Meditate On These Four Things

Over several days last week Grace Gems featured excerpts from William Dyer’s booklet Christ’s Famous Titles. Dyer, a 17th century English preacher, gives us a list of four things on which we need to meditate often; these are Death, Judgment, Hell, and Heaven. Here is what he wrote:

Meditate often on these four last things:
Death, which is most certain.
Judgment, which is most strict.
Hell, which is most doleful.
Heaven, which is most delightful.

Meditate upon DEATH, which is most certain.

"It is appointed unto men once to die."

Hebrews 9:27

Out of the dust was man formed; into the dust shall man be turned.

To think of death--is a death to some men!

Oh, sirs! Meditate upon death.

Meditation on death--will put sin to death!

Death to the wicked--is the end of all comfort, and the beginning of all misery!
Death to the godly--is the outlet to sin and sorrow, and the inlet to peace and happiness!

The saints' enjoyment shall be incomparable, when the sinners' torments shall be intolerable!

When a believer's soul goes out of his own bosom--it goes into Abraham's bosom! When a saint dies--he leaves all his bad behind him, and carries his good with him! When a sinner dies--he carries his bad with him, and leaves his good behind him!

The godly man goes from evil--to all good.
The wicked man goes from good--to all evil.

When a saint leaves the world--his soul returns to happiness and rest!
When a sinner leaves this world--his body goes to worms to be consumed, and his soul goes to flames to be tormented!

The saint goes to Abraham's bosom; the sinner goes to Beelzebub's bosom!

The wheat goes to the barn; the chaff goes to the fire!

Oh, sirs! meditate upon death!

Meditate upon JUDGMENT, which is most strict.

"We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ!"

Those who will not come before His mercy-seat, shall be forced to come before His judgment-seat!

Those who will not hear His Word--shall feel His Sword!

Those who are graceless in this day--will be speechless in that day!

At the world's end--such will be at their wits' end, to see:

the earth flaming,
the heavens melting,
the stars falling,
the graves opening,
the judgment hastening,
the sun and moon mourning,
Christ and His angels coming!

He who comes to raise the dead, will also come to judge the dead.

Oh! sirs, the great day to great sinners will be a dreadful day--when they shall see Christ coming in the clouds:

with great power and glory,
crowned with dignity,
enraged with anger, and
attended with His angel reapers!

He will bring all kings and nobles, high and low, rich and poor, to His judgment bar! And there He will judge them, not by the whiteness of their faces--but by the blackness of their hearts!

"He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity!"

 Psalm 98:9

You who make no account of His coming--how can you give an account at His coming?

Sirs! Meditation on judgment--may make you judgment proof!

Those who now judge themselves in their own private sessions--shall not be judged by Christ at His great white throne judgment!

Meditate upon HELL, which is most doleful!

Heaven is a place where all is joyful; and Hell is a place where all is doleful.

In Heaven--there is nothing but happiness; but in Hell--there is nothing but heaviness!

"The wicked shall be turned into Hell, and all the nations that forget God.''

Psalm 9:17

Mark, sirs--the wicked shall be turned into hell.

Oh, dreadful place--where the devil is the jailer!

Hell is the prison, damnation is the punishment, eternity is the duration, brimstone is the fire, and men and devils are the fuel!

To endure this will be intolerable; and to avoid it will be impossible!

This is the day of God's long-suffering; that will be the day of man's long-suffering!

There they will suffer:

pain without ease,
torment without end,
sorrow without support,
and misery without mercy!

Sirs! Meditate upon Hell! Oh, what hells are there in Hell!
Hell is:

the loss of God,
the loss of Christ,
the loss of all good!

Endless, ceaseless, and remediless torments must be their eternal portion!

Oh, that you would often think of Hell!

If once you drop into Hell--then after a thousand years:you will be as far from coming out of Hell, as you were at your first entrance into Hell!

There is only one way to KEEP a man out of Hell--but there is no way to GET a man out of Hell!

In this world, the wheat and the chaff both grow together, but they shall not always both lie together!

In Hell, there shall not be a saint among those who are terrified!
In Heaven, there shall not be a sinner among those who are glorified!

The sea of damnation--shall never be sweetened with a drop of compassion!

Will you pity a person who is going to the gallows--and will you not pity a person who is going to the bottomless pit?

What a dreadful visitation is that--where the black horse of death goes before, and the red horse of wrath follows after!

Oh, that must needs be sad--when one death comes upon the back of another; when the second death comes upon the back of the first death!

A man's condition in this life may be honorable, and yet his state in eternity may be damnable!

Poor Lazarus goes to Heaven--when rich Dives goes to Hell.

It is far better to go to Heaven poorly--than it is to go to Hell richly!

Oh, sirs! let us go to Hell by contemplation, that we may never go to Hell by condemnation!

Oh sirs! Meditate upon Hell!

Meditate on HEAVEN, which is most joyful.

"Then the King will say to those on His right--Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world!"                                                                                                     Matthew 25:34

"Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into the joy of your Lord!"

Matthew 25:21

Heaven is a place where all joy is enjoyed!
In Heaven, there will be:

mirth without sadness,
light without darkness,
sweetness without bitterness,
life without death,
rest without labor,
plenty without poverty!
Oh, what joy enters into the believer--when
the believer enters into the joy of his Lord!

Who would not . . .

work for glory with the greatest diligence, and
wait for glory with the greatest patience?

Oh, what glories are there in glory! Thrones of glory, crowns of glory, vessels of glory, a weight of glory, a kingdom of glory!

