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Scripture: Authority & Inspiration 19

The speaker asserts that achieving philosophical certainty regarding the existence of God is not impossible, contrary to the view held by many modern apologists.

in our day in the main most apologists in the evangelical world believe that philosophical certainty about questions such as the existence of God is impossible and the attempt to achieve it is a fool's errand doomed to failure Augustine didn't share that form of skepticism nor do i as an apologist
Apologetics should aim to move from the probable to the certain, as Augustine attempted.

what he wanted to do was to get beyond the probable to the certainty
Humans cannot escape the knowledge of God, even if they try to suppress or deny it.

God will not allow us to extinguish him from our thinking we cannot escape him we can try to to suppress that knowledge we can try to deny that knowledge we can try to dim it with all kinds of static and the silence it and all the rest
The existence of God is necessary both ontologically and logically.

God is necessary being he's a being who cannot not be and there never will be a time when he will not be and there never was a time when he was not he is I am Who I am always and forever and not only is his being necessary in that ontological sense but as being is necessary in the logical sense
Starting one's thinking by rejecting the knowledge of God will lead one's reasoning away from God.

if a person begins the pattern of their thinking at the outset by refusing to acknowledge what they know to be true that is by starting with the rejection of the knowledge of God the more brilliant they are thereafter and the more consistent they are thereafter the further away from God their reasoning will lead them
The meaning of 'to know' in the New Testament is nuanced and differs from other contexts.

just as the Hebrews had different nuanced meanings to the word to know so in the New Testament sometimes the verb to know you know skåne means to have an apprehensive cognitive awareness of something that's
Regeneration is the necessary condition for loving God with the mind.

regeneration is the necessary condition for loving God with your mind it's a necessary condition without it there is no love of God
The New Testament must be read using its eschatological language and expectation.

understanding of what the New Testament is saying we have to read it as it was written namely in its eschatological language and expectation
The original King James Version used the English word 'world' in verses 38, 39, and 40, while the New King James Version uses 'age' in verses 39 and 40.

the good seed are the children of the kingdom but the tares are the children of the wicked one the enemy that sowed them is the devil the harvest is the end of the world and the Reapers are the Angels verse 40 is therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire so shall it be in the end of this world well know verse 38 39 and 43 times the old King James Version translated the words of Jesus by using the English word world in the New King James world is used in verse 38 but in verses 39 and 40 the word age is used instead of world
God's commands are impossible for humans to fulfill without God's intervention and grace.

But that command can never ever be satisfied unless God does something gracious to make it possible.
Human beings cannot come to Jesus unless a necessary precondition, provided by God, is met.

No man can come to me, Jesus said. Now, let's go back to this debate between Pelagius and Augustine. Does God command all men everywhere to come to Jesus? Is it man's moral obligation to come to Jesus? Yes. But, in and of themselves without some kind of help from God unless God gives it to them somehow can't do it.
The necessity of God's work of grace is highlighted by the word 'unless,' which indicates a necessary condition for a subsequent event.

Do you see that word unless again? Unless A takes place, B cannot follow. A is a necessary condition for B to happen. You can't have B without A.
To achieve consistent and full joy, one must remain closely connected to Christ.

if we want a constancy and a fullness of the measure of the fruit of the Holy Spirit then we know what to do since he is the source of peace of Joy Of Love of Faith indeed of all of the fruit of the spirit then the closer we stay to the vine the stronger and more productive the fruit of the vine is in our lives
To become like Christ, a person must be trained by the Word of God, which must take hold of them in their heart.

if we want to be conformed to the image of Christ we have to be trained by the word of God the word of God has to take a hold of us and grab us in the [Music] heart
The book of Revelation is attributed to the Apostle John, who received its content as a direct revelation from Christ while in exile on the Isle of Patmos.

it is attributed to the Apostle John who tells us that he was in exile on the Isle of Patmos and that he received this direct revelation from Christ and was commanded to write down these for the instruction and benefit of the church
Because the Bible is the Word of God, one cannot take one portion of scripture and set it in opposition to another.

if we really believe that the Bible is the Word of God and that God does not speak in a forked tongue then that means I never can take one portion of Scripture and set it in opposition to another
The Bible must be read like any other book, as there is nothing spiritually unique about its grammar or structure.

a verb is a verb and a noun is a nom the indicative is the indicative the interrogative is the interrogative the conjunctive is the conjunctive there there's nothing spiritual that changes the basic grammatical historical sense in which the Bible is written and that sense you read it like you would read any other book
The Bible is unique because it comes from the inspiration of God, making it different from any other book.

well no it's the only one that comes to us from the inspiration of God himself in that sense the Bible is absolutely minute unique among books
The Bible is a source of criticism for the reader, rather than the reader criticizing the Bible.

I mean it more this way like Edward Armour oh you are there when you're reading the history of the Bible don't look at it as some distantly removed mythology from an ancient period but try as much as possible to get in the sandals of Abraham when Abraham hears God called him to Mount Moriah try to think what Abraham was thinking feel what Abraham was feeling that is you're not remaining aloof from Scripture but you enter into the reality of the scripture as it is presented

Eschatology & the Return of Christ 18

The early church had to adjust to the failure of the kingdom to come in Jesus' lifetime and the failure of Jesus to return in theirs.

the early church had to go through the same process of parousia for throg or or delay so that as time passed the church had to make all kinds of adjustments to allow not only for the failure of the kingdom to come in Jesus lifetime but then the failure of Jesus to return in their lifetime
The speaker rejects the view of 'full preterists,' who believe that all New Testament prophecies have already been fulfilled.

I don't believe that but those people who take the position that everything has already been fulfilled in
The passages referencing the coming of Jesus do not describe his final return, but rather his judgment upon Israel.

now what I'm going to suggest to you is that that coming that is described in these passages is not the final coming of Jesus but it is his judgment coming on Israel the judgment coming of Christ on Israel
The Greek word used in the Bible, 'proorizo,' means to foreordain, to choose in advance, or to predetermine.

