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The Expository Teaching Ministry of EJ Hill & Friends

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• Link To Us

  Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:34:00 EST
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• Hermanus

  Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:35:00 EST
  Hermanus

• Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words

  Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:38:00 EST
  Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words

• The History and Development of Iconography

  Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:39:00 EST
  During 313 A.D., when the Roman Emperor Constantine declared Christianity to be the official religion of the Empire, pagans by governmental edict, and not regeneration, found themselves to be 'Christian'. Ignorant of God and Gospel, they flooded the Church, idols under the arm, in the mind, and in the heart. Others, however, opposed pictures and statues as representing Christ. The controversy raged for several centuries.

• The History and Development of Conditional Immortality

  Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:00:00 EST
  Justin Martyr (100-165 A.D.) writes in his First Apology, 21: "We have been taught that only they may aim at immortality who have lived a holy and virtuous life near to God. We believe that they who live wickedly and do not repent will be punished in everlasting fire." In his First Apology, 52, he continues: "(Jesus) shall come from the heavens in glory with His angelic host, when He shall raise the bodies of all the men who ever lived. Then He will clothe the worthy in immortality; but the wicked, clothed in eternal sensibility, He will commit to the eternal fire, along with the evil demons."

• Peter Ruckman

  Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:05:00 EST
  1 The View from Marrs: Did Dr. Wilkins Really Lose His Voice on a Taping of The John Ankerberg Show on the New Translations? (The John Ankerberg Show) (25/04/2008) http://www.ankerberg.org/Articles/_PDFArchives/editors-choice/EC4W1101.pdf 2 Peter Sturgis Ruckman, Sr 'Come On Down'. (25/04/2008) http://www.petersruckman.com/ 3 Will Anyone Show Mercy to a Missionary Who is Wearing Rags? (25/04/2008) http://www.petersruckman.com/theftof$600, 000.htm 4 "Peter Ruckman": Wikipedia. (25/04/2008) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Ruckman 5 Ed Barclay; What About Peter Ruckman? (Moriel Ministries). (25/04/2008) http://www.moriel.org/articles/discernment/ruckmanism/what_about_peter_ruckman.htm 6 David Cloud; What About Ruckman? (Way of Life Literature) (25/04/2008) http://www.wayoflife.org/articles/ruckman.htm 7 Calvin George; The Dangers of Ruckmanism as Applied to Foreign Language Bibles (Literatura Bautista) (28/04/2008) http://en.literaturabautista.com/node/12 8 Dr. Jeffery Khoo; Non-Ruckmanite Answers to Anti-KJV Questions (March 2006). (28/04/2008) http://standfastinthefaith.com/articles/nonruckmanite.html 9 Dr. Samuel C. Gipp; What is a Ruckmanite? (The Answer Book) (28/04/2008) http://www.biblebelievers.com/Gipp/answer/gipp_answer_46.html 10 Dr. James R. White; A Response to Dr Ruckman (Alpha & Omega Ministries) (28/04/2008) http://aomin.org/ResponseToRuckman.html 11 Dr James R White; The Debate That Never Was. (28/04/2008) http://aomin.org/ruckcor.html