Here on earth--Christ puts His grace upon His spouse!
There in Heaven--He puts His glory upon His spouse!

In heaven the crown is made for them, and in Heaven the crown shall be worn by them!

In this life believers have some good things--but the rest and best are reserved for the life to come!

Oh, sirs! meditate upon Heaven, for meditation on Heaven will make us heavenly!

Heaven is not only a possession promised by Christ--but a possession purchased by Christ!

When our contemplations and minds are in Heaven--then we enjoy Heaven upon earth!
To be IN Christ is Heaven below; to be WITH Him is Heaven above!

There cannot be a better thing for us, than for us to be with the best of beings! "To me to live is Christ--and to die is gain!"
Philippians 1:21

Let our condition now be ever so great--it is Hell without Christ! Let our condition now be ever so bad--it is Heaven with Christ!

"I had rather be in Hell with Christ--than in Heaven without Him!" said Luther.

Hell itself would be Heaven--if Christ was in it!
Heaven would be Hell--if Christ was out of it!

That which makes Heaven so full of joy--is that it is above all fear!
That which makes Hell so full of horror--is that it is beyond all hope!

The vessels of grace--shall swim in the ocean of glory!

We may talk of the greatness of our crowns--but we shall never know the weight of our crowns--until they are set on our heads!

We would all do well to head this advice.

Were I To Define A Christian

Here is a brief excerpt from the Letters of John Newton.

Were I to define a Christian, or rather to describe him at large, I know of no text I would choose, sooner than Galatians 5:17, "The sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other--so that you do not do what you want."

A Christian has noble aims--which distinguish him from the bulk of mankind. His leading principles, motives, and desires--are all supernatural and divine. Could he do as he desires--there is not a angel before the Eternal Throne, that would excel him in holiness, love, and obedience! He would tread in the very footsteps of his Savior, fill up every moment of time in His service, and employ every breath in His praise!

This he would do--but, alas! he cannot! Against these spiritual desires, there is a contrary desire and working of a corrupt nature, which meets him at every turn! He has a beautiful copy set before him in the Scriptures--he is enamored with it, and though he does not expect to equal it, he writes carefully after it, and longs to attain to the nearest possible imitation. But indwelling sin and Satan continually jog his hand, and spoil his strokes!

Therefore, the most spiritual and gracious people confess themselves as vile and worthless! One eminent branch of our holiness, is a sense of shame and humiliation for those evils which are only known to ourselves, and to Him who searches our hearts!

In proportion as the Lord enables you to live more simply upon the blood, righteousness, and grace of the Mediator--you will possess a more stable peace. The nearer you are brought to Him--the more lively sense you will have of your vileness and worthlessness; and your continual need of Him. Thereby your admiration of His power, love, and compassion, will increase from year to year.

Deeper 2009

I was just privileged to  be able to spend two wonderful days of worship and study at the Deeper Conference 2009 at First Baptist Church in Woodstock, GA. Last year the conference was great ,and this year was even better as the focus of every session this year was our awesome God and His attributes.

The theme of the conference this year was There is no god like our God! taken from Psalm 86:8-13, which reads:

There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

Psalm 86:8-13

The conference began Friday afternoon with a message by Ray Comfort entitled The Eternality of God. In this message Ray talked about the fact that one in four of our college and university professors today are either atheists or agnostics, and that they are turning out zealous atheists like there is no tomorrow. 

He   showed that by focusing on the eternality of God we can confront these atheist with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He also talked about how we all have a sixth sense - common sense - and that if we don't abandon the use of this sixth sense we will see the proof of God's existance all around us; he used Romans  1:20-25 as his main text:

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

Romans 1:20-25

Ray also reminded us that as Christians we need to keep our eyes focused clearly on the cross - especially when witnessing - because if we win the argument but fail to preach the cross we have failed.

The next speaker was Emeal "E.Z." Zwayne. E.Z. spoke on God of the Generations and reminded us that our primary responsibility as God's people is to make sure that we are instilling a love for and fear of God in our own children and grandchildren. 

He talked about a recent trip that he took to Europe and the heartbreaking situation going on there as that continent has walked away from God and many of the great cathedrals that were once filled with praise and worship to our God have become something secular or  abandoned altogether. 

E.Z. then showed how we in the United States will face the same situation if we fail to pass our faith on to the next generations; he said:

The deterioration of the Christian family is the root cause of the deterioration of a nation.

And if we look around us we can see clearly that the Christian family, and our nation, is in decline.

E.Z. asked two questions:

1. What are my children and grandchildren seeing in my life? 
2. Do we have a multi-generational vision for our family?
   

Then ended with this Scripture:

Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. 

Malachi 2:15

After a short break we then got to hear Pastor Johnny Hunt talk about The Forbearance of God. He talked about how when Jesus went to the cross He completely satisfied the wrath of God that we deserved; He became our propitiation - our sacrifice of atonement - and paid the price for all of the sins that had been committed by those Old Testament saints that we read about in the Bible that God - in His forbearance - had overlooked in anticipation of the cross.

But, God's forbearance didn't stop there; in His forbearance He also overlooked all of the sins that each one of us have committed before coming to Christ. He explained that it is because of God's forbearance that He did not utterly destroy us the second that we committed our first sin (as that is what we deserved) but instead He showed us mercy and waited patiently for us to repent and in faith believe. 

