August 30, 2007

  • CS Lewis said the Psalmists were “Homicidal and Fanatic”


    http://youtube.com/watch?v=zR-JN4JocTU




    CS Lewis in his book “Christian Reflections” (published in 1967), wrote, “The dominant impression I get from reading the Psalms is one of antiquity… In that momentary proximity they are almost shockingly alien; creatures of unrestrained emotion, wallowing in self-pity, sobbing, cursing, screaming in exultation (p114) … we shall find in the Psalms expressions of a cruelty more vindictive and a self-righteousness more complete that anything in the [Greek] classics. If we ignore such passages and read only a few selected favourite Psalms, we miss the point. For the point is precisely this: that these same fanatic and homicidal Hebrews, and not the more enlightened peoples, again and again — for brief moments — reach a Christian level of spirituality. It is not that they are better or worse than the Pagans, but they are both better and worse.” (p116, “Christian Reflections”)


    Lewis is right about one thing. The Psalmist’s claim that he is perfectly righteous is “shockingly alien” to us. We’re sinners, but here the Psalmist is saying that he’s without sin? Who can the Psalmist possibly be? Who can say the following?

    I will behave myself in a perfect way … I will not know evil. Psa 101:2,4

    O Jehovah, judge me according to my righteousness, and according to my integrity in me. Psa 7:8.

    And Jehovah has returned to me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands before His eyes. Psa 18:24

    Preserve my soul for I am holy. Psa 86:2

    My comment: Obviously either David was under a delusion or this is Christ speaking. The New Testament interpretation is that Christ is the Psalmist. Compare Hebrews 7:26 with Psalm 26…

    Hebrews 7:26
    For such a High Priest was fitting for us: holy, harmless, undefiled, and separated from sinners, and having become higher than the heavens;

    Psalm 26:6,9,11
    I will wash my hands in innocency; so I will go around Your altar, O Jehovah, Do not gather up my soul with sinners, nor my life with men of blood, But I will walk in my integrity; redeem me and be gracious to me.

    My comment: Look at the similarity between Psalm 1 and messianic prophecies in Isaiah. Clearly, Christ is the tree — the righteous man — that bears fruit.

    Psalm 1:3
    And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivulets of waters, which will give its fruit in its seasons, and its leaf will not wither, and all which he does will prosper.

    Isaiah 11:1
    And a Shoot goes out from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch will bear fruit out of his roots.

    Isaiah 4:2
    In that day the Branch of Jehovah will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth for pride and for glory for the survivors of Israel.

    My comment: According to the Apostles, David was merely a mouthpiece that Christ spoke through…

    the Holy Spirit spoke before through David’s mouth. Acts 1:15

    [God spoke] through the mouth of Your servant David. Acts 4:25

    [God was] saying in David. Heb 4:7

    David in Spirit [calls]. Mt 22:43

    My comment: This makes sense. But is there a double meaning in the Psalms — one about Christ and one about David? Well, how can Psalm 75 have any application to David? Did David in any way sustain the earth?

    Psalm 75:3
    The earth and all its inhabitants are dissolved; I set up its pillars firmly.

    My comment: David was merely the tongue Christ wrote through. Christ does not share his glory in the Psalms with a man! “I will not give my glory to another”. And is Christ completely arbritary? Did he just arbritarily pick and choose different diary entries from David’s life? Not at all. When prophesying, the prophets were not writing about their own sufferings, but Christ’s…

    And these are the last words of David … The Spirit of Jehovah has spoken by me, and His Word is ON MY TONGUE. 2 Sam 23:1,3

    The prophets wrote concerning the sufferings of Christ. 1 Pet 1:11

    every prophecy of Scripture did not come into being of its own interpretation. 2 Pet 1:20

    For the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy. Rev 19:10

    My comment: Many people try to use the Psalms to justify doubting. They say that in the Psalms, David was “forsaken” and “God hid his face from David”. This is the very opposite of the New Testament interpretation. Christ was forsaken — why? So that believers would never have to be forsaken…

    Hebrews 5:7
    [Christ] in the days of His flesh was offering both petitions and entreaties to Him being able to save Him from death, with strong crying and tears, and being heard from His godly fear;

    Psalm 6:9
    Jehovah has heard my plea; Jehovah will receive my prayer.