• The Characteristics of Authentic Christianity

  Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:05:00 EST
  The following is not meant to be exhaustive in any form or fashion. Authentic Christianity is not seated in the clothes you wear, but the Spirit you bare. Contents [show] * 1 True Christians 'Fervently Study Scripture' * 2 True Christians 'Watch & Remember' * 3 True Christians 'Understand The Scriptures' * 4 True Christians 'Quench Not The Spirit' * 5 True Christians 'Despise Not Prophesy' * 6 True Christians 'Pray Without Ceasing' * 7 Scripture References [edit] True Christians 'Fervently Study Scripture' They are fervent bible students. "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so." (Acts 17v11, AKJV, p.491) [edit] True Christians 'Watch & Remember' They are Careful. They are not gullible. They do not believe every Spirit. "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so." (Acts 17v11, AKJV, p.491) "Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears." (Acts 20v31, AKJV, p.493) "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." (1 Th. 5v21, AKJV, p.525) [edit] True Christians 'Understand The Scriptures' They understand Scripture. They are not tossed about with every Wind of Doctrine. Not only do we have the will to study Scripture, but we have the ability to understand it. As Promised "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: ..." (Mt. 7v7, AKJV, p.424) "(9) And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. (10) For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." (Lk. 11v9-10, AKJV, p.457) "If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." (Jn. 7v17, AKJV, p.471) "Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." (Jn. 14v17, AKJV, p.476) "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (Jn. 14v26, AKJV, p.476) "Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come." (Jn. 16v13, AKJV, p.477) "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." (Js. 1v5, AKJV, p.536) As Provided "He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given." (Mt. 13v11, AKJV, p.427) "And He said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: ..." (Mk. 4v11, AKJV, p.439) "(10) But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. (11) For what man knoweth the things of man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. (12) Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. (13) Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (14) But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Cor. 2v10-14, AKJV, p.505) "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: ..." (Ep. 1v17, AKJV, p.518) "To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God." (Ep. 3v10, AKJV, p.519) "For the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever." (2 Jn. 1v2, AKJV, p.542) In Proposition It happens, now and then, to some; that when they are confronted with a particularly uncomfortable biblical truth -- and especially upon "counting the cost" of its confession -- that they will in disobedience dim their eyes and close their ears. Yet, they forget that "only to them that hear shall more be given". "And He said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given." (Mk. 4v24, AKJV, p.440) "Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have." (Lk. 8v18, AKJV, p.454) Conclusion You can not reject, or accept, only part of God's Word. Rejecting His Word, constitutes rejecting Him. "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them." (Is. 8v20, AKJV, p.310) "They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them." (1 Jn. 4v5, AKJV, p.542) "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Rom. 8v14, AKJV, p.501) ... because ... "But He said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given." (Mt. 19v11, AKJV, p.431) ... therefore ... "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." (Jn. 15v14, AKJV, p.477) "Remember the Word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My Saying, they will keep yours also." (Jn. 15v20, AKJV, p.477) "We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the Spirit of truth, and the spirit of error." (1 Jn. 4v6, AKJV, p.542) "He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth not My Words, hath one that judgeth him: the Word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." (Jn. 12v48, AKJV, p.475) When Lies no longer Upset us; and Truth no longer Excite us; then, we have become lukewarm. [edit] True Christians 'Quench Not The Spirit' "Quench not the Spirit." (1 Th. 5v19, AKJV, p.525) [edit] True Christians 'Despise Not Prophesy' "Despise not prophesyings." (1 Th. 5v20, AKJV, p.525) "Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come." (Jn. 16v13, AKJV, p.477) [edit] True Christians 'Pray Without Ceasing' "Pray without ceasing." (1 Th. 5v17, AKJV, p.525)

• You're Not Jesus

  Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:07:00 EST
  I OFTEN RECEIVE THIS PARTICULAR RESPONSE, WHEN SIGHTING AN EXAMPLE, FROM THE LIFE OF CHRIST, AS TO WHAT WE SHOULD, OR SHOULD NOT DO, OR HOW WE OUGHT TO ACT, WITHIN A GIVEN SITUATION. FOR EXAMPLE, I'D SAY "BUT JESUS DID THIS OR THAT", AND THEY'D RESPOND WITH "BUT, YOU'RE NOT JESUS"

• There's No Perfect Church

  Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:13:00 EST
  My first problem with this statement, is that in nature it is absolute. To make such an absolute statement, you would have had to, at least, examine, every known Church denomination in the known universe. The question then is: "Have you been to every Church?" In fact, "Have you even examine the ones in your own village?" Most likely, not. Then I ask you, "How can you, with so much certainty, say: 'There's no perfect Church"? But let us, for the moment consider, that indeed, "There is no perfect Church". Even then, we may NEVER use our imperfection as an excuse (or license) to continue in sin or immorality. "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid." (Rom. 6v1-2a, AKJV, p.500) "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid." (Rom. 6v15, AKJV, p.500) "For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our Lord into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." (Jude 1v4, AKJV, p.543) Even then, we may NEVER use our imperfection as an excuse not to strive towards perfection? "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Mt. 5v48, AKJV, p.423) "Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men." (1 Cor. 14v20, AKJV, p.510)

• Heaven

  Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:22:00 EST
  It may come as a surprise; but there are more than one, and no less than four; "heavens" mentioned in Scripture.