Pastor Hunt then went on to warn us, however, that God's forbearance to sinners will not last forever; Jesus paid the price for the the sins of those who will repent and believe, but for those who refuse there will come a day when the cup of the wrath of God will be poured out on those who have not come to faith in Christ. 

This was probably my favorite study of the conference and I will write a more in depth post on this one at a later date.

Mark Cahill followed Dr. Hunt with a message entitled The Holiness of God. 

This was a very convicting message as Mark showed us how God is absolutely holy and we are not. He began this message by telling us that he felt completely inadequate to be bringing this message and that it would be at best a very poor representation of who God really is as we cannot even begin to comprehend the holiness of God. 

In this message he explained that holiness demands justice, and that as a holy God, God cannot just overlook our sin - it must be paid for. He also showed us that we cannot set our own standard for right and wrong; the standard is complete perfection - the standard is absolute holiness (and the standard of holiness is God Himself).

but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 

1 Peter 1:15-16

So what are we to do since we are not holy, God is holy, and we are commanded to be holy like He is holy? We are to repent of our sins and put our faith is the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. It is only as we exchange our sinfulness for His Righteousness that we will be holy as God is holy.

After a dinner break we were blessed with a message from Kirk Cameron entitled Keeping the Foundations Sure. In this message Kirk built upon what E.Z. and Mark had said  by talking about the importance of living out our faith at home first before we try to preach to others. 

He talked about the danger that each of us faces in our walk with God: we focus so much on  reaching the lost world that we neglect the needs of those under our own roof and in our own families. He reminded me that my primary responsibility to God is to live out my Christian life:

1. With Christ
2. With my Wife
3. With my son
4. With the people of God
5. Then with the lost
   

If I mess up this order I will not only be living in disobedience I risk loosing what is most important - my own family.

Finally on Friday night we were privileged to hear a message from Ravi Zacharias, one of the preeminent apologist of our time. Ravi's Friday night message was entitled The Veracity of God and in this message he asked and answered the question, is there a God?

He explained that this is a question that the atheist asks of the Christian thinking that in doing so they have made the move that cannot be countered, but the atheist is not the only one who gets to ask questions, he must also answer them himself. 

Ravi then went on to explain that even the atheist believes in right and wrong, but that in order to have right and wrong there must be a moral law - a standard from which right and wrong are determined. And if there is a moral law there must also be a moral law giver, he said:

1. If there is no moral law giver that transcends us then there is  no moral law by which we must live.
2. If there is no moral law giver then life has no meaning.
3. If life has no meaning then there is no hope.
4. In addition to life being meaningless, if I believe that there is no moral law giver and no moral law and I am wrong there is also no recovery. If you are wrong here the result is catastrophic (read eternity in hell).

Day one then ended with about 45 minutes of worship lead by Scott Krippayne.


Day two began where day one ended, with more worship lead by Scott Krippayne

The first speaker on Saturday morning was Todd Friel, host of the Wretched Radio TV shows.  Todd, in his chaotic, hyperactive way took us though a two hour sermon on the Kindness of God (in just under an hour). 

In this message Todd showed us that it is the kindness of God that leads us to true repentance. It was all I could do to keep up with him while  trying to take notes, so here is what I got:

Romans 2:4 The kindness of God leads to repentance

Psalm 34:8 The Lord is kind

1 Peter 2:3 Give thanks - the Lord is kind

Luke 6:35 God is kind

God did not create the world to show His wrath, He created it to show His kindness.

Psalm 106:7 Remember the kindness of God

Romans 11:22 God shows kindness to the repentant but wrath to the ungodly

Ephesians 2:7 God's kindness to us is in Christ Jesus

Titus 3:4-5 We are saved because of God's kindness

Galatians 5:22 kindness and Goodness are both part of the fruit of the Spirit

Psalm 25:5 Good and upright in the Lord

Nahum 1:7 The Lord is good

Exodus 33:19

Psalm 25:7

Psalm 31:19

Isaiah 27:4-5

1. Fury is not in God
2. God is not looking to demonstrate His wrath
3. God gives us His strength

And that was just the introduction! This was another great sermon by Todd, and I highly recommend that you get it and listen to it if/when it is made available.

Todd was followed by Greg Koukl who gave a very in-depth talk on Evil, Suffering, and the Goodness of God.  Dr. Koukl did an amazing job explaining that just because a person decides that there is no God they are still faced with the problem of evil in the world. And that more importantly, evil in the world is  actually proof that there is a God. 

This message built right on top of the foundation that Ravi laid on Friday night; Dr. Koukl explained that in order to have evil in the world you must have a standard by which to measure what is and is not evil. You cannot say that something is evil unless you have an absolute standard of what is good - and that standard is God. Good and evil are just relative terms compared to that standard.

He also explained that evil is not a thing, it is the absence of a thing. For example: a shadow is not a thing, it is merely the place where light is absent. In the same way evil is not a thing, it is the place where good is absent, and in order for good to be absent there must be good, and if there is good there must be God. Therefore the very existence of evil in our world is proof that there is a God.

After lunch we were treated to another message from Ravi Zacharias, who picked up where he ended the previous night, and built more on the message that we had just received from Greg Koukl.

In this session Dr. Zacharias talked about the importance of truth saying "The most valuable thing and most powerful weapon in the world is truth."