    My comment: The Psalms are the prayers of Christ under the wrath of God and pleading his perfect righteousness on behalf of His people.

    Note – CS Lewis is the author of such infamous works as “Mere Christianity” and “The Screwtape letters”. As well as “Surprised by Joy” and “Reflections on the Psalms” etc

August 26, 2007

  • John Piper’s Agonizing Problem with Assurance of Salvation

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=9JzSPzPEI5c






    John Piper from “Desiring God” writes,

    “The most agonizing problem about the assurance of salvation is not the problem of whether the … objective facts of Christianity are true (God exists, Christ is God, Christ died for sinners, Christ rose from the dead, Christ saves forever all who believe, etc.). Those facts are the utterly crucial bedrock of our faith. But the really agonizing problem of assurance is whether I personally am saved by those facts. This boils down to whether I have saving faith. What makes this agonizing – for many in the history of the church and today – is that there are people who think they have saving faith but don’t … So the agonizing question for some is: do I really have saving faith? Is my faith real? Am I self-deceived?” (“The Agonizing Problem of the Assurance of Salvation”)

    This is absurd. It’s like saying that people standing in the light would have an “agonizing problem” because some other people — in darkness — thought they were in the light.

    RC Sproul from “Ligonier Ministries” agrees with Piper and writes,

    “What complicates our quest for the assurance of salvation is we see that there are two categories of people here who are sure that they are in a state of salvation. The only problem is that one of them is, in fact, not in a state of salvation. And so those that are in a state of salvation now have to ask the question, “How can I be sure that my assurance is not like the false assurance of those who think they’re being saved but are not?” (Lecture, “False Assurance”)

    Again, this is ridiculous. So what if a bunch of five year olds thought they were mathematical geniuses after conquering kindergarten maths? Does that mean that a Newton or a Leibniz should doubt they are geniuses because a bunch of naive kids had a false assurance that they were? Does the false assurance and false confidence of the kids pose an “agonizing problem” for the Newtons and Leibnizs of this world? Of course not.

    So why do Sproul and Piper say that believers — who CAN see — have an “agonizing problem” because some unbelievers (who are blind) think they can see?

August 25, 2007

  • Don Miller (Blue Like Jazz) — Denies Christ Alone

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=YqbkZN_q8kM



    Don Miller — author of “Blue Like Jazz” and “Searching For God Knows What” writes,

    “I think it is more safe and more beautiful and … all  more true to believe that when a person dies he will go and be with God because, on earth, he had come to know Him, that he had a relational encounter with God not unlike meeting a friend or a lover or having a father or taking a bride, and that in order to engage God he gave up everything, repented and changed his life…” (p156, Searching For God Knows What) “The message is that … if they ask forgiveness … then God will forgive them. (p124, Blue Like Jazz) … all … he really needed to do was place all his love and faith in Christ… the early message of grace [was] of repentance toward dead works and immorality in exchange for a loving relationship with Christ.” (p121, 190, Searching For God Knows What)

    This is clearly salvation by works.

    And when you believe salvation by works, you can never be sure if you’ve “done enough” to be saved. Thus, notice how uncertain Don Miller is…

    “At the end of the day, … I am lying in bed and I know the chances of any of our theology being exactly right are a million to one… (p206, Blue Like Jazz) Lately I have been thinking about the verse in Scripture that says to work out your salvation in fear and trembling (see Phil. 2:12). I take this to mean salvation isn’t something you go around feeling sure of…” (p204, Searching For God Knows What)

August 21, 2007

August 13, 2007

  • Al Mohler at Southern Seminary says Pagans Glorify God

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=8Q5J2ZzAhx8

    Albert Mohler, Jr. (“Al Mohler”), President of
    Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, KY, says pagans glorify God. He
    says when pagans obey their own hearts, they bring glory to God. Now,
    why are such liberal-sounding statements coming out of Louisville,
    Kentucky? Well, Mohler assumes that pagans have “truth in them” and “know God deep down”. This forces him to say it’s good for pagans to
    obey their own hearts — because pagans “glorify God” when they obey “the structure of creation”. In other words, Christ didn’t need to come
    and “lighten the Gentiles”, they were already glorifying God — without
    Christ — by obeying their own hearts!


