The Kingdom Within

Posted 10/7/13 by Donald Barnhouse

There are those who claim that the Kingdom of God is within the hearts of all men. There are some very broad, liberal interpretations of the Scripture which seize upon the famous phrase, "The Kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21). They would try to make it mean that the Kingdom and power of God are to be found within the hearts of men, and that all that is necessary is to appeal to this highest element within man. Such an idea is palpably nonsensical. In the first place, Jesus said these words to a group of His bitterest enemies, the very men who later crucified Him. The true translation is, "The Kingdom of God is in the midst of you," or "among you." It is the same idea that He gave when they accused Him of working through the power of the devil. "No," was His answer. "The work I am doing is the proof that I am the Messiah. Heaven’s King is in the midst of you. This is the power which you see at work."

Image previewThe Kingdom Within

"The Kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21).

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

The Worship of the Elders -- Part Four

By James Boice

The Worship of the Elders
Revelation 4:9-11
Theme: The worthiness of God.
This week’s lessons remind us that our God is worthy of our praise.

Lesson

As we turn to the earth - what of the earth? Here the wonders of the macrocosm - the world of large things - are repeated in the microcosm, which is the world of small things. Here there are electrons and protons, neutrons, neutrinos, and a seemingly endless variety of particles that we don’t even begin to understand. The distance between them proportionate to their size is comparable to some of the distances in the solar system. If we were to take the simplest of atoms - the hydrogen atom - and blow it up billions upon billions of times to where the proton at its center is about the size of a ten-inch soccer ball, the electron that’s circling around it would be the size of a golf ball, but it would be five miles away. And in between there'd be absolutely nothing. That’s just the simplest of the atoms. The saints in heaven are praising God for the wonders of his Creation. Shouldn’t we be able to do that in our worship?

Evidence of False Teachers

Posted 10/4/13 by Donald Barnhouse

When Christ described the working of the false teachers, He was not talking about their characters so much as about the results of their teaching and their policies. Suppose we were to attempt to judge the Lord according to those standards that are accepted in many quarters today. We can well imagine a scene in a Palestinian home during the time Christ was here on earth. Someone would say, "Well this Jesus cannot be a good man, for what He is saying does not make for peace. Now the Pharisees are men of peace. They are such good men. I have seen them praying in the market place. They give tithes of all they possess. They want harmony. But this Jesus is a controversialist. He uses such terrible language. He calls these men ‘generations of vipers,’ and ‘hypocrites.’ Surely we must see that by their fruits ye shall know them, and we shall have to choose the Pharisees."

Image previewEvidence of False Teachers

"Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.  Ye shall know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles?” (Matthew 7:15,16)

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

The Worship of the Elders -- Part Three

By James Boice

The Worship of the Elders
Revelation 4:9-11
Theme: The worthiness of God.
This week’s lessons remind us that our God is worthy of our praise.

Lesson

God is eternal. He had no beginning, and he’ll have no end. Moreover, God is always the same in his eternal being. That’s what the words "who was, and is, and is to come" mean. God is past, that is, was. He is present - the word is, and he is also future - is to come. That last phrase is adding the idea that this eternally existing God is yet to come to us in judgment. He is the one before whom all hearts are open, and with whom you and I must deal.

The Power of a Preface: Packer on Owen

by David Filson • October 03, 2013

In the Banner of Truth's 1958 reprint of Owen's classic work, J.I. Packer’s preface emerges as an intro that draws the reader in--not only to Owen’s work, but to what has to be one of the most logical, lucid, and clear guides to Reformed soteriology. When one reads Packer on Owen and then reads Owen there is an irresistible desire to want more.

“Here comes the bookman,” he said in his familiar southern drawl.  It was early evening, and the porch swing seemed to be exactly the place where we belonged.  We could see the long driveway from our vantage point, and sure enough, here came the bookman!

That’s always good news.

The bookman? The UPS guy, of course!