And the word in the Greek proorizo means to foreordain, to choose in advance, or as we say in English, to pre destin.
Jesus made a highly emphatic statement regarding the timeframe, suggesting that the generation would not pass away until all predicted events occurred.

I can't conceive of Jesus being any more emphatic about the timeframe than he is here when he says assuredly I say to you that this generation will by no means pass away until all of these things take place
Jesus's statement means that the predicted events will occur within the timeframe of the current generation, even if the exact day and hour are unknown.

I don't know what day in this generation I don't know what hour it will be but I do know this it's going to be within the timeframe of this generation that some time within this generation before this generation passes away all these things will come to pass
The term 'generation' (genesis) in the New Testament overwhelmingly refers to a contemporary group of people at the time the statements were made.

in fact apart from the use of this word Ganesha or generation that we find in the Olivet discourse there are 38 other references to this word in the New Testament and every one of them refers to a contemporary group of people that were then alone
Ritter Boss interprets the Greek word 'generation' not as a timeframe, but as a description of a mind frame, meaning people with that mindset will persist until the fulfillment of events.

Ritter boss takes the view that the Greek word here Ganesha that is used to interpret a tree translated generation is a description not of timeframe but of mind frame that is it's a mind frame reference saying people of this frame of mind will still be around until all of these things come to pass
The Bible describes a sequence where Satan is bound for a thousand years, followed by the resurrection of the faithful, a thousand years of reigning with Christ, and finally, Satan's release to wage war before being cast into the lake of fire.

he laid hold of the dragon that serpent of old who is the devil and Satan and bound him for a thousand years so here's the first reference to the thousand year period and it has to do with the binding or chaining of Satan where Satan is held in captivity according to the imagery here of halation for a period of a thousand years and he cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal on him so that he should deceive the nation's No More till the thousand years were finished but after these things he must be released for a little while
Our millennialism predicts a future apostasy where the church becomes corrupt, leading to a period of great suffering for the faithful.

also the our mill looks for a future apostasy where towards the end of time the church will become corrupt so corrupt that it will end in a radical state of apostasy which has not been seen in this degree even up to this point in church history and this is one of the reason why many people believe that we are entering the the final hours of history because of the widespread apostasy of the Christian Church
The tribulation period involves the Antichrist persecuting God's people, and Christ will return after this period to finish redemption and renovate creation.

the Saints will have to endure great suffering during this period of the work of the Antichrist who will be persecuting the people of God and the church will not escape this period of tribulation through some kind of pre-tribulation rapture and then at the end of this period Christ will return and triumph over the forces of evil and finish his work of redemption which includes the renovation of all creation with the new heavens and the new earth
The Great Tribulation is a future, worldwide period of unprecedented tribulation and toil that will punctuate the end of contemporary history.

then the church will pass through a world of future worldwide unprecedented time of tribulation and travail this is course is known as the period of the Great Tribulation and that will punctuate the end of contemporary history as we know it
Postmillennialism anticipates a thousand-year period of great prosperity for the church and the whole world, followed by tribulation and the Antichrist.

the post millenarian view sees a thousand year period of great prosperity for the church that has still not yet come and when it comes Christ will reign through that thousand year period of great benefit for the whole world and then after that there will be this tribulation and the Antichrist
The majority view in New Testament scholarship has historically suggested that Revelation was written in the 90s, potentially after the fall of Jerusalem.

well the majority report in New Testament scholarship for a long time has been that the book of Revelation was written during the decade of the 90s probably during the reign of the emperor Domitian which would have made it appearing well after the fall of Jerusalem
Some scholars argue that Revelation was written much earlier, possibly in the 60s, before the fall of Jerusalem and with specific reference to predicted catastrophic events.

there have been reputable scholars in the past who have argued for a much earlier date of Revelation placing it in the decade of the 60s rather than in the 90s or even after the Year 100 as some hire critics have placed it that is to say that it was written before the fall of Jerusalem and with specific reference to those events that were going to come to pass in and around these catastrophic moments
External testimony from Clement suggests that all apostolic revelation ceased by the death of Nero, meaning the New Testament documents were completed by the year 68.

so that the external testimony of clement is that everything that is found in the canon of the new testament and all of the apostolic revelation which would include the book of revelation had ceased by the death of nero which means all of the New Testament documents were completed by the year 68 which would make it prior to the fall of Jerusalem
The book of Revelation repeatedly uses phrases and chapters to indicate that certain events are imminent or about to happen.

those things which must shortly take place chapter 2 repent or I will come to you quickly chapter 3 behold I come quickly chapter 20 to write speaks of the things which must shortly take place chapter 22 surely I'm coming quickly chapter 1 verse 3 the time is near chapter 22 verse 10 the time is at hand and verse 119 write these things that are about to take place chapter 310 the hours trial which is about to come on the whole world
The language used in Revelation, particularly its references to time, suggests that the book was written with the expectation of a very near fulfillment of its prophecies.

the contemporaries who received the first edition of the book of Revelation note the several references in it that point to the radical nearness of the fulfillment of the things that are being unfolded in this prophecy

The Person & Work of Christ 15

The use of inclusive language like 'we' or 'us' in Paul's writings does not necessarily mean that Paul expected the prophecies to be fulfilled during his own lifetime.

those words again do not necessarily require that we assume that Paul was trying to communicate to his people that he personally would be alive but he was speaking to the Christian community not only to his contemporaries but to the whole body of Christ from that day forward
A person's true self or identity is primarily found in their mind, which is invisible to others.

where we live chiefly is it our minds you can look at me and you can see my hairdo and whether I'm fat whether I'm skinny whether I'm short whether I'm tall where and white whether and black all those kind of things they're all part of the description of our see sprawl but chiefly Who I am is invisible to you
The Bible states that a person's true nature is reflected by what they think in their heart.

