Tuesday, April 29, 2014

From Spurgeon:

Do you often hear the salutation addressed to you by your brother Christian, "Friend, how doth thy soul prosper?" When we step into each other's houses, do we begin to talk concerning the cause and truth of God? Do you think that God would now stoop from heaven to listen to the conversation of his church, as once he did, when it was said, "The Lord hearkened and heard, and a book of remembrance was written for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name?" I solemnly declare, as the result of thorough, and, I trust, impartial observation, that the conversation of Christians, while it can not be condemned on the score of morality, must almost invariably be condemned on the score of Christianity. We talk too little about our Lord and Master.

From his sermon from Habakkuk 3 on Spiritual Revival: The Want of the Church

Friday, April 25, 2014

Beginning this Sunday at CFBC, we will teach through many of the Distinctives of the Church.

Join us at 4pm during the Family Bible Hour. The audios & handouts can be found here.


OUTLINE OF TOPICS:

1. EXPOSITORY PREACHING

2. DISCIPLESHIP

3. PRAYER

4. CHURCH DISCIPLINE

5. BIBLICAL COUNSELING

6. HOMOSEXUALITY

7. ELDER/SHEPHERD LEADERSHIP

8. MALE LEADERSHIP in the HOME (biblical husbanding & fathering/complementarianism)

9. FAMILY WORSHIP

10. BIBLICAL CREATIONISM (6 24-hour days)

11. THE AWFUL MAJESTY OF GOD

12. AGGRESSIVE & ZEALOUS SANCTIFICATION

13. FUTURISTIC PREMILLENNIALISM

14. THE DOCTRINES OF GRACE

15. CHURCH MEMBERSHIP

16. THE IMPORTANCE OF BELIEVER'S BAPTISM

17. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE LORD'S TABLE




Thursday, April 24, 2014

John Owen counsels us:

Rise mightily against the first sight of sin. Do not allow it to gain the smallest ground. Do not say, 'Thus far I shall go, and no farther.' If you allow it one step, it will take another. It is impossible to fix boundaries for sin! It is like water in a channel. If it ever breaks out, it will flow on through the breach. it is easier to sop it in the beginning than after it has begun to run.

James teaches that sin is progressive (James 1:14-15). Do you find corruption beginning to entangle your thoughts? Rise up with all of your strength against it, as if it had already started to overcome you. Consider what an unclean thought desires. It desires to have you immerse yourself in folly and filth.

If you do not in this way attack temptation, you will not win the battle. If sin gains ground in your affections so that you delight in it, your understanding will also come to think little of it.

(John Owen, Mortification of Sin, [Banner of Truth, 2004], 85-86).

Romans 8:12-13 — So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-- for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

The Kind of Man a Faithful Pastor/Elder Must Be
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church


1. A PARDONED MAN
The man must be saved. God’s grace must have pardoned him and atoned for his sins. The wrath of God must have been propitiated in and through the work of Jesus Christ on his behalf. He must enjoy the grace of God in salvation, bathe in the riches of Christ as his treasure, and strive to walk humbly and purely before God as he continues in the grace of God and in the mercy Lord Jesus Christ through the strength of the Holy Spirit.


2. A PRAYERFUL MAN
A faithful church leader must commune with God in regular, frequent, and private prayer. A shepherd must seek and savor opportunities to quiet himself with God. To be alone with God excited this godly shepherd. To be diligent in prayer is to confess private sins, to adore the greatness of God, to meditate and marvel at the glory of the gospel, to thank God for His undeserved blessings, and to take hold of God in begging for supernatural strength and Spirit-endowed power in the ministry.


3. A PREOCCUPIED MAN
A shepherd has one preoccupation, namely, caring for his sheep. Nothing else concerns him; nothing else conflicts him; nothing else distracts him. To shepherd God’s flock requires that the man of God be preoccupied with God’s flock. Yet the motivation to care for God’s flock grows from a robust and rock-solid drive for God’s glory. The preoccupation for God’s glory drives the shepherd to occupy his mind, time, talents, efforts, and resources to serve His flock.


4. A PRIORITIZED MAN 
God’s shepherd must carefully prioritize his time. He cannot lazily sit back and allow the sheep to suffer. He cannot allow distractions to remove him from his foremost calling. He must prioritize his time and ensure that he carries out the few essentials rather than the dozens of profitable tasks. If one busies himself with many helpful items and yet ignores the meeting with God in prayer, the studying of the Scriptures, and the personal shepherding of God’s flock, then he most certainly has misplaced priorities.