• The World Council of Churches

  Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:23:00 EST
  Homosexuality The ordination of gays and lesbians. [7|8|9|10] The acceptance of committed homosexual relationships as equivalent to that of heterosexual relationships. [7|8|9|10] [edit] Necromancy In 1991, the WCC organized a huge congress in Canberra, Australia, where Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and other non-Christians were invited to participate. The February 1993 issue of the Reader’s Digest presented the congress in this way: "Before the opening worship service began at the last general assembly of the WCC in Canberra, delegates passed through the smoke of burning leaves. This was a pagan cleansing rite.... The next day as two painted, loin-clothed Aborigines cavorted, South Korean theologian Chung Hyun Kyung invoked spirits of the dead and exhorted the audience of more than 4, 000 to read the Bible ‘from the perspective of birds, water, air, trees’ and to ‘think like a mountain’." [14] [edit] Multilateralism The United Nations and The World Council of Churches (WCC) have reaffirmed their commitment to collaborate at a meeting between the general secretaries of both organizations held on 29 October 207 at the UN headquarters in New York. "As the UN faces the 21st century highlighting the interrelatedness of development, security and human rights, the WCC strongly believes multilateralism is the only way to respond to the challenges of today, " said WCC general secretary Samuel Kobia at the meeting. That is why the WCC is committed 'to the principles and purposes of the UN'." [12] In light of the above, the Prophet Amos asks: "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" (Amos 3v3, AKJV, p.402)

• Tim LaHaye & Psychoheresy, by Martin & Deidre Bobgan

  Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:23:00 EST
  One of the most prolific promoters of the occult theory of the four temperaments is Dr. Tim LaHaye. We have confronted his work, as well as that of many others, in our book Four Temperaments, Astrology & Personality Testing. The four temperaments theory is an ancient system devised to understand human nature and improve people by dividing them according to their basic temperament. The four temperament categories are Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholy, and Phlegmatic. Each category or type is defined by a list of descriptive characteristics. Then people are assigned to one or more types by matching the person with those descriptions. As the theory has been passed down through the centuries, the descriptions of each type have been modified and expanded. Descriptive terms for each type are not always consistent among those who use the four temperaments system. For some, a particular characteristic, such as leadership, would be used to describe the Choleric; for others it would describe the Sanguine. Thus, the lists are not hard and fast. They vary according to the person who is presenting them. Through the years, philosophers, psychiatrists, and psychologists have devised numerous typologies to classify people according to social behavior, modes of feeling and perceiving, attitudes, and even bodily physique as it might relate to temperament. A brief look at the history of the four temperaments will reveal that their origins lie in ancient myths and occult practices. From ancient times through the Middle Ages, physicians and philosophers used their understanding of the four humors (bodily fluids), the four temperaments, and signs of the zodiac to treat diseases and understand individual differences among people.

• Jehovah's Witnesses

  Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:24:00 EST
  Looking to leave the Jehovah's Witnesses? You might want to look at Beacon, Comments from the Friends, Free Minds, Jehovah's Witness Online, JW Files, Silent Lambs, the Watchtower Information Service, and Watchtower News.