The Bible says as a man thinks in his heart so is he
The speaker maintains a continuous personal identity over time, evidenced by his ability to remember past experiences.

I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing the day that Japan surrendered and during ending World War two I have vivid memories of that moment I remember where I was and what I was doing when I heard the radio announcement of the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
The speaker asserts that he did not exist in a physical or mental sense before a specific date, noting that he has no memory of a previous existence.

if I asked myself what were you doing what were you thinking in April of 1937 I know with certainty the answer to that question what I was thinking in April of 1937 ladies and gentlemen was nothing and what I was doing in 1937 in April was nothing because I was nothing I did not exist
Humans are inherently religious beings who cannot escape the knowledge of God because this knowledge resides within them.

we also have the immediate revelation of God in our minds in our souls what Calvin calls the inextinguishable census Divina taught us the sense of the Divine within ourselves and it's universal this is why man is not just Homo sapiens but he's homo religiosa
God has made his existence and attributes plain to all people, leaving them without excuse.

his invisible attributes even his eternal power and divine nature have have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world so they are without excuse
Those who reject God's knowledge and attributes will be given over to their own wicked inclinations.

for this reason God gave them over to their wicked inclinations and in verse 28 since they did not see fit to acknowledge God God gave them up
It is impossible to love God with the mind while one is in the unregenerate state.

in the first place we can't love our the Lord our God with any of our minds while we're still in the unregenerate state
Mere cognitive awareness of God's existence is insufficient; a deep, personal relationship is required to truly know Him.

it's simply a cognitive awareness of this man who is recognizable because of his fame that I can say yes I know him that way but in my friend of him am i known of him
By nature, the human mind does not love God and cannot love Him unless the Holy Spirit supernaturally changes the heart.

by nature the mind does not love God at all and it will not love God at all unless or until God the Holy Spirit changes the disposition of our hearts which he does supernaturally and immediately and sovereignly by the spirits work of regeneration
The Christian Church is the fulfillment of the Covenant people of God known as Israel in the Old Testament, and therefore, he does not view them as two separate entities.

I don't hold the view that God has two views and two plains of redemption one for Israel and one for the church I don't believe that for a minute and I do believe that the church in the New Testament is the fulfillment of the Covenant people of God known as Israel in the Old Testament
God's purpose and election are not based on human works, but solely on His own calling and choice.

in order that God's purpose according to his choice might stand, not because of works, but because of him who calls
Unconverted people think and act like unconverted people.

when you're unconverted you think like an unconverted person and you act like an unconverted person
Sproul asserts that in the context of Matthew 23:36, the reference to 'generation' must refer to the contemporaries who were alive when Jesus spoke the words.

now that in this context Jesus is giving his final address that he gives presumably on the very same day that he gives the Olivet discourse and he said quote all of these things shall come upon this generation now that my understanding I'm not aware of any commentator or any matthean scholar who's ever interpreted that reference to anything other than those contemporaries that were alive at the time when Jesus talks about the things that will befall that generation in Matthew 11

Revelation & the Knowledge of God 13

The speaker argues that theology can and should go beyond the empirical data provided by the Bible, particularly concerning the existence of God.

Peter tells us that that what he declares is not carefully defined myths and fables but we declare to you what we've seen with our eyes what we've heard with our ears that's empirical data and that's very important to the Apostolic testimony to the truth claims of the Christian faith but Agustin wanted to go beyond that and so do I
Descartes' discovery of the cogito provided a foundational premise that was so certain it could not be doubted logically or formally.

there's nothing more important I think in the history of philosophy than de cartes discovery at that point because what he was looking for was a foundational premise something that was so certain that it could not be doubted logically or formally
The speaker asserts that the existence of God is a certainty that is not merely a probability, and this certainty is derived from the knowledge of one's own existence.

one of the things that I know for sure that gets me to the certainty that God exists not just simply the probability is that I know that I exist
Human self-consciousness provides the certainty of existence and the awareness of one's own finite nature.

we understand not only with certainty that we exist through self consciousness but with that awareness of the self is that immediately presented to our consciousness that we are aware of ourselves as being finite
The speaker concludes that based on his finite self-conscious existence, he can definitively state that he is not God.

I did not exist and so knowing that I'm finite I know that I am NOT God
The Enlightenment marked a shift away from needing a divine hypothesis to explain origins, promoting the idea of spontaneous generation.

at the heart of the Enlightenment at the heart of the disintegration of the classical synthesis was the Enlightenment declaration of the AL florrum the thing the enlightening principle was this that we no longer need the god hypothesis to explain the origin of the universe or of human beings because now we know that the root universe came into being through spontaneous generation self creation something out of nothing
Certain truths, like mathematical facts, are universal and true by definition, regardless of time or personal belief.

it's a universal truth it's an AA priority truth it's an analytical truth it's true by definition it cannot not be true
General revelation describes the nature and character of God to the whole world, while special revelation is the specific teaching about salvation found in the Bible.

general revelation doesn't tell you about the cross doesn't tell you about the Ascension but it tells you about the nature and character of God is eternal power and deity that he revealed through the whole world
There are two distinct types of general revelation: mediate and immediate.

now there are two kinds of general revelation and this distinction is critical the first is what's called mediate general revelation the second is called immediate general revelation
Knowing God's existence is a certainty that is found internally, not merely through intellectual effort or hope.

I don't just hope but I just don't trust it I don't just believe it I know it it cannot not be and I find that truth not by looking at you we're talking at you I find it where I live in my mind
The Apostle Paul warns that the wrath of God is upon people because God has revealed himself clearly through creation.

the Apostle warns people of the revelation of the wrath of God because God has revealed himself clearly and manifestly to the whole world through the things that are made and therefore the wrath of God is sitting upon them
God does not treat everyone equally, and this is demonstrated by how God reveals himself to different people.

