shame from their Creator. This distressing state of affairs was remedied by the divine provision of a covering for the guilty pair; thus permitting pardon and ongoing relations with the Holy One. Thereafter in Genesis heads of families, such as Noah and Abraham, built altars, worshipped the Lord, as well as making supplications, intercession, and prayers (e.g. Gen. 8:20; 12:7-8). In chapter fourteen, Melchizedek, an independent priest, is introduced – One who is closely linked in the Scriptures with the Lord Jesus Christ.

To read the entire article, click on the title.

War & Peace: The Controversial Claims of Christ In Matthew 10:34

“Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword” (Matt. 10:34). At first glance, this statement seems incongruous with the popular conception of Jesus Christ. No doubt guided by Hollywood’s unhistorical and imaginative depictions, He is often pictured as insipid, blandly noncontroversial, or benignly accepting of anyone and anything. Modern thinking reduces Him to a supremely tolerant ethicist: one who condemns those people and things that society’s conventional wisdom deems as bad, while simultaneously excusing individuals from their personal guilt. In short, Jesus is modern man’s psychoanalyst, guru, confidant, and all around “buddy”, who will by no means challenge or offend contemporary sensibilities. Needless to say, this is a caricature of the true Messiah, whom the Scripture describes as a “stumbling block” (1 Cor. 1:23; cf. Rom. 9:32-33). The Lord Jesus’ own words reveal His controversial claims and actions, which even today offend the natural man.
To read the entire article, click on the title.

War & Peace: The Controversial Claims of Christ In Matthew 10:34

“Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword” (Matt. 10:34). At first glance, this statement seems incongruous with the popular conception of Jesus Christ. No doubt guided by Hollywood’s unhistorical and imaginative depictions, He is often pictured as insipid, blandly noncontroversial, or benignly accepting of anyone and anything. Modern thinking reduces Him to a supremely tolerant ethicist: one who condemns those people and things that society’s conventional wisdom deems as bad, while simultaneously excusing individuals from their personal guilt. In short, Jesus is modern man’s psychoanalyst, guru, confidant, and all around “buddy”, who will by no means challenge or offend contemporary sensibilities. Needless to say, this is a caricature of the true Messiah, whom the Scripture describes as a “stumbling block” (1 Cor. 1:23; cf. Rom. 9:32-33). The Lord Jesus’ own words reveal His controversial claims and actions, which even today offend the natural man.

To read the entire article, click on the title.

The Man For All Seasons

Modern man faces a bewildering array of difficulties. Economic uncertainty, soaring crime rates, devastating wars, and conflicts within families all threaten to overwhelm people. Because Christians live on this fallen planet and are not yet morally perfect, they are not exempt from these problems. Thankfully in facing the crises of life, we have an ever-present Saviour, who is capable of dealing with any situation. In the truest sense of the phrase our Lord Jesus is the Man for all seasons.

To read the entire article, click on the title.

Why Be Interested In The Lord's Supper?

The modern landscape in Christendom presents a wide variety of churches. Some of them bear little resemblance to the character or teachings of the biblical Christ. Many others, however, hold to the major “fundamentals of the faith,” believing that Christ is God, the only Savior, & that He will return one day. It is not difficult in North America to find congregations that believe in the saving power of the Lord Jesus by grace through faith alone. Many of these groups aggressively evangelize by a variety of methods. Furthermore, the majority of them believe in imparting sound principles for Christian living, the family, and other ethical issues. They are morally and doctrinally conservative, and genuinely praise God for their standing in Christ. Given that so many of these fundamental churches are similar in doctrine and practice, how is one to choose where they should attend?
While many churches preach the true Gospel and uphold the major doctrines of biblical Christianity, very few hold to the New Testament pattern for government and weekly function. The one-pastor system, absence of biblically operating elders, lack of opportunity for the functioning of the gifts within the church and other nonscriptural innovations all contribute to the local meeting of saints falling short of God’s intention for it. Often times, believers who meet in local churches that try to follow the New Testament way of gathering find themselves on the defensive when conversing with brothers and sisters in more mainstream congregations. Rather than major on modern, unscriptural corruptions of the biblical blueprint, it would be more constructive to focus on the beauty of New Testament principles themselves. Chief among these distinctives must be the remembrance feast, known by the biblical name “the Lord’s Supper.”
To read the entire article, click on the title.

Why Be Interested In The Lord’s Supper?

The modern landscape in Christendom presents a wide variety of churches. Some of them bear little resemblance to the character or teachings of the biblical Christ. Many others, however, hold to the major “fundamentals of the faith,” believing that Christ is God, the only Savior, & that He will return one day. It is not difficult in North America to find congregations that believe in the saving power of the Lord Jesus by grace through faith alone. Many of these groups aggressively evangelize by a variety of methods. Furthermore, the majority of them believe in imparting sound principles for Christian living, the family, and other ethical issues. They are morally and doctrinally conservative, and genuinely praise God for their standing in Christ. Given that so many of these fundamental churches are similar in doctrine and practice, how is one to choose where they should attend?

While many churches preach the true Gospel and uphold the major doctrines of biblical Christianity, very few hold to the New Testament pattern for government and weekly function. The one-pastor system, absence of biblically operating elders, lack of opportunity for the functioning of the gifts within the church and other nonscriptural innovations all contribute to the local meeting of saints falling short of God’s intention for it. Often times, believers who meet in local churches that try to follow the New Testament way of gathering find themselves on the defensive when conversing with brothers and sisters in more mainstream congregations. Rather than major on modern, unscriptural corruptions of the biblical blueprint, it would be more constructive to focus on the beauty of New Testament principles themselves. Chief among these distinctives must be the remembrance feast, known by the biblical name “the Lord’s Supper.”