• The History and Development of Iconoclasm

  Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:27:00 EST
  When the apostles looked upon Jesus, they beheld the God-man. The apostle John writes, "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (Jn. 1v14) Aside from the fact that representations of Christ are false artistic impressions, they also cannot portray the divine nature of Christ. Thus, they not only portrayed Him as infinitely less than He was, is, and ever will be; but also distract from His Divine glory. they implicitly teach a false theology of Christ. And it was this very observation that drove the early church to condemn pictures of Jesus. [1] [edit] The First Council of Nicea (754 AD) In the year 754 A.D., the First Council of Nicea declared that such pictures are not biblical and therefore are not acceptable in the Church. The Epitome of the Definition of the Iconoclastic Conciliabulum held in 754 declared: "Supported by the Holy Scriptures and the Fathers, we declare unanimously, in the name of the Holy Trinity, that there shall be rejected and removed and cursed one of the Christian Church every likeness which is made out of any material and colour whatever by the evil art of painters... If anyone ventures to represent the divine image of the Word after the Incarnation with material colours, let him be anathema!... If anyone shall endeavour to represent the forms of the Saints in lifeless pictures with material colours which are of no value (for this notion is vain and introduced by the devil), and does not rather represent their virtues as living images in himself, let him be anathema!" "If any person shall divide human nature, united to the Person of God the Word; and, having it only in the imagination of the mind, shall therefore, attempt to paint the same in an Image; let him be holden as accursed. If any person shall divide Christ, being but one, into two persons; placing on the one side the Son of God, and on the other side the son of Mary; neither doth confess the continual union that is made; and by that reason doth paint in an Image of the son of Mary, as subsisting by himself; let him be accursed. If any person shall paint in an Image the human nature, being deified by the uniting thereof to God the Word; separating the same as it were from the Godhead assumpted and deified; let him be holden as accursed." [1] Regarding this council Phillip Schaff writes, "The counsel, appealing to the second commandment and other scripture passages denouncing idolatry (Rom. 1:23, 25; John 4:24), and opinions of the fathers (Epiphanius, Eusebius, Gregory Nazianzen, Chrysostom, etc), condemned and forbade the public and private worship of sacred images on pain of disposition and excommunication ... It denounced all religious representations by painter or sculptor as presumptuous, pagan and idolatrous. Those who make pictures of the Saviour, who is God as well as man in one inseparable person, either limit the incomprehensible Godhead to the bounds of created flesh, or confound His two natures like Eutyches, or separate them, like Nestorius, or deny His Godhead, like Arius; and those who worship such a picture are guilty of the same heresy and blasphemy." [2] Since the Second Council of Nicea in 787 A.D., the use of images in both the Eastern and Western churches continued unabated until the Protestant Reformation, when a rejection of tradition in favor of Scriptural literalism resulted in the rejection of the veneration of images as idolatry on the grounds that it was a clear violation of the Second Commandment: "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me" (Ex. 20v4-6)

• Confessions

  Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:28:00 EST
  * The 325 A.D. Nicene Creed * The 700 A.D. Apostles' Creed * The Athanasian Creed * The 1517 95 Theses, by Martin Luther * The 1530 Lutheran Augsburg Confession, by Philipp Melanchthon * The 1560 Scots Confession, by John Knox * The 1561 Belgic Confession of Faith * The 1632 Dordrecht Confession of Faith * The 1644 First London Baptist Confession of Faith * The 1646 Westminster Confession of Faith * The 1689 Second London Baptist Confession of Faith * The 1742 Philadelphia Confession of Faith * The 1833 New Hampshire Baptist Confession * The 1858 Southern Baptist Abstract of Principles * The 1919 Fraternal Address of Southern Baptists * The 1921 Garden City Mennonite Confession of Faith * The 1925 Baptist Faith and Message * The 1963 Baptist Faith and Message * The 2000 Baptist Faith and Message * The Answers In Genesis Statement of Faith * The Apologetics Index Statement of Faith * The Assemblies of God Statement of Faith * The Campus Crusade for Christ Statement of Faith * The Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry Statement of Faith * The Colorado Christian University Statement of Faith * The Confession of Faith of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America * The Doctrinal Statement of Franklin Road Baptist Church * The National Association of Evangelicals' Statement of Faith * The Sovereign Grace Ministries Statement of Faith