Well, even a cursory reading of the Bible will demonstrate to anyone that God doesn't treat everybody equally. God comes to Abraham in the midst of his paganism and appears to him in a miraculous way. Reveals himself to Abraham in a way that he didn't do to the Pharaoh of Egypt or Hammurabi.
If Christ claims to be the only way, one must either accept that claim or conclude that he is fundamentally wrong.

if I believe that Christ is one way I have to believe that he's the only way or else I have to believe that this one who is one way is dead wrong when he claims to be the only way

The Kingdom of God 12

Jesus experienced periods of delayed anticipation regarding the kingdom's arrival.

Jesus had to go through certain periods of delayed anticipation in his own consciousness so that for example when he came to Jerusalem in the crisis moment of the triumphal entry perhaps now God was going to bring the Kingdom still didn't happen
The speaker notes that the Jewish people have maintained their identity and ethnic origins despite losing their homeland.

the Jews that the Jewish people have maintained their identity their ethnic origins without a homeland for 2,000 years and they gather on a regular occasion and will say to each other next year in Jerusalem I'm of Irish descent
The times of the Gentiles is a distinct time frame from the times of the Jewish people.

the most important point here is that for the second time we see this phrase in the New Testament the times of the Gentiles and if there's any doubt about what it is distinguished from in Luke there is no doubt about it in Romans that the times of the Gentiles is a time frame that is distinguished from the times of the Jewish people
A person must think like a Christian before they can act like one.

you're not going to act like a Christian until you think like a Christian
Miracles in the Bible are not randomly distributed but are clustered around specific redemptive historical periods and the issue of God's word.

But actually, if you look at the appearance of miracles in the Bible, they're clustered.
The state is accountable to God for the way it governs.

the founders of this country recognize that both the church and the state were under God and that the state is accountable to God for how it rules
Jesus' warnings about judgment are primarily directed at the current generation of people, specifically concerning the nation of Israel.

he's clearly talking about the decisive point in redemptive history where God has visited the nation of Israel in the person of his only begotten son it was that generation that was alive at that time that had on the one hand the unspeakable privilege of seeing the Messiah come in the flesh
The Christian community, as the kingdom, will positively influence culture by bringing blessing and improvement to the human condition.

the a'm mill position would still leave room for a future dealing of God with ethnic Israel with Jewish people but not in a separate agenda a separate program where God has one redemptive plan for the Jews and another redemptive plan for the Gentiles but rather all of the prophecy in the Bible refers to the church and the kingdom of Christ that it will include both Jews and Gentiles now also the army'll position believes that the Christian community as it manifests the kingdom will have a non-void positive influence on culture
Classical dispensationalists believe that the ethics taught by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount are a kingdom ethic that will only be implemented at the end of time when Christ establishes his kingdom.

some if not most classical dispensationalists believe that the ethic taught by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount has no relevance to the contemporary church but it is a kingdom ethic that will only be implemented at the end of the time after Christ comes back when he will establish his kingdom
Following the Great Tribulation, Christ will return to rapture his church, judge the righteous, descend to earth with his saints, and establish a worldwide political kingdom administered by Jesus for a thousand years.

and then after the tribulation Christ will return to rapture his church resurrect the departed Saints and conduct the judgement of the righteous all within the twinkling of an eye and then Christ will descend to the earth with his glorified Saints fight the Battle of Armageddon bind Satan established a worldwide political Kingdom which will be personally administered by Jesus for a thousand years
The grammatical and literary question regarding Revelation is whether John's vision occurred during the reign of the mission or if John himself was seen during the reign of Domitian.

however there is a grammatical and literary question about this translation and the question has to do with the antecedent of that that which again was seen almost in our day toward the end of the missions reign is he saying that John's vision was seen during the reign of the mission or is he saying that John who received the vision was seen as late as the reign of Domitian
The book's content suggests it was written during the reign of Nero, which provides a strong internal reference for dating.

if we start with Julius Caesar as number one augustus number two Tiberias three clearly a for Claudius five who six Nero would indicate that the book was written during the reign of Nero which explains a ton of questions with respect to the internal significance of the content of this book

Hermeneutics & Biblical Interpretation 11

Relying on symbolism to avoid a literal interpretation involves seriously bending the words of the text.

to me it involves a serious bending of the words of this text to talk about a secret which according to the language of the Apostle will be the worst kept secret in history and hardly a silent event
Predestination is not a peripheral or secondary matter of concern for biblical Christianity.

And so, what I'm suggesting is is that this doctrine of predestination is not a peripheral, tangential, secondary matter of concern for biblical Christianity.
When encountering difficult or offensive scripture, one should mark it for later, focused study to gain deeper understanding.

put a big mark next to that one to those passages in scripture that offend you that at first glance you disagree with now those are the ones you really need to put your focus and your attention upon if you want to grow rapidly
One must interpret the Bible according to its literal historical narrative genre and must not treat historical narrative as poetry or poetry as historical narrative.

but again it is not right to treat historical narrative as poetry or poetry as historical narrative
The supreme principle of interpreting scripture is that scripture is its own interpreter, meaning one must interpret scripture by scripture.

the supreme principle of interpretation is slowly scripture is its own interpreter you interpret scripture by scripture
The Bible should be interpreted using established reformed principles to avoid misinterpretation.