He went on to give a three stage argument that points to the existence of God:

1. However the concrete physical is broken down it will always lead outside of itself for proof of its existence.
2. No matter where you see intelligibility, you will always see a designer.
3. The course of Human events - Historical, Social, Cultural -  points to a designer.
1. Jesus is the only one who explains the human condition in a way that corresponds to reality
2. Jesus is the only one who provides a solution for my malady - it is only in the Christian faith that atonement is offered
   
3. Jesus' claim that He would be raised bodily made the resurrection provable 
   

This was a wonderful weekend and I can't wait until next year. I hope you can make it.

Thoughts on Why Everything Exists

 Here is an interesting and thought provoking article by Dr. John Piper. Have you ever thought about how sin could be part of God's plan, but at the same time God not be responsible for it? Dr. Piper does a good job of addressing this very issue:

Thoughts on Why Everything Exists

One of the main points of the forthcoming book, Spectacular Sins and Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ, is that sin and God's wrath against it were part of God's plan when he created the world. This is different from saying that God sins or that he approves of sinning.

The main reason for making this point is to exalt the revelation of God's grace in the crucifixion of Jesus to the highest place. This is the point of the universe--the glorification of the grace of God in the apex of its expression in the death of Jesus.

Jesus died for sin (1 Corinthians 15:3). The death of Jesus for sin was planned before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8; Ephesians 1:4-6). Therefore, sin was part of the plan. God carries this plan through in a way that maintains full human accountability, full hatred for sin, full divine justice, and full saving love for all who trust Christ. And we don't need to know how he does it to believe it and rest in it and worship him for it.

This morning I was meditating for my devotions on Ezra 8 and 9. I saw there another pointer to the truth of God's planning for human sin and divine wrath.

In Ezra 8:22, Ezra says, "The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and his power and his wrath are against all who forsake him." This text leads me to ask: Did God know before creation that his creatures would "forsake him." Yes, he did. The plan for their redemption was in place before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-6).

Was Ezra 8:22 true before the foundation of the world? Yes, it was. God did not become holy and just after creation. He has always been holy and just. "His power and his wrath are against all who forsake him" because this is, and always has been, the holy and just thing for God to do.

Therefore, since God knew that his creatures would forsake him, he also knew that his power and wrath would be against them. Therefore, this was part of his plan. He created the world knowing that sin would happen and that he would respond as Ezra 8:22 says he does.

This planning is what Paul means in Romans 9:22 when he says that God was "desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power. . ." And if you ask Paul why God would go forward with this plan, his most ultimate answer is in the next verse: "in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy" (Romans 9:23).

God knew that the revelation of his wrath and power against sin would make the riches of his glory shine all the brighter and taste all the sweeter for the vessels of mercy.

"The riches of his glory" are the riches we inherit when we see his glory in all the fullness that we can bear (Ephesians 1:18) and are transformed by it (Romans 8:30; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 John 3:2). These riches of glory reach their supreme height of wonder and beauty in the death of Jesus as he bore the condemnation of God's wrath and power in our place (Romans 8:3; Galatians 3:13).

In other words, God's plan that there be sin and wrath in the universe was ultimately to bring about "the praise of the glory of his grace" in the death of Christ (Ephesians 1:6). What is at stake in the sovereignty of God over sin is the ultimate aim of the universe, namely, the exaltation of the Son of God in the greatest act of wrath-removing, sin-forgiving, justice-vindicating grace that ever was or ever could be. The praise of the glory of God's grace in the death of Christ for sinners is the ultimate end of all things.

Christ is the aim of all things. When Paul says, "All things were created . . . for him" (Colossians 1:16), he means that the entire universe and all the events in it serve to glorify Jesus Christ. May the meditations of our hearts take us ever deeper into this mystery. And may the words of our mouths and the actions of our hands serve to magnify the infinite worth of Jesus and his death. This is why we exist

John Piper

Some Definitions

Don Fortner, pastor of Grace Baptist Church of Danville, KY offers up the following definitions for some hotly debated theological terms:

Election is God's sovereign, eternal choice and determination to save some, a great multitude of Adam's fallen race. It is a free, unconditional, irreversible act of God's sovereign grace, by which the everlasting salvation of all the chosen was secured from eternity (Psalm 65:4; John 15:16; Ephesians 1:3-6; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14).

Predestination is God's sovereign, eternal arrangement of all the affairs of the universe to secure the object of His electing love, to secure the everlasting salvation of His adopted sons and daughters. It is God's purpose, the blueprint by which He created the universe and rules it in providence. This great, blessed work of God's grace includes all things and can never be altered. This, too, is a matter of such unmistakable, clear revelation that ignorance of it is inexcusable (Acts 13:48; Ephesians 1:4-5, 11; Romans 8:29).

Redemption is the ransom of chosen sinners out from under the curse of God's broken law and offended justice by the sacrificial, substitutionary, sin-atoning death of our Lord Jesus. Redemption is the satisfaction of justice by the blood of Christ and the deliverance of God's elect from all possibility of condemnation (Ephesians 1:7; Galatians 3:13; Colossians 1:14; 1 Peter 1:18-20). The redemption of our souls by Christ's shed blood also includes and guaranteed the redemption (deliverance) of our souls from the bondage and dominion of sin (Isaiah 53:10-11), and the redemption of our bodies from the grave at the resurrection (1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 1:14; 4:30). All who were redeemed by the blood of Christ must and shall be saved by God's grace in him.

Regeneration is the new birth, the actual deliverance of chosen, redeemed sinners from spiritual death into spiritual life by the effectual power and irresistible grace of God the Holy Spirit (John 3:8; Ephesians 2:1-4; Colossians 2:10-13). It is a resurrection from spiritual death to spiritual, eternal life in Christ by the Spirit of God.