August 7, 2007

  • John Piper says Blaspheming the Father and Son is OK

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWQ9khCIqWw

    “If we blaspheme and reject the Father and the Son, there’s hope.” (Sermon, “Beyond Forgiveness: Blasphemy Against the Spirit”)

  • John MacArthur and Piper Teach Salvation By Works


    http://youtube.com/watch?v=U1I-PsVt-9M

    They say there is a
    point “beyond forgiveness” at which unbelievers are too sinful to be
    saved. So, when an unbeliever does get saved, it is partly because that
    unbeliever did not go past the point “beyond forgiveness”.

August 5, 2007

  • God Bless the USA?
     
    Lee Greenwood created a good tune for “God Bless the USA” but the lyrics tend to promote unbiblical worship-of-nation. So – why not change Greenwood’s lyrics to words from Psalm 119 but still keep the funky tune? =)

    Below, you’ll see the Biblical verses in italics. The paraphrase to sing is in bold. Someone else wrote the paraphrase but I’ve altered it to fit with Greenwood’s tune.

    P.S. At the end of the song is a link to prove that Psalm 119 are the words of Christ, and not David’s experiences.

    And here’s Greenwood’s tune Midi

    34 Make me understand and I will keep Your Law, and observe it with the whole heart.

    If tomorrow and for everyday, I know your holy law,
    And I keep it perfectly, Then I will never go astray.



    36 Bow my heart to Your Testimonies, and not to unjust gain.

    My mind does incline to, Your Word pure and true,
    For sin in all its form and guise, is detested in My eyes.



    40 Behold, I have longed for Your Precepts; grant to me life in Your righteousness.

    And I love to be a righteous man, By Your precepts I am fir’d,
    And in righteousness I do Your will, Raise me when I am kill’d,
    And I gladly glory in My God, and proclaim Him still today,
    Because I have lov’d and ever will, Your Law I do fulfil.



    48 And I will lift up my hands to Your Commandments that I love; and I will meditate on Your Statutes.

    Both my hands I lift to your laws, Which I lov’d and made My cause.
    I’ll meditate on Your will — My ground of glory still.



    46 And I will speak of Your Testimonies before kings, and will not be ashamed.

    Your Comfort is now given, because I’ve kept Your ways.
    Your precepts have made Me free, And they’ve fill My mouth with praise.



    77 Let Your mercies come to me that I may live; for Your Law is my delight.

    I love to be a righteous man, All conditions I have done.
    And my righteousness has not a flaw — Let Life you promise come.



    78 Let the proud be ashamed, for with lies they perverted me; I will muse on Your Precepts.

    And I’ve gladly done Your laws always, Meditated night and day.
    That I Your Righteousness highly, Might to the world display.



    85 The proud have dug pits for me which are not according to Your Law.

    The proud have dug for Me a pit, ‘gainst Law, ’cause I kept it.



    88 Give me life according to Your mercy, and I will keep the Testimonies of Your mouth.

    All of Your commands are faithfulness, Help Me when men do oppress.



    92 If Your Law had not been my delight, then I had perished in my affliction.

    Because unless Your Eternal Law, My pearl without a flaw,
    Had been My joy and sole delight, I’d sink by suffering’s weight.




    Proof Psalm 119 is about Christ, not David — http://psalms.pbwiki.com/P119

August 4, 2007

  • Greg Bahnsen’s Attack on the Holy Spirit

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=T-2jY5eqtfM

    Greg Bahnsen — “Presuppositional
    Apologist” and disciple of Cornelius Van Til at Westminster Theological
    Seminary — wrote, “we come into this world cognitively “conditioned” or
    PREPARED to RECOGNIZE the indications of our Creator in nature and SCRIPTURE.”
    (p222-3. Note: All quotes in this video are taken from “Van Til’s Apologetic:
    Readings and Analysis” compiled by Bahnsen.)

     

    So Bahnsen says unbelievers understand the Bible. Such a statement is not a slip-up. In fact, it is very
    consistent with his system. Bahnsen says that the unbeliever already knows God “deep down”. If that’s right, then it logically follows that unbelievers have
    the ability to judge the Bible.

     

    For example, imagine a member of your
    family — whom you have known all your life — writes an autobiography. You would
    be competent to judge the reliability of the book, right?

     

    Now, the Bible is God’s autobiography.
    So if unbelievers have known God all their lives, “deep down” then they’re
    going to think they are competent to judge the Bible, right? “Why do we
    need the Holy Spirit to understand the Bible, when we already understand the
    Being who wrote it?”, they can say.