I've written a book on this for the lady and called knowing Scripture it's been out for twenty years or so it's an attempt to set forth the reformed principles of interpretation in a simple way that people who haven't gone to seminary can understand it
Scripture must be interpreted by the explicit teachings (didactic) rather than by the narratives (implicit).

the fourth one is like unto the third one you interpret the implicit by the explicit not the explicit by the implicit
The correct method of interpreting scripture is to interpret the implicit by the explicit, not the explicit by the implicit.

you interpret the implicit by the explicit not the explicit by the implicit
Understanding the meaning of individual words and Greek terms is crucial for accurate biblical interpretation.

pay close attention to the meaning of words individual word this is one of the reasons why we push so hard for as much as possible to get verbal agreement in English translations and away from this dynamic equivalency thing
Understanding literary forms, such as parallelism, is crucial for correctly interpreting Scripture and avoiding misunderstandings.

one thing that we need to learn really are the basic I've spelled it out in here basic types of parallelism that are found in Hebrew literature
When interpreting scripture, one must be careful to understand that parables generally have a single central meaning and should not be treated as allegories.

most parables have only one central meaning and if you try to turn each part of a parable into some kind of hidden meaning you're gonna find yourself in all kinds of trouble

Salvation & the Gospel 10

Paul viewed his own salvation as a matter of extraordinary grace from beginning to end, which the listener should also understand.

Paul never saw that it was a matter of credit to him that he came to saving faith. He saw his own salvation as a matter of extraordinary grace from beginning to end, and so must you, my friend.
Sproul asserts that saving grace is given and administered to a person who is already pronounced dead and cannot respond to the gospel on their own strength.

I don't find saving grace being offered to people who are sick unto death in a hospital room. That saving drug is given and administered to a corpse, ladies and gentlemen, who is already pronounced dead. Who cannot on his own strength even respond to the gospel.
Electing grace's purpose is to make individuals willing and eager to pursue Christ and embrace the truth.

what is electing grace does is to make us willing and eager to pursue the Christ we formerly hated, to love the savior we formerly despised, to embrace the truth we previously ran from.
The fullness of joy that a believer experiences originates from Christ.

the fullness of joy that we have comes from Christ it is first his joy that he gives to us and as we are plugged into him this joy that comes from him grows increases remains constant and becomes full
Christian joy is meant to be consistent and permanent, not fluctuating like a roller coaster.

so that there can be a consistency that there can be a permanency not a roller coaster ride of mood shifts you know altern states of joy and misery
The greatest weakness in the church is that servants of God seek the approval of men, which compromises the message of Christ.

I would say the greatest weakness in the church today is that the Servants of God keep looking over their shoulder for the approval of men as soon as that happens the message of Christ will be compromised
The church has a responsibility to act as God's prophetic voice within society, especially when the state fails to fulfill its divine obligations.

but what about when the state is not fulfilling its obligation under god of carrying out the creation ordinances then I think that the church must be the prophetic voice of God in society
The Old Testament prophecies concerning Israel's future and redemption refer to the church, which includes both Jews and Gentiles.

the prophecies in the Old Testament that refer to the future of Israel and Israel's full and final redemption refer according to the army'll position to the church the church is the kingdom of God the church fulfills the prophecies of the Old Testament now the church includes both Gentiles and Jews
Post-millennialism believes the church and Israel share the idea that the Kingdom of God is a spiritual redemption and not an earthly or political transformation.

the post-millennial position which differs from these others believes that the church again is Israel they share that idea with the omneya position but that the kingdom of God is a kingdom of spiritual Redemption and is not a program of earthly or political transformation
Parallelism in Scripture allows for the interpretation of contrasting ideas, such as peace and calamity, within a single verse.

I form the light and i create darkness i make peace and create evil I the LORD do all these things

Apologetics, Faith & Reason 10

Apologetics is the intellectual practice of giving a reasoned reply to objections raised by unbelievers and skeptics.

taken from the Greek word apologia which does not mean to say I'm sorry about being a Christian but rather to give an intellectual response or reply to objections that are raised by unbelievers and skeptics through the ages
Credulity is faith lacking a solid rational basis, while true faith requires the mind to accept what is not irrational or illogical.

Credulity is faith that is founded on no solid rational basis it's gratuitous it's the kind of thing that we have urged upon us by existential philosophers who tell us that faith is antithetical to reason to be a Christian we must take a leap into the darkness hoping that somehow the arms of Jesus will keep us from crashing and being destroyed there is really no virtue in believing that which is absurd in fact it is impossible to give true faith and true assent to something that the mind categorically rejects because it is irrational and illogical
The speaker critiques evidentialism, arguing that because sense perception is limited, it cannot provide a hundred percent certainty regarding the chief truth claims of Christianity.

but since those arguments are based upon sense perception and that our senses that we perceive things around us with are never perfect they're always limited and in because of that limitation they can never rise to the level of a hundred percent certainty
The starting point for apologetics, following Augustine, is self-consciousness.

the starting point for his apologetics and I believe that the starting point for all apologetics has to be right where Agustin put it and that is that the starting point is the starting point of self-consciousness
The main questions of apologetics are the existence of God and the Bible as God's word; settling these makes other topics mere exegesis.

the main two questions of apologetics are the existence of God and the Bible as his word get those two settled everything else is just exegesis
The act of doubting requires thinking, and thinking, in turn, requires a thinker, which proves the cogito.

even the argument against the cogito proves the cogito and it gave what Descartes was looking for that a saleable foundation that starting-point
The speaker attempts to return to first principles to identify theological doctrines that are known with absolute certainty.

so what I try to do I try to go back to first principles and I like to write down what are ten things that you know for sure ten things that your mind would never ever be willing to negotiate
The fallen mind has not lost its ability to think or reason, such as performing basic logic or arithmetic.

pagan thinkers can still add two and two and come up to four pagan thinkers can still reason soundly with the syllogism and can spot errors of logic without any help of being born again
External evidence involves references to works by extra-biblical writers, such as early church fathers quoting scripture.

what we mean by the external evidence are references to the works by extra biblical writers for example the early church fathers would frequently quote from scriptures that obviously had appeared before they did
The proverbs advise that responding to a fool according to his folly is unwise, while responding to a fool according to his folly is necessary for wisdom.

do not answer a fool according to his folly lest you also be like him now there's a good proverb for you where's Paul you like these proverbs don't answer a fool according to his folly you'd be just like him that's the proper what's the next verse answer a fool according to a folly lest he be wise in his own eyes

Sin, the Fall & Human Nature 7

The noetic effects of sin refer to the corruption of the faculty of thinking, meaning that the mind is seriously disturbed and corrupted by the fall.

the noetic effects of sin refers to that sense in which the Faculty of thinking with which we reason has been seriously disturbed and corrupted by the fall that is to say in our natural condition in our unregenerate state there is something seriously and dramatically wrong with our minds
In a natural fallen condition, humans have an inherent antipathy to the love of God.

dear friends in our natural fallen condition there is nothing more repugnant to our minds than the love of God so that when the great commandment sounds in our ears that we are to love God with all of our minds we have such an antipathy by nature such an allergy to such an idea
The Bible teaches that fallen humanity is dead in sin and incapable of obeying God's law.