• Moses or Christ? Paul's Reply to Dispensational Error

  Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:28:00 EST
  He who would understand the prophets had better begin with Paul's Epistle to the Galatians, where he will find that the Church is one in the Old Testament and New, and the New Testament Church is the fulfillment of all prophecy, the very last phase of God's redemptive work on earth. He will discover in Galatians who the true Israel is, to whom the promises are made and that there is no other Israel, and no further fulfillment of prophecy. The problem of the Galatian believers was the conspiracy to impose upon them Jewish interpretations of prophecy, and to claim over them a Jewish priority or privilege. Paul repulses this conspiracy with unparalleled severity. On this question it was "Paul contra mundum" (Paul against the world) as later it was to be, on another vital question, "Athanasius contra mundum." Even Peter came under his lash- "I withstood him to the face because he was to be blamed" (Gal. 2:1 1). Great men were temporarily swept away by the Jewish pretensions to perpetual privilege and priority - "Even Bamabas was carried away with their dissimulation" (Gal. 2:13). Here Paul placed his foot, the last man on earth to stand between Judaistic heresy and the safety of the church: "To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you" (Gal. 2:5). In our day the same Jewish heresies have well-nigh crushed the theology of the evangelical churches and destroyed effective preaching of the Word. The error has taken different forms in our time, but springs from the same Judaistic root whose fundamental ground is that Jewish privilege and priority are perpetual and that the New Testament Church at best is only a makeshift arrangement of providence to tide over the time until the resources of a baffled and well-nigh impotent Godhead are assembled in sufficient force to compel at last a Jewish solution of the problem of redemption. A glance at any average missionary magazine dedicated to Jewish evangelization will clearly show this. Sayings of present Jewish leaders are eagerly quoted in justification of 2, 000 years of Jewish unbelief, as showing that the Jewish expectation of a Messianic kingdom on earth, with restoration of temple, sacrifices, and priesthood, is a true interpretation of prophecy, whereas it was because John the Baptist and Christ did not proclaim such a kingdom of earthly and visible Jewish glory and privilege that the one was betrayed to Herod and the other was crucified by Pilate. Let the martyrdom of John and the crucifixion of the Savior stand for ever as the final answer to that interpretation of prophecy which displaces the church, relegates the gospel, and establishes for "Israel after the flesh" an earthly empire and a national economy falsely regarded as "the kingdom of Heaven." The fact that some (but by no means all) earlier Reformed theologians and expositors have given some countenance to the error is neither here nor there; for to a man, they all lived before that final dispensational arrangement of prophecy which has turned error into a heresy. With happy lack of consistency, the earlier theologians held their post-millennial teachings alongside a truly spiritual interpretation of prophecy, not perceiving that the two were mutually exclusive. Their hearers at least got the benefit of both worlds even though one had to be proved false by the other. Today, we are not permitted that luxury. The theory has become sinister and subversive through its elaboration into a succession of "ages" to which belong certain well-defined segments of Holy Scripture, all combining to exclude "the church" from all but a fragment of the Divine Word. The Jewish theory predominates. A variety of second comings and last judgments has been invented. The abolition of the gospel has been proclaimed with great enthusiasm for it is fundamental to pre-millennialism that another gospel known as "the gospel of the kingdom" will take the place of the gospel of grace when "the church" is safety removed out of the way. Paul has a word for those who proclaim "another gospel", or who even proclaim there will ever be another - "Let him be accursed ... though he be an angel from Heaven" (Gal. 1:8)