     

    The Apostles constantly battled people
    who thought they knew God apart from the Bible. They tried to convince men they
    did not know God “deep down” by nature. A man convinced he is ignorant of God
    by nature will know he is unable to judge the Bible. Paul declares, “the
    thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God … [believers] have
    received … the Spirit who is from God, so that [they] may know the things
    given to [them] by God..” (1 Cor 2:11-12)

August 3, 2007

  •  Christ Hates The Reprobate (non-elect)

     

    Psalm 119 is applied to Christ several times in the New Testament.


    Psalm 119

    115 Depart from me, O evildoers, for I will keep my God’s Commands.

     

    Matthew 7

    22 Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, …

    23 And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; “depart from Me, those working lawlessness!” Quoting P6:8

     

     

     


    Psalm 119

    139 My zeal has eaten me up, for my enemies have forgotten Your Word.

     

    John 12

    17 And His disciples remembered that it was written, “The zeal of Your house has consumed Me.” Quoting P69:9





    Psalm 119

    158 Princes have persecuted Me without cause;

     

    John15:24 If I did not do the works among them which no other did,
    they had no sin. But now they both have seen and also have hated Me and
    My Father.

    John15:25 But that may be fulfilled the Word that has been written in their Law, “They hated Me undeservedly [KJV has "without cause"].” Quoting P69:4

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Do you have the Spirit of Christ? Well, here is a poem/hymn version of some verses of Psalm 119 I came across. It can sung to any song with the 8-8-8-8 meter (that is, 8 syllables a line).

    The original verse is in italics, and the paraphrase is in bold underneath.

    By the way, Paul says “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” So if you’d like to sing the song, you can play the tune to “Just As I Am”…

        

    or…

    “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”

        


     

     

    P119:98 You make Me wiser than My enemies by Your Commands; for they are forever mine.

     

    Than all My foes, I’m wiser far

    Made by this holy Law of Thine,

    For I, by it shall end this war,

    With victory and peace divine.

     

     

     

     

    P119:99 I have more understanding than all My teachers; for Your Testimonies are a Meditation to Me. 

     

    In understanding I excel

    The scribes and elders ev’ry one,

    Because Your testimonies dwell

    Within My heart, and they alone.

     

     

     

     

    P119:100 I understand more than the aged, for I keep Your Precepts.

     

    The ancients all are fools to Me,

    For I Your precepts keep alone.

    But they have gone astray from Thee,

    And teach traditions of their own.

     

     

     

     

    P119:15 Depart from Me, O evildoers, for I will keep My God’s Commands.

     

    Depart from Me, you sinners all

    For you were deaf when I did call.

    My blood fulfill’d the Law of God,

    But you upon My blood have trod.

     

    You own blood, therefore, rest on you,

    Because you scorn the work I do.

    Your sin shall lie at your own door,

    Because My Gospel you abhor.

     

     

     

     

    P119:125 It is time for Jehovah to work; they have broken Your Law.

     

    ‘Tis time for You, O Lord, to rise,

    (For they have disannull’d Your Law),

    And show Your work before their eyes,

    That all the world may stand in awe.

     

     

     

     

    P119:158 I saw those acting deceitfully and was grieved, because they did not keep Your Word.

     

     I’ve seen the wicked hypocrites,

    With will-worship and human rites,

    Transgressing grievously Your Word,

    Which griev’d Me sore before the Lord.

     

     

     

     

    P119:158 Princes have persecuted Me without cause; but My heart has feared at Your Word.

     

    Princes have wrested all their laws,

    To wrest, O Lord, My righteous cause.

    Herod and Pontius both combine,

    Yet from Your laws I ne’er decline.

     

     

    Song taken from

    Psalm 119:98, 99, 100, 115, 126, 158, 161

    98 You make Me wiser than My enemies by Your Commands; for they are forever mine.

    99 I have more understanding than all My teachers; for Your Testimonies are a Meditation to Me.

    100 I understand more than the aged, for I keep Your Precepts.

    115 Depart from Me, O evildoers, for I will keep My God’s Commands.

    126 It is time for Jehovah to work; they have broken Your Law.

    158 I saw those acting deceitfully and was grieved, because they did not keep Your Word.

    161 SHIN: Princes have persecuted Me without cause; but My heart has feared at Your Word.