The Bible says of man in his fallen condition that he's dead in sin and trespasses and that he's by nature a child of wrath since the fall in Adam.
Jesus' statement 'No man can come to me' refers to a universal negative limitation on human ability, not permission.

No man can come to me. This term "no man," if we would set that in a propositional phrase and apply the rules of logic and the rules of immediate inference to it, we would immediately identify the statement "no man" as a universal negative.
Sickness and the need for medicine are attributed to sin, and the cure for this sin is something far more terrible.

Ella I want you to remember that we get sick because of sin that's why the medicine that makes our bodies well usually looks and tastes bad but the prince had to drink something far more terrible so that his people might be healed from the results of their disobedience
Understanding sin is necessary before one can grasp what God accomplished for humanity through redemptive acts.

until we understand our sin we'll never understand what he has accomplished for us in history in his redemptive acts in the exodus of the Old Testament in the cross of the New Testament
The Bible explicitly teaches that humans in a fallen condition do not have the natural ability to incline themselves to Christ.

what does the Bible say explicitly about natural man's ability to inclined himself to Christ or to the things of God what does our Lord say explicitly when he says no man no man Universal negative can come to me unless it is given to him of the Father

Predestination, Election & Grace 7

God predestines people, and the goal of this predestination is adoption and salvation in Christ.

I think we will see clearly that what he predestines are people. And what they are predestined unto or for is, as we're told in the scripture, adoption in the beloved in Christ.
The controversial question regarding predestination is how and why God determines who receives saving grace.

But where it gets sticky, where it gets controversial, is when we ask the question, on what basis does God make his choice? How and why and upon what conditions does God determine who will receive this amazing gift of saving grace?
Semi-Pelagian views suggest that God foreknows who will cooperate with offered grace and who will reject it from eternity.

It goes like this, that from all eternity, from the foundation of the world, God looks down the corridors of time, and he knows in advance who will cooperate with offered grace and who will reject it.
He argues that the Arminian view that salvation depends on free will is incorrect because unregenerate people cannot choose God.

Because you, in your own strength, unregenerate, will never vote for God. Ever.
God unilaterally determines who is saved by casting a ballot with their name, meaning salvation depends on His sovereign grace.

From the foundation of the world, God cast his ballot with your name on it if it so be that you are in Christ. So, that it depends not on him who runs, not on him who chooses, not on him who wills, but on the sovereign grace of God.
The reformed faith teaches that election is unconditional, meaning God's saving grace is based on His own sovereign good pleasure, not on any condition found in the person.

the reformed faith teaches the doctrine not only of election but of unconditional election [Music] meaning that the electing grace that god gives to those whom he saves is not based upon some condition that he sees in them but it is sovereignly based in the good pleasure of god's will
The text suggests that the scope of salvation is limited to the elect, not all people.

God is not willing that any of the elect should perish

The Resurrection 6

The Christian faith includes the belief that believers will be resurrected into incorruptible and immortal bodies.

there will come a time when we our souls will be reunited with our bodies our bodies will be raised and the new bodies that we will enjoy will be incorruptible and immortal
Full preterists make the error of spiritualizing the resurrection, which is problematic because it denies the physical nature of the event.

advocates of full preterism such as Stuart Russell and Max King do precisely this they say that the resurrection of which Paul speaks did take place in 70 AD but it was a spiritual resurrection of those who have died they were spiritually raised and are now in heaven and they are not to be understood in physical categories not without reason
The mind and the brain are distinct entities and cannot be considered identical.

the brain is not the mind and the mind is not the brain
Upon physical death, the mind will continue to exist and maintain a continuity of personal existence.

when I die I'm gonna leave this bag of bones behind but I don't plan to stop living at the moment of my physical death my mind will no longer be connected with my brain but it will be alive and well and I will have a continuity of personal existence between this world and the world to come
A person must be regenerated to properly understand the knowledge of God.

logic without any help of being born again you don't have to be regenerate in order to get a PhD in mathematics the mind in its fallen condition still has the ability to follow formal argumentation to a degree and that degree ends when the discussion begins about the character of God
Humans are naturally dead in sin and trespasses, having no inclination towards Christ, and are therefore incapable of turning to Him on their own.

We were altogether indisposed towards Christ. We were like these people Paul talks of in Ephesians who were dead in sin and trespasses.

The Holiness & Majesty of God 5

Loving God with the mind means holding God in high esteem and thinking about Him with reverence and adoration.

what does it mean to love with the mind it's to hold in high esteem to think about God with reverence and with adoration
Sin causes people to become afraid of the light because they know that the king will see them in their shame.

and the very second that they sinned their light became dim and they were filled with shame and with great embarrassment and so they ran as fast as they could to get away from the king from then on they were afraid of the light because they knew that wherever the light was the king would be and the king would see them in their shame
Seeing the light of the King's son caused the lightlings to shine and realize they no longer needed to be afraid.

when they stood up again their own faces were shining it was a reflection of the light that was coming out of the baby they rushed back to their homes to their friends and their families as fast as their feet could carry them
The profound majesty of God is so overwhelming that even great theologians are struck with terror and cry out in distress.

the first thing he does when he sees the huh leanness of God is that he cries out in terror and the old King James Version records his words as saying this woe is me for I am undone
Humanity is inherently prone to equating shame and nakedness due to its fallen state.

it's built in to our fallen Humanity to equate shame and nakedness

Worship 4

The act of seeking God is primarily the business of the Christian, not the pagan.