Providence is the glorious, though mysterious, sovereign rule of the universe by our God for the salvation of His people and the praise, honor and glory of His own great name (Romans 8:28; 11:36; Ephesians 1:11). Providence is God working out in time what He purposed in eternity. Nothing is more comforting, nothing inspires boldness and nothing gives peace like a good understanding of and a confident faith in God's election, predestination, redemption, regeneration and providence.

I could not have said it any better.

If you are interested you can find sermons by Pastor Fortner at Sermon Audio.

Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?

This may be the question that I hear most often asked as an objection to the Christian faith, so let's take a look at this and see what we can learn about why bad things happen to good people.

There are actually several ways that we can approach this, but I would like to look at it from two perspectives:

1. How do we determine what is good or bad?
2. Do bad things really happen to good people?

When we look at this issue we must first determine if what we think is a bad actually is bad. Don't misunderstand, something can be tragic and cause us pain, but does that alone make it a bad thing? In Romans chapter 8 we read:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Romans 8:28-29

According to these verses, everything that occurs in the life of God's people is there for one reason and one reason only - to conform us to the image of Christ. If God has determined that everything we experience in this life will work for our good do we really have the right to say whether it is good or bad?

In the Old Testament when we read the story of Joseph we see this principle in action. In Joseph's teenage years he was sold into slavery by his own brothers, and then later he was falsely accused of trying to rape his master's wife and was thrown into prison. While he was in prison for a crime that he didn't commit he helped someone who promised in return to help him but didn't, and Joseph remained in prison.

Later on in Joseph's life we see that everything that happened to him was actually orchestrated by God to bring about the deliverance of His people. So I ask you the question, was what happened to Joseph good or bad? Before you answer that question look at these verses from Genesis chapter 50:

But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Genesis 50:19-21

As you can see here, all of the evil that was done against Joseph was all part of God's plan and what seemed like bad things was actually good because God was in it. So to the person who asks why bad things happen to good people I will ask in return, who says they were bad things?

Secondly, in order to answer the question of why do bad things happen to good people we must first answer the question, do bad things really happen to good people?

Romans tells us that no one is good - not even one. Look at these verses from Romans chapter 3:

as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.
“Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.
“The venom of asps is under their lips.
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.
“Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Romans 3:10-18

This is not the picture of a "good" person, and yet this is how the Bible describes all of us. And then we arrogantly question the goodness of God when things happen that we perceive as being bad, and then we ask why do bad things happen to good people. As we saw above in the first point, God is sovereign over all of the events of our lives and He promises that every one of them is being used by Him to mold us into the image of Christ. And in the letter of James we read:

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

James 1:17

Did you catch that, Every good gift is from God. And since we do not have the ability to discern what is good or what is bad we must put our trust in our good God and the promises that He has given us.

So the next time someone asks you why bad things happen to good people, point them to the Scriptures and ask them in return, Why do good things happen to anybody?

There can only be one answer: we have a great and awesome God who is working everything out for our ultimate good - our conformity to the image of Christ - and for His glory.

The Gospel Of Mark, Part 5 - Jesus Calls

Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

Mark 1:16-20

As we return to our study of Mark's Gospel we read of the account of Jesus calling His first disciples. as we read this account we see that the first four men that Jesus called to follow Him were not the religious leaders of the day; they were not rabbis, they were not the Pharisees, they were common laborers. We read that Simon and Andrew were casting their nets into the sea, for they were fishermen. We also read that James and John were in their boats mending nets.

These were not influential men, they were just common blue collar workers, but this is who Jesus called to follow Him. And we are told that they immediately left their nets, their families, their boats, their livelihood - they left everything - and they followed Is this how we respond to Jesus? When God shows us something in His word do we immediately obey? Do we leave everything without hesitation and do what He asks? These men did, and they left an example for us to follow.

Next look at what Jesus called them to do: He called them to follow Him, and He called them to a life of bringing others into a relationship with Him. I want to look at each of these individually because this not only applied to Simon, Andrew, James, and John - these same callings apply to us today as well.

Called to follow Jesus

The first thing that Jesus calls us to do is follow Him. We cannot obey Him in anything that He asks of us until we first decide to answer His call and follow Him. But what does Jesus mean when He calls us to follow Him? We read in the Gospel of Luke:

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Luke 9:23

Of this verse John MacArthur writes:

Self-denial was a common thread in Christ’s teaching to his disciples. The kind of self-denial He sought was not a reclusive asceticism, but a willingness to obey His commandments, serve one another, and suffer - perhaps even die - for His sake.

(John MacArthur,The MacArthur Study Bible, Luke 9:23)

This is exactly what Jesus is calling us to today as well. When we follow Him we are giving up our life in exchange for His life; as His follower we are no longer live for ourselves we now live for Him. We live to obey Him, to serve one another, and yes even to die if necessary. Which brings us to the next part of our study.

A call to evangelism

When Jesus called these men to come after Him, He said, "Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men." Of this calling J.C. Ryle writes:

The meaning of this expression is clear and unmistakable. The disciples were to become fishers for souls. They were to labor to draw men out of darkness into light, and from the power of Satan to God. They were to strive to bring men into the net of Christ's church, that so they might be saved alive, and not perish everlastingly.

(J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Volume 1, Mark, Page 10)

This is the same thing that Jesus has called all of His disciples to do - you and me included:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19-20

And if this is what Jesus has instructed us to do, are you doing it? Are you purposely and intentionally striving to make disciples of all men? Do you share the gospel with those you know; do you talk about Jesus with your friends and family? That is the privilege Jesus has given to each and every one of us - to introduce the people we know (and even some we don't know) to Him.