• John Chapter 3 Verse 13

  Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:28:00 EST
  Matthew Henry (1662-1714) "[3.] Our Lord Jesus, and he alone, was fit to reveal to us a doctrine thus certain, thus sublime: No man hath ascended up into heaven but he, John 3:13. First, None but Christ was able to reveal to us the will of God for our salvation. Nicodemus addressed Christ as a prophet; but he must know that he is greater than all the Old-Testament prophets, for none of them had ascended into heaven. They wrote by divine inspiration, and not of their own knowledge; see John 1:18. Moses ascended into the mount, but not into heaven. No man hath attained to the certain knowledge of God and heavenly things as Christ has; see Matthew 11:27. It is not for us to send to heaven for instructions; we must wait to receive what instructions Heaven will send to us; see Proverbs 30:4, De+30:12. Secondly, Jesus Christ is able, and fit, and every way qualified, to reveal the will of God to us; for it is he that came down from heaven and is in heaven. He had said (John 3:12), How shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? Now here, 1. He gives them an instance of those heavenly things which he could tell them of, when he tells them of one that came down from heaven, and yet is the Son of man; is the Son of man, and yet is in heaven. If the regeneration of the soul of man is such a mystery, what then is the incarnation of the Son of God? These are divine and heavenly things indeed. We have here an intimation of Christ's two distinct natures in one person: his divine nature, in which he came down from heaven; his human nature, in which he is the Son of man; and that union of those two, in that while he is the Son of man yet he is in heaven. 2. He gives them a proof of his ability to speak to them heavenly things, and to lead them into the arcana of the kingdom of heaven, by telling them, (1.) That he came down from heaven. The intercourse settled between God and man began above; the first motion towards it did not arise from this earth, but came down from heaven. We love him, and send to him, because he first loved us, and sent to us. Now this intimates, [1.] Christ's divine nature. He that came down from heaven is certainly more than a mere man; he is the Lord from heaven, 1 Corinthians 15:47. [2.] His intimate acquaintance with the divine counsels; for, coming from the court of heaven, he had been from eternity conversant with them. [3.] The manifestation of God. Under the Old Testament God's favours to his people are expressed by his hearing from heaven (2 Chronicles 7:14), looking from heaven (Psalms 80:14), speaking from heaven (Nehemiah 9:13), sending from heaven, Psalms 57:3. But the New Testament shows us God coming down from heaven, to teach and save us. That he thus descended is an admirable mystery, for the Godhead cannot change places, nor did he bring his body from heaven; but that he thus condescended for our redemption is a more admirable mercy; herein he commended his love. (2.) That he is the Son of man, that Son of man spoken of by Daniel (Daniel 7:13), by which the Jews always understand to be meant the Messiah. Christ, in calling himself the Son of man, shows that he is the second Adam, for the first Adam was the father of man. And of all the Old-Testament titles of the Messiah he chose to make use of this, because it was most expressive of his humility, and most agreeable to his present state of humiliation. (3.) That he is in heaven. Now at this time, when he is talking with Nicodemus on earth, yet, as God, he is in heaven. The Son of man, as such, was not in heaven till his ascension; but he that was the Son of man was now, by his divine nature, every where present, and particularly in heaven. Thus the Lord of glory, as such, could not be crucified, nor could God, as such, shed his blood; yet that person who was the Lord of glory was crucified (1 Corinthians 2:8), and God purchased the church with his own blood, Acts 20:28. So close is the union of the two natures in one person that there is a communication of properties. He doth not say hos esti. GOD is the ho on to ourano--he that is, and heaven is the habitation of his holiness." [16]

• Bible Commentaries

  Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:29:00 EST
  John Calvin's Bible Commentaries (1509-1564) A reformed Calvinistic commentary, authored by John Calvin (1509-1564) Currently available from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library [edit] Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1662-1714) by Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Currently available from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library [edit] John Wesley's Explanatory Notes (1703-1791) by John Wesley (1703-1791) Currently available from Christ Notes [edit] Adam Clarke's Bible Commentary (1760/62-1832) A deeply Arminian commentary, authored by British Methodist, Adam Clarke (1760/62-1832). Currently available from StudyLight

• Matthew Chapter 10 Verse 28

  Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:29:00 EST
  During the 1st Century, we find Tertullian (160-225 AD); seeking to establish, from our text; "a recognition of the natural immortality of the soul" [7|9] During the 16th Century, we find the Fifth Lateran Council (1512-1517) of the Roman Catholic Church, convened under Pope Julius II (1443-1513), seeking to "affirm the immortality of the soul" [1], since, it "is clearly established from the gospel when the Lord says, They cannot kill the soul; ..." [1]

• Distinctives

  Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:29:00 EST
  Although theological labels can be misunderstood, these are distinguishing characteristics of this ministry, providing a window into the truths that define us: * We are apostolic, meaning (i) that we derive our teachings and practice from the apostles, (ii) submit to apostolic authority, and (iii) pioneer an important reform movement. * We are also charismatic, meaning (i) that we are active in our pursuit and practice of all the gifts of the Spirit as found in the New Testament, and (ii) that our worship is expressive and passionate. * We are ecclesiastical, meaning that we function as a spiritual family, a circle of friends, a community, and organic entity, as opposed to a 'franchised' denominational church establishment. * We are evangelical, meaning (i) we believe that Scripture is the essential and infallible record of God's self-disclosure and is therefore our final authority in all matters of life and doctrine, and (ii) we believe people need to be saved by responding to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. * We are essentially reformed in our theology, meaning (i) that we embrace and exult in the sovereignty of God over all things, and (ii) that we place the emphasis on the activity of God and the glory of God in the salvation of sinners. * We are reformational, meaning (i) that we are praying for revival, and (ii) working for reform with regard to doctrine, worship, ministry, holiness, preaching, and teaching. * We are interracial, meaning (i) that we welcome believers from all walks of life, no matter what the color of their skin. (Is. 2v2, 11v10-11; Lk. 2v29-31; Acts 10v35, 15v17).

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