Jonathan Edwards once said the seeking after God is no business of the pagan but the seeking after God is the main business of the Christian
The deeper one understands God through the mind, the more inclined one will be to praise, honor, and worship Him.

the more glorious he appears to the more inclined you will be to praise Him to honor him to worship Him
Humanity's current state of lack of honor, worship, and adoration demonstrates a deficiency in their love for God.

our lack of honor our lack of worship our lack of adoration reveals how little we love you with our minds
The Book of Jonah should be understood as a historical narrative, not as poetry, even if it contains a poetic prayer.

I wrote on the historical narrative of the narrative genre of the Book of Jonah with the exception of the prayer that is written in poetic form in the middle my professor who had gone to college graduated with the honors went on to seminary graduated there got his PhD and Hebrew studies in Old Testament and it taught in this seminary for 40 years or so got so excited with my paper he not only gave me an A on the paper but he said you submit this for publication in some scholarly Journal I said why should I do that he says well this is remarkably innovative he said had never ever seen anybody argue that the Book of Jonah was written largely in historical narrative form

The Life & Ministry of Jesus 4

The speaker prays for the Spirit of truth to change the direction of the will and inflame the minds with love for God and the truth revealed in Jesus.

we pray that your spirit who is the spirit of truth who is quickened our souls change the direction of our will might inflame our minds with love for you and for the truth that you have revealed in Jesus
The Kingdom of God, as taught by Jesus, is understood as a sudden, supernatural, and transcendent event from heaven, not a gradual ethical or worldly development.

but that this kingdom that Jesus spoke about that was coming would come catastrophic Lee suddenly supernaturally coming transcendentally from above that the kingdom was something that God would bring from heaven intruding into the normal process and progress of history
God grants special grace to certain individuals, such as Paul, which he did not give to others like Caiaphas or Pontius Pilate.

But, not before or until the Lord of glory gave him special grace to open his eyes. Grace that God gave to Paul that he did not give to Caiaphas. That he did not give to Pontius Pilate.
The King provided his own son to be the light of the world, which was a special gift.

the father lightling said he is not my son he is the son of the king of light the King has given him to us as a special gift and there will be no Darkness strong enough to hide his light

Sanctification & the Christian Life 4

The Christian life is a pilgrimage aimed at increasing the love of God with the mind, a process that continues until glorification.

the whole pilgrim eats that you go through in your Christian life in your sanctification is a pilgrimage by which we are seeking to increase the love of God with our minds
To grow in grace and sanctification, one should identify areas where they are critical of God, as these are the places where personal change is needed.

and if you want to grow in grace and in sanctification find those places where you are critical of god it might just be that these are the places where you need to change your thinking and change your life
Christians are called to be a holy people sanctified by the Lord, and understanding the concept of holiness is important.

nor will we ever understand our own goal and our purpose as Christians who are called to be a holy people sanctified of the Lord until we have some notion of this whole concept of Holies
A method for sanctification involves identifying passages in the Bible that the reader dislikes, as this highlights the difference between personal preference and God's will.

put a big mark there and then go back and just concentrate on those passages of scripture that you read that you don't like because you'll find out one of two things either you didn't understand them the first time around and by studying them more deeply you'll come to an understanding and you'll be comfortable with it or even better you find out that even though you looked at it more carefully this time using all the commentaries you find out way I did understand what that text said and I still don't like it now you have a real springboard for sanctification because now you've isolated those places in the Word of God where what you like and what God likes are two different things

The Atonement & the Cross 3

The transformation from opposing God's things to embracing them is a demonstration of God's mercy.

we know that we didn't Embrace Christ out of our flesh we know that it took the inner work of God the Holy Spirit to change us from those who were opposed to the things of God to those who embraced the things of God
The true meaning of miracles, such as the feeding of the 5,000, is a moral lesson about sharing and ethical behavior, not merely a physical impossibility.

the other one was well the real story was about the little boy who stepped forward with his lunch and he was willing to share and the real meaning that Jesus of the text is this that some of the people came with their lunches others failed to provide for themselves and when the crisis came at noon Dame and everybody was hungry Jesus and his masterful style of moral education was able to get those who had brought their lunches to share with those who didn't so that was a miracle of ethics
The Lord's Prayer contains parallelism, suggesting that the request to be delivered from the 'evil one' is an alternative to being led into temptation.

lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil bad translation right John because it's not the neuter evil it's plenty Ross the masculine which is the title given in the New Testament for Satan

The Sovereignty of God & Providence 3

Logic functions as an intellectual governor for the mind, preventing it from becoming trapped in irrational categories.

what logic does is function as an intellectual governor to our thinking and to our minds so that if our minds become entrapped in irrational categories the buzzer goes off and the policeman of logic stands there with a big red sign hexagonal and says stop right there because you are now in error or in falsehood
God's plan and decision to predestine something originated before the world was created.

That before the world was created, God had a plan. And that plan according to his secret counsel and according to the good pleasure of his will he made a decision to do something.
The biblical text suggests that God's will is sovereign and efficacious, meaning what God ordains must necessarily come to pass.