How are you doing? Are you introducing people to Jesus? Let me leave you with one final thought from Bishop Ryle:

Does the fisherman strive to catch fish? Does he use all means, and grieve if unsuccessful? Does the fisherman have patience? Does he toil on day after day, and wait, and work on in hope? Happy is that man, in whom the fisher's skill, and diligence, and patience, are all combined.

(J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Volume 1, Mark, Page 10)

So my challenge to you today is this: If you have never followed after Jesus then today is the day to Repent of your sin and turn to Him in faith. When you do this He will save you. And if you are already His follower then I challenge you to share your faith with someone today; you never know, you just might be the one that God uses to bring them "into the net of Christ's church."

Revelation Chapter 5, Part 3 - The Shouting Hosts

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” 13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” 14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Revelation 5:11-14

Verse eleven of Revelation chapter five begins with John once again telling us that he saw something; this is the fourth time in this chapter that he has used these words (see verses 1,2, and 6), and here what he says is that he looked and he heard many angels around the throne join in the worship that he has been watching unfold in the throne room of heaven.

John tells us that there were many angels and then he says their number was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands. The Greek word here is muriás, which “denotes an indefinite, large number.”1 One of the Synonyms for this word in Greek is anaríthmētos, which means innumerable. So what John is saying here is that there were so many angels in heaven worshiping God that they could not be counted. MacDonald and Farstad write:

The chorus widened as many angels joined the living creatures and the elders, a choir numbering millions, perhaps billions, all participating in perfect harmony. 2

Then as we come to verse twelve we see yet another song of worship to the Lamb. The choir of innumerable angels, the four living creatures, and the twenty-four elders began to say:

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.

If you have ever wondered what heaven will be like here is a perfect picture; here we see Jesus, the Lamb of God, being worshiped, and for all eternity our greatest joy and pleasure will be to join this choir and just worship Jesus.

Notice here that the song begins by identifying Jesus as worthy because He was slain, and once again showing that it was by His death that He purchased His bride and redeemed His creation. The song then goes on to list seven (the number of completeness and perfection) things that Jesus is worthy to receive: power, riches, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing. It should also be noted that in Greek these seven words:

[A]re all ranged under the one Greek article, to mark that they form one complete aggregate belonging to God and His co-equal, the Lamb. 3

To really appreciate what is being said here we need to look back to the second chapter of Philippians where we read:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:5-11

In this passage we see the humility of Christ on earth, but now we see Him exalted above all. Warren Wiersbe writes:

He shared in the sinless weaknesses of humanity as He hungered, thirsted, and became weary. Today in glory, He possesses all strength. On earth, He experienced humiliation and shame as sinners ridiculed and reviled Him. They laughed at His kingship and attired Him in a mock robe, crown, and scepter. But all of that is changed now! He has received all honor and glory! 4

Then in verse thirteen all of creation joins in the worship, just as the Father had promised His Son in Philippians. Revelation 5:13 tells us that everything in creation will worship God; it says, "every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them.” This means that even as they reject Him, those who are experiencing the judgment and wrath of God will bring Him glory. In the end every knee will bow and everyone in all of creation will confess that Jesus is Lord, and they will acknowledge once and for all that to Him alone belongs blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.

As this chapter ends we once again see the throne room of heaven filled with worship for this great and awesome God. The four living creatures keep saying Amen which is a transliteration of the Hebrew āmēn, and it means, “to be firm, steady, truthworthy.”5 In essence they are saying let it be or make it happen. And the elders again fall down and worship.

So what did we learn from this chapter? Lawrence Richards sums it up well when he writes:

Perhaps we have been so filled with wonder at a God who loves us and gave Himself for us that we tend to miss an important reality. Though God in Jesus gave Himself for us, He remains the center of the universe. It is God, not man, for whom all things were and are created. It is His glory, not our glorification that is important. As the Westminster Catechism states, "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." We must never neglect this reality or come to feel that somehow the chief end of God is to glorify man! We must never measure what happens or what is described in the Book of Revelation from a human viewpoint. All that occurs must be measured against who God is.6

And all creation said Amen!

1 Zodhiates, S. (2000, c1992, c1993). The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.) (G3461). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.
2 MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. (1997, c1995). Believer's Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments (Re 5:11). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
3 Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. On spine: Critical and explanatory commentary. (Re 5:12). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
4 Wiersbe, W. W. (1996, c1989). The Bible exposition commentary. "An exposition of the New Testament comprising the entire 'BE' series"--Jkt. (Re 5:1). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.
5 Zodhiates, S. (2000, c1992, c1993). The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.) (G281). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.
6 Richards, L., & Richards, L. O. (1987). The teacher's commentary. Includes index. (1079). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.

Next time we will look at chapter six and the opening of the first of the six seals.

Paul Washer On The Doctrine Of Election

Here is a video of Paul Washer from last year's Deeper Conference answering a man who asked him to explain the doctrine of election. The audio is a little low, but this is well worth the time and effort it takes to listen.