5. A PURE MAN
Pursue purity! This counsel that Paul gave to young Timothy must resonate with every man serving in the ministry of the Lord. Purity is preeminent. God loves to use pure vessels for His glory and His purposes. God cannot bless false shepherds, impure leaders and unholy elders. To pursue purity should be regular, constant, zealous, persistent, and delightful. Men must guard their eyes and their hearts. Men who serve Christ and serve His sheep must ensure that all impurities — and even the ‘appearances of evil’ — find no place in their lives. No man of God can protect himself too much from defilement. 


6. A PREACHING MAN 
A faithful pastor must be one who fits the qualification of being ‘able to teach’. He must be an able man with the Word of God. He must know the Scriptures. He must give himself diligently to working through the Bible and the Bible must work itself through him. He must know the Word and be competent to instruct with the Word. He must hold to sound teaching and refute all those who contradict. Faithful shepherds preach the gospel! Biblical elders can instruct and guard and protect sound, healthy, strong doctrine. The elders must give themselves unquestionably to the Word of God with more frequency and regularity than they do to sports, to news, to headlines, and to other hobbies. The Word must captivate this man. The care for, protection of, instruction of, and guarding of the flock should ever rest on the shepherd’s soul.


7. A POINTING MAN 
A faithful and diligent undershepherd will always point to the Chief Shepherd. Jesus presented Himself as the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His own sheep. He knows His own and He calls them by name. A godly pastor will ever point the sheep to the ultimate Shepherd for their sustenance, joy, satisfaction, and salvation! He points with tenacity and with ever-present pathos to the glory of God revealed in the face of Christ! Just like the Spirit of God who points believers to Christ, so all God’s shepherds must point all believers to the beauty of Christ. Christ’s shepherds should always have, as it were, a finger pointing to the text of Scripture and with the other hand, a finger pointing upwards to the risen and exalted Christ! Point to Him!

“Take heed to thyself. Your own soul is your first and greatest care. You know a sound body alone can work with power; much more a healthy soul. Keep a clear conscience through the blood of the Lamb. Keep up close communion with God. Study likeness to Him in all things. Read the Bible for your own growth first, then for your people. Expound much; it is through the truth that souls are to be sanctified, not through essays upon the truth. Be easy of access, apt to teach, and the Lord teach you and bless you in all you do and say. You will not find many companions. Be the more with God. My dear people are anxiously waiting for you. The prayerful are praying for you. Be of good courage; there remaineth much of the land to be possessed. Be not dismayed, for Christ shall be with thee to deliver thee.”
                                           — Robert Murray M’Cheyne

Download the pdf article here.

Monday, April 7, 2014

Here is the 12-part series on Hermeneutics: the art and science of rightly interpreting the Bible. This was recently taught at Christ Fellowship Bible Church (in St Louis, Missouri).

1. Part 1: Hermeneutics: how to interpret the Bible | download
2. Part 2: Hermeneutics: the power & purpose of God's Word | download
3. Part 3: Hermeneutics: truths about the Bible and defining important terms | download
4. Part 4: Hermeneutics: observing the text | download
5. Part 5: Hermeneutics: interpreting the text, interpret normally and contextually | download
6. Part 6: Hermeneutics: interpret in view of culture, history, and literary genre | download
7. Part 7: Hermeneutics: understanding the analogy of Scripture | download
8. Part 8: Hermeneutics: interpreting parables and proverbs | download
9. Part 9: Hermeneutics: interpreting poetry and figures of speech | download
10. Part 10: Hermeneutics: interpreting symbols and types | download
11. Part 11: Hermeneutics: interpreting prophecy and the use of the Old Testament in the New | download
12. Part 12: Hermeneutics: applying the text | download

The goal of this 12-part study is simple: to equip God's people who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit to glory God & enjoy Christ's gospel by rightly interpreting the Word of God so as to understand the authorial intent of the text and then to apply it to life so as to produce conformity to Christ.

Note: all the pdf handouts for each individual session can be found at the media page here.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

What will the coming kingdom on earth be like? It will be earthly, global, peaceful, filled with righteousness, and the LORD will reign with glory from Zion.

Here are a few resources that may help as you read Scripture and grow in hope for this future kingdom on earth when Christ will rule over the nations.

Psalm 72 — Handout with Outline and Supports for Premillennialism (=Future, Earthly, 1,000 Kingdom)

A chart showing the order of events — futuristic premillennialism

The importance of premillennialism, by Norman Geisler

Premillennialism, by Richard Mayhue

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