I said willing in what sense in the sovereign efficacious will by which whatever God ordains to come the past must necessarily come to pass

Regeneration & Conversion 3

Salvation is a gift of grace that involves being brought alive and becoming a new creation in Christ.

picked you up out of the water, took you up on the shore, and resuscitated to you you and brought you alive again through the power of his creation. You are a new creation in Christ. And that's grace.
A Christian is called to transformation, while an unconverted person is merely conformed to the patterns of a fallen world.

an unconverted person is conformed to the patterns and the way of thinking of a fallen world but a Christian who is converted is called to transformation to be transformed
True transformation is not merely intellectual education but is fundamentally about redemption.

this isn't just about education or tickling our intellectual interests and Fascinations this is about Redemption

Biblical Criticism & Liberal Theology 3

The 19th-century religious historical school applied evolutionary principles to biblical religion, suggesting that religion progressed from animism to monotheism.

the religious historical school was a school of thought that dominated liberal theology in the night 18th century that applied these principles of evolution to biblical religion saying that biblical religion follows the same basic pattern that all religions follow in their historic development that religion begins in a simple manner and then develops to a more complex viewpoint it begins in animism with a view that supposedly inanimate objects are inhabited by spirits usually evil spirits and then you develop from that into polytheism and henotheism and finally in a later time in history you see the emergence of full orbed monotheism
The application of evolutionary principles by religious historical schools led to the rejection of supernatural biblical events, such as the virgin birth and the atonement.

anything supernatural such as the virgin birth of Jesus the atonement as a cosmic event of reconciliation between the human and a divine the resurrection the Ascension and obviously the return of Jesus at the end of the age was also considered part of the mythological trappings that were included in the biblical documents
The speaker outlines three historical views of truth: the Classical Age (objective correspondence), Modernism (perspective determines reality), and Post-modernism (pure relativism/subjectivism).

we looked at the three stages the Classical Age where truth was defined by some kind of correspondence theory truth is defined by that which corresponds to reality its objective even Rudolf Bultmann in interpreting ilithyia in the kindles word book it grants that the meaning of the Greek word for truth includes among other things that which corresponds to reality or describes real objective events so historically and classically we had this objective view of truth then came modernism the Enlightenment even the post court in view of truth being determined not simply by what is but the question is you look at things a little different from how he looks at it and our perspective tends to determine our perception of what truth is so now truth is determined by how we perceive it until finally modernism gives way to post-modernism where truth now is a matter of preference pure relativism pure subjectivism

The Law & the Commandments 2

The Bible distinguishes between 'law' (which concerns moral absolutes) and 'proverbs,' noting that mixing the two can lead to confusion.

law has to do with moral absolutes that are given to us unless they case laws casuist ik law that you find in the Old Testament but in addition to the two kinds of law absolute law and case law that you find in the Old Testament you also have proverbs
God requires people to adhere to both the spirit and the letter of the law, and excuses based on the spirit should not be used to disregard what God explicitly says.

what God wants from his people is to keep the spirit of the law and the letter of the law but we excuse our violations of the law of God by saying well I'm keeping the spirit well I'm trampling all over what God actually says so we pay attention both to the spirit and the letter

Faith, Assurance & Hope 2

Reason and faith have a symbiotic relationship and true biblical faith depends on the rationality implanted by the Creator.

Augustine said that reason and faith have what we would call a symbiotic relationship one to each other and in some sense we start with faith in a provisional form when we hear the word of God we trust that as far as we can understand it as far as we know it but that faith at times is weak and doesn't yield what we would call intellectual certainty or assurance but at the same time just as faith is a provisional embracing of the rational that faith itself is never to be understood as irrational
The faith by which one is saved is not self-generated but is a direct result of supernatural intervention in one's life.

think that even the Faith by which we are saved is not something that came out of our own flesh not something that came out of our own will but that it came as a direct result of the supernatural intervention in our lives

Repentance & Forgiveness 2

Sin introduced the concept of guilt and shame, leading humans to cover themselves with artificial garments.

until sin came into their life and the very first psychological selfawareness of guilt and of Shame was an uncomfortable awareness of nudity and since that hour in the Garden of Eden human beings have been the only animals who have adorned themselves and covered themselves with artificial garments
When God judges the guilty, he exposes their sin by stripping them of their clothes.

when God speaks of bringing judgment against the guilty he exposes their sin and strips them of their clothes

Heaven, Hell & Judgment 2

The difference between the Greek words 'cosmos' and 'ion' explains the translation difference, as 'cosmos' means world and 'ion' means age or epoch.

the Greek word is the word cosmos which is the common word used to describe the world we talk about cosmic events and so on that's the Greek word cosmos then in verses 39 and 40 we have the Greek word ion which means age or epoch not world
Several biblical passages indicate the nearness and expectancy of the last days.

I want to give some references of other time frame references that are not by any means exhaustive but that refer to the nearness expectancy of the last days according to the writers of the Scriptures in Matthew 1012 will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes Matthew 26 he spoke to Jesus speaking to the high priest said you will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven Romans Paul's letter to the Romans for chapter 13 now decide time to wake out of sleep the night is far spent the day is at hand first corinthians 7 the form of this world is passing away first Corinthians 10 verse 11 critical passage the ends of the ages have come upon us Philippians 4:5 the Lord is at hand in the general epistles James 5 8 to 9 the coming of the Lord is at hand behold the judge is standing at the door 1st Peter 4:7 the end of all things is

Marriage, Family & Relationships 1

One cannot love God if they do not know Him, and emotional experiences of God are insufficient without intellectual understanding.

you can't love what you don't know so that a mindless Christianity is no Christianity at all

Prayer 1

Preachers must focus on Christ and the whole counsel of God rather than trying to please human beings.

no one preaches the whole counsel of God who is a man pleaser and so I charge you before God to keep your eyes on Christ and not on the judges of this world

Old Testament Narrative & History 1

The Bible should be interpreted according to its literary genre, specifically recognizing that historical narratives are not symbolic moralisms.

the literary form in which those texts come to us were not symbolic moral isms but that it was presented to us in a genre of historical narrative now you can reject it if you want but you have no right to twist it to say that it is saying something that it never was saying