And here is the link to the sermon series that Paul recommends: http://www.anchoredintruth.org/resources/audio/ephesians

A Study Of Covenant, Part 4 - The New Covenant - Part 1

It has been centuries since Moses received the covenant on Mount Sinai, centuries since the Israelites said that they would obey God. But they hadn’t, and now they were reaping the curses that they were warned about; the consequences of breaking the covenant they had sworn to keep. They promised to obey God’s commandments, but they didn’t - they couldn’t - because no matter how hard they tried they couldn’t overcome one thing – they were sinners. They, like each of us, had a nature that cannot be controlled by desire or by will power. God knew this, He knew it when he made the covenant at Sinai, He knew it before the foundation of the world, and He had a solution.

God was about to reveal something so amazing that words can hardly describe it; God was going to make a new covenant with His people, and this covenant would be the fulfillment of all of the previous covenants; the hope mankind had been waiting for.

In the Book of Jeremiah we get the first glimpse of what was to come. In chapter 31 of Jeremiah we read the following:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Here we have the first promise of a new covenant; a covenant that is not based on external laws, but a covenant where God will write His law on our hearts. The Israelites failed to keep the covenant that God made with them at Sinai because it didn’t address the problem of sin; they could try with all of their might to keep the law, but without a change of heart they would never succeed.

Warren Wiersbe puts it this way:

Any plan for the betterment of human society that ignores the sin problem is destined to failure. It isn’t enough to change the environment, for the heart of every problem is the problem of the heart. God must change the hearts of people so that they want to love Him and do His will. That’s why He announced a New Covenant to replace the Old Covenant under which the Jews had lived since the days of Moses, a covenant that could direct their conduct but not change their character. 1

Ezekiel, a contemporary of Jeremiah, also prophesied the coming of the New Covenant.

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Ezekiel 36:25-28

According to these verses, and the verses we just read in Jeremiah, God is going to make a New Covenant. In this covenant He will remove our hard heart and replace it with a heart of flesh. In this covenant He will place His Spirit within us and give us the power to obey Him. In this covenant He will be our God and we will be His people. But when will this take place?

To answer this question lets look at the Gospel of Luke:

And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Luke 22:14-20

Looking back at our earlier discussions where we defined covenant and then looked at some of he parts of the covenant ceremony you should be starting to see this passage in different light. First of all note that this took place at Passover; to see the significance of this we need to go back to the time of the exodus and look at the first Passover, which we find in Exodus chapter 12.

In this chapter we can see that the coming New Covenant was not an after-thought for God; the coming crucifixion of the Messiah, the Seed of Abraham, is foreshadowed here in the Passover Lamb. The first thing we see here is God told Moses to have each family select a lamb, one per household. This lamb was to be without blemish and it was to be killed and eaten and the blood was to be put on the doorposts of the house in which the lamb was eaten. On the night that all of this took place God would go throughout the land and strike dead every firstborn male of any house where the blood had not been applied.

Now with this picture in mind let’s go back and look again at the verses above from Luke. The first thing that I want you to see here is that this was the fulfillment of the Passover (verse 16). John MacArthur says:

Christ’s death on the following day fulfilled the symbolism of the Passover meal. Passover was both a memorial of deliverance from Egypt, and a prophetic type of the sacrifice of Christ.2

But what we have here is more than just Jesus and His disciples sharing a Passover meal; they are sharing a covenant meal. Notice in verse 20, “ This cup is the new covenant established by My blood; it is shed for you.” Pay attention here, this is important, Jesus just said He was establishing a new covenant with them, a covenant cut in His own blood!

But why did we need a new covenant? To understand this we need to go next to the book of Hebrews. In Hebrews chapters eight and nine we see the reason for the new covenant; let’s begin in chapter eight verse six:

But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.

Hebrews 8:6

In this verse we learn that the new covenant is a better covenant because it was enacted on better promises. What are the “better promises” that this new covenant is enacted upon? The promises that were made back in Jeremiah 31: 31-34 (and that are repeated here is Hebrews 8:8-12), these are: the promise of God’s Grace, the promise of an internal change, and the promise of the forgiveness of sin. Let’s look at each of these in a little more detail.

The Promise of God’s Grace:

Under the Old Covenant the blessings promised were conditioned upon the obedience of those under that covenant. In Exodus 24:3 the Israelites said, “All the words the Lord has spoken we will do!” But they didn’t obey, and as a result they inherited the curses of the covenant. Under this new covenant the blessings are no longer dependent upon man’s obedience; notice in the Jeremiah passage God says six times “I will”: “the covenant I will make”, “I will put my law within them”, “on their heart I will write it”, “I will be their God”, “I will forgive their iniquity”, “I will remember their sin no more.” Each of these statements show the grace of God; His unmerited favor on us, and it is based not an anything we did, or can do, but it is based on His covenant with us.

Warren Wiersbe writes:

The New Covenant is wholly of God’s grace; no sinner can become a part of this New Covenant without faith in Jesus Christ. Grace and faith go together just as the Law and works go together (Rom. 11:6). The Law says, “The man that doeth them [the things written in the Law] shall live in them” (Gal. 3:12). But grace says, “The work is done—believe and live!3

The Promise of an Internal Change:

Under the old covenant the law was written on tablets of stone; under the new covenant God says that He will write His law on our hearts. The problem with the old covenant was this while it declared God’s holy standard it did not give us the power necessary to carry it out; it could tell us what we needed to do, but it could not enable us to do it.

I see this promise as two fold: first it is the promise of a new nature, and second it is the promise of the indwelling of God’s Spirit within us. By our very nature we are sinful and we cannot please God or obey Him; we just don’t have the ability. No matter how hard we try to keep His law we just can’t seem to do it, we continually fall short (Romans 3:23). So God, with His new covenant gives us a new nature, a divine nature, so that not only will we want to obey Him, now we actually can.