To read the entire article, click on the title.

The Lord Jesus Christ: Vilified & Vindicated

Lately there has been much in the news about the “true identity” of Christ. The Da Vinci Code, like its predecessors Holy Blood, Holy Grail, and The Last Temptation of Christ, affirms that the Lord Jesus was a mere man, who did ordinary things such as starting a family. Since this novel has been such a lucrative commercial success, spawning a major motion picture, other volumes have followed, purporting to reveal the secrets of the “real Jesus” (e.g. The Jesus Papers; The Jesus Dynasty, etc.). The suggestions that these works make are certainly not new. They are merely popularizing ideas that infidel scholarship has propounded for the last two centuries (from the nineteenth century liberal German scholar David Strauss’ “biography” The Life of Jesus to “The Jesus Seminar” of the 1980’s & 1990’s to the more recent The Pagan Christ by the University of Toronto’s Tom Harpur). In fact, attacks on the person of the Lord Jesus are actually quite ancient. The apostles dealt with such falsehoods in their writings (2 Tim. 3:13; 1 John 2:18-19). Note Paul’s impassioned warning to the elders from Ephesus: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:28-30). In spite of the ever-multiplying attacks on Him, the biblical Christ will stand up to close historical scrutiny. The most compelling and realistic Jesus is the One that we encounter in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
To read the entire article, click on the title.

The Lord Jesus Christ: Vilified & Vindicated

Lately there has been much in the news about the “true identity” of Christ. The Da Vinci Code, like its predecessors Holy Blood, Holy Grail, and The Last Temptation of Christ, affirms that the Lord Jesus was a mere man, who did ordinary things such as starting a family. Since this novel has been such a lucrative commercial success, spawning a major motion picture, other volumes have followed, purporting to reveal the secrets of the “real Jesus” (e.g. The Jesus Papers; The Jesus Dynasty, etc.). The suggestions that these works make are certainly not new. They are merely popularizing ideas that infidel scholarship has propounded for the last two centuries (from the nineteenth century liberal German scholar David Strauss’ “biography” The Life of Jesus to “The Jesus Seminar” of the 1980’s & 1990’s to the more recent The Pagan Christ by the University of Toronto’s Tom Harpur). In fact, attacks on the person of the Lord Jesus are actually quite ancient. The apostles dealt with such falsehoods in their writings (2 Tim. 3:13; 1 John 2:18-19). Note Paul’s impassioned warning to the elders from Ephesus: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:28-30). In spite of the ever-multiplying attacks on Him, the biblical Christ will stand up to close historical scrutiny. The most compelling and realistic Jesus is the One that we encounter in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

To read the entire article, click on the title.

God's Thesaurus

People love a good mystery. Throughout the millennia, man has been captivated by seemingly inexplicable puzzles. Whether it is natural phenomena like gravity or electricity, or strange occurrences such as the disappearance of Amelia Earhart, it is clear that people are fascinated by the unexplained. Interest in uncanny happenings is not limited, however, to the rank and file of humanity. Rather, thoughtful sages and scholars have always pondered the deep issues of life and the Universe, deliberating on the meaning of life. Take the noted sixth-century philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus, as an example of this inquiring disposition among thinkers. He noted that the world seemed to be in a perpetual state of change. He likened it to a river: one can never step into the same river twice. By the time that one has removed his foot and placed it in the brook again, the water is different (due to the flow of the current.) In spite of this constant change, the cosmos does not degenerate into chaos, as one might expect. What explains the underlying unity that we see in the world? Heraclitus attributed this order to an unseen force, known as the Logos (i.e. “the Word.”) Other classical thinkers used this term to describe higher meaning. To the Stoics, the Logos was “the soul of the world” that gave ultimate reason to the cosmos. The Roman emperor-philosopher Marcus Aurelius viewed it as the creative principle in the Universe. Interestingly, the celebrated sage Plato once told his followers: “It may be that some day there will come forth from God a Word, a Logos, who will reveal all mysteries and make everything plain.”1 He had no idea how right he was!
To read the entire article, click on the title.

God’s Thesaurus

People love a good mystery. Throughout the millennia, man has been captivated by seemingly inexplicable puzzles. Whether it is natural phenomena like gravity or electricity, or strange occurrences such as the disappearance of Amelia Earhart, it is clear that people are fascinated by the unexplained. Interest in uncanny happenings is not limited, however, to the rank and file of humanity. Rather, thoughtful sages and scholars have always pondered the deep issues of life and the Universe, deliberating on the meaning of life. Take the noted sixth-century philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus, as an example of this inquiring disposition among thinkers. He noted that the world seemed to be in a perpetual state of change. He likened it to a river: one can never step into the same river twice. By the time that one has removed his foot and placed it in the brook again, the water is different (due to the flow of the current.) In spite of this constant change, the cosmos does not degenerate into chaos, as one might expect. What explains the underlying unity that we see in the world? Heraclitus attributed this order to an unseen force, known as the Logos (i.e. “the Word.”) Other classical thinkers used this term to describe higher meaning. To the Stoics, the Logos was “the soul of the world” that gave ultimate reason to the cosmos. The Roman emperor-philosopher Marcus Aurelius viewed it as the creative principle in the Universe. Interestingly, the celebrated sage Plato once told his followers: “It may be that some day there will come forth from God a Word, a Logos, who will reveal all mysteries and make everything plain.”1 He had no idea how right he was!

To read the entire article, click on the title.

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