Fruit Defines the Man

Posted 10/3/13 by Donald Barnhouse

This passage is often quoted, and often misquoted. When Christ cried out, "Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt," He was telling these men that there had to be a radical change in their lives. They had not been born again. They possessed only an old nature but they were seeking to adorn it with a substitute righteousness. Men can be deceived by this outward appearance, but God looks upon the heart and is not satisfied with its condition. Men must have a miraculous work performed within their lives so that there will be a tree of life within on which good fruit may grow, or they must recognize that the fruit which God demands cannot grow upon the old dead wood of the human life apart from Christ.

Image previewFruit Defines the Man

“A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things" (Matthew 12:35).

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

The Worship of the Elders -- Part Two

By James Boice

The Worship of the Elders
Revelation 4:9-11
Theme: The worthiness of God.
This week’s lessons remind us that our God is worthy of our praise.

Lesson

Whenever any of the created beings praise God in heaven, the elders seem to join in. Remember that they represent the redeemed people of God from all ages. Here they praise God as the Creator. Their hymn begins with the words, "You are worthy," which, of course, is worship in its purest sense because that’s what worship is. Worship is ascribing worth to God. The four living creatures are praising God because he is holy, and sovereign, and eternal, and here the elders praise him as the Creator. In other words, they’re praising God both for who he is and for what he’s done.

Devil or God?

Posted 10/2/13 by Donald Barnhouse

In all these explanations, the important fact is that His enemies admitted the supernatural powers of the Lord Jesus Christ. They could not explain Him on natural grounds. The keenest minds of His day, sharp and critical, were forced to admit that He was outside the common run of men. The explanation of the Pharisees was that the power of Jesus Christ was Satanic power. What He had done they could not deny, so they said that it was done by the power of the prince of the demons. This explanation is as foolish as those that leave out the supernatural. We would be amazed at the stubborn willfulness of unbelief had we not been warned by our Lord of the deep seated reasons for this denial—reasons which lie buried in the recesses of the sinful human heart. Every once in a while, we meet just such arguments in our dealings with men today - with an airy gesture of contempt, they would dismiss the whole question and say with a firm tone that it can’t be so simply because such things are not so.

Image previewDevil or God?

"Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: and if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?" (Luke 11:17)

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

The Worship of the Elders -- Part One

By James Boice

The Worship of the Elders
Revelation 4:9-11
Theme: The worthiness of God.
This week’s lessons remind us that our God is worthy of our praise.

Lesson

We’re studying what it is to worship God, and we’re using probably the best model in all the Bible for understanding what worship should be, that is, the worship that takes place in heaven and is described for us in Revelation 4. We saw a number of things last week about worship. First of all, worship is of God alone. Secondly, worship is the acknowledgement of God’s attributes, that is, praising him for who he actually is. Third, worship is ceaseless in heaven at least, and, in a certain sense, on earth as well because the praises of God’s people around the globe go up to him continually. And lastly, worship is best when it’s also done with others.

What Would Jesus Drink?

by Nick Batzig • October 01, 2013

We must return again and again to this precious fountain of redeeming truth. The Savior has drunk to the full the cup of God's wrath so that we might drink the cup of His blessings. We must learn to again and again remember what it is that we deserve from the hand of God and what our Savior took upon Himself for our salvation. It is only as we do that we are drawn into deeper communion with Him. As R.A. Finlayson put it so helpfully: “As I look upon Him whom I pierced…sin becomes personal and the Savior becomes as personal as sin, and you and He meet together, because you are the sinner that He came to save.”

If you were hoping to read a post about the temperance movement, wineries, micro-brews or an illegitimate use of the Bible to fuel the health food revolution (or perhaps I should have said, “health food religion”) then you could very well be disappointed. If, however, you are looking for an explanation about what the Scriptures tell us that Jesus drank when He spoke of "this cup" (Matt. 26:39) then my hope is that you'll find this to be one of the richest subjects for the well being of your soul.

Syndicate content

PLACE FOR TRUTH

What David Needed Most

Reformation 21

“He fell today; I may fall tomorrow.”