The second part of this promise that I see is His indwelling Holy Spirit. We don’t see this from the Jeremiah passage, but from the parallel passage in Ezekiel where God says, “I will place My Spirit within you…” Under the old covenant God’s Spirit may abide for a short time with a person, but His Spirit never indwelt them. His promise here is that He will put His Spirit within us and cause us to follow and obey Him. The apostle Paul calls this a down payment on our inheritance when he says:

In Him, you also, after listening to  the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were  sealed in Him with  the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of  our inheritance, with a view to the  redemption of  God’s own possession,  to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1:13-14 (NASB)

Now, with a new nature, and the Holy Spirit living within us we have an ability that we never had before, the ability to live a godly life. This was not possible under the law, because that was never the purpose of the law (more on this later).

The Promise of the Forgiveness of Sin:

Under the new covenant God promises to forgive our sins; He says, “For I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sin.” This was not possible under the law, because the Bible teaches us “by the works of the law will no flesh be justified.”4 According to R.C. Stedman:

This is, perhaps, the most difficult aspect for us to believe, for it forces us to do two difficult things: recognize that we do wicked things, and believe that God has already made ample provision to set aside that wickedness and continue treating us as his beloved children. Any sin called to our attention by our conscience needs only to be acknowledged to be set aside. Provision for God to do so justly rests on the death of Christ on our behalf, not on our sense of regret or our promise to do better.5

Here God not only promises to forgive our sins, He says that He will not remember them any more. This does not mean that God forgets them, because God cannot forget anything; if God forgot something He would cease to be God. What this is telling us is that God will no longer hold our sin against us. Warren Wiersbe says it this way:

God recalls what we have done, but He does not hold it against us. He deals with us on the basis of grace and mercy, not law and merit. Once sin has been forgiven, it is never brought before us again. The matter is settled eternally.6

Why does He do this you ask? Dr. Wiersbe goes on to say:

[This] is possible because of the cross, for there God treated His Son as though He had done it! 7

So here we see that the new covenant is based on better promises. We also see (in verse 13 of chapter 8) that the old covenant has become obsolete.

When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete.

Hebrews 8:13a (NASB)

The letter to the Hebrews was written at a time when the temple was still standing and the priests were still offering sacrifices prescribed by the covenant that was established with Moses. But the writer here is telling these young Jewish Christians that not only is there a new and better covenant, but the old covenant that has been followed for centuries is now obsolete. The Greek word translated “new” here is the word kainos which means new in quality, not new in time; in other words this new covenant is of such quality that it will never need to be replaced. So what we see here is that the old covenant has been replaced by a new and better covenant that will never grow old and never need replacing.

Moving then into chapter nine of Hebrews we see the author making an argument for the superiority of the new covenant to the old. He begins in verses 1-10 by reminding them (and us) of the regulations set up for worship under the old covenant. He talks about the tabernacle and the utensils used in worship and then he concludes by talking about the ministry of the high priest and how he was only able to enter the inner part of the tabernacle, the Holy of Holies, or Most Holy Place, once a year. In verse eight we are told that the way into the holy of holies had not yet been disclosed, but he says in verse eleven, when Jesus appeared as our Great High Priest, the High Priest of the new covenant, He entered the Holy Place not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood having obtained eternal redemption, the forgiveness of sin.

Under the old covenant the high priest was only able to enter the inner most part of the tabernacle, the place where God dwelled, once a year on the day of atonement. And then he was only able to enter with blood offered on behalf of himself, his family, and the people. What this passage is telling us is that the way to God was restricted under the old covenant, but look at what Hebrews 4:16 says

Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience,

Hebrews 4:16

Why can we approach the throne of grace with boldness? According to Hebrews 10:19 it is because of the blood of Jesus. This passage goes on to say that He has inaugurated a way through the curtain into the Holy Place, the very presence of God. This passage continues:

let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

Hebrews 10:22-23

Our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience; just like the promise of Jeremiah 31:34, “their sins I will remember no more.” Under the new covenant we can come boldly to the throne of grace, into the Most Holy Place, because Jesus has paid the price once and for all with the sacrifice of His body. Our sins are forgiven and God will not bring them up again. He has made a covenant and it cannot be canceled; we, who have come into a relationship with Him through Jesus, have become His covenant partners, He has written His law on our hearts and has forgiven our sins.

Next time we will wrap up our study of Covenant by looking at the covenant symbolism we find in the establishment of the New Covenant.



1 Wiersbe, W. W. (1996, c1995). Be decisive. An Old Testament study. (Je 31:31). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.
2 MacArthur, John. The MacArthur Study Bible. Ó1997 Word Publishing. Pg 1559. Luke 22:16
3 Wiersbe, W. W. (1996, c1989). The Bible exposition commentary. "An exposition of the New Testament comprising the entire 'BE' series"--Jkt. (Heb 8:6). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.
4 Romans 3:20
5 Stedman, R. C. (1992). Hebrews. The IVP New Testament commentary series (Heb 8:7). Downers Grove, Ill., U.S.A.: InterVarsity Press.
6 Wiersbe, W. W. (1996, c1989). The Bible exposition commentary. "An exposition of the New Testament comprising the entire 'BE' series"--Jkt. (Heb 8:6). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.
7 Wiersbe, W. W. (1996, c1989). The Bible exposition commentary. "An exposition of the New Testament comprising the entire 'BE' series"--Jkt. (Heb 8:6). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.