Podcasts about athanasian

Title: A Peculiar People Text: Acts 20:1-6 FCF: We often struggle pursuing what produces unity in and the victory of the church. Prop: Because the true church of Jesus is united and triumphant, we must continue in submission to the Word and the love of one another. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Acts chapter 20. In a moment we will read starting from verse one in the Legacy Standard Version. You can follow along in the pew bible or whatever version you prefer. Sermon Intro: Well, I did some math this week to discover where we are in our study of the book of Acts. Today, as we begin our study of chapter 20, we are around seventy percent done with the book according to verse count. That means we have a little over three hundred verses to go. Now my average for verse per sermon is a little under 10 verses. That being said, we probably have somewhere around 30 sermons remaining in the book of Acts. Meaning that sometime before the end of the year, Lord willing, we should be finishing the book of Acts. I hope and trust you have enjoyed the study of Acts so far. I know I have. But it seems that we are in the final stretch. That being said, let's come back to chapter 19 and 20. Last week Luke recorded for us the final episode of the Ephesian mission. But unlike similar examples where riots formed against Paul and his associates, no real harm or danger even approached any of them. From this we noted that Luke records this to prove that the Christians were not purposefully trying to cause issues around the Roman Empire. The only thing causing the offense, was the gospel of Jesus Christ. We noted that one of the primary reasons that people so hated the message of the gospel spoken through Paul and his associates, was because of the gospel's intolerance or exclusivity. And the world is the same 2000 years later. Today we will see what largely amounts to the beginning of the end of the third missionary journey of Paul. In it we will see one very important truth about the church and a couple responses that flow into and out of that truth. So please stand with me to give honor to and to focus on the reading of the Word of God. Invocation: Most Holy and Loving Father, we approach You today with our hearts held up to You. We come to be exhorted, to be encouraged, to be edified by Your Word. We come to hear from You and to obey. We come to feed our faith on the Bread of Life. We come to drink deeply from the Everlasting Fountain of Living Water. I pray that You would reveal to us today what You have made us to be in this thing called the church. Reveal what graces You have given us to keep us in Your purposes and reveal what responses You require from us as a church. Bind us together as one body in Your truth and for Your glory we pray this in Jesus' name… Amen. Transition: Last time we saw the narrowness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The intolerance of the gospel to any other faiths, worship, gods, or practices that it does not teach. Related to that today we will see the church being united around a very narrow set of essentials and that unity producing victory and love for one another. Let's look closer at the text this morning. I.) The true church of Jesus Christ is united and triumphant, so we must submit to continual exhortation from the Word. (1-3) a. [Slide 2] 1 - Now after the uproar had ceased, Paul having summoned and exhorted the disciples, said farewell and left to go to Macedonia. i. Luke doesn't often give us chronological markers, and when he does, they are not typically very precise. ii. We might be irritated by this, but this irritation is probably borne from our western culture. We have somewhat of a hypersensitivity to time and chronology that those in the east do not seem to always share. iii. Still, Luke does give us a definite chronological marker here even if it is lacking in specificity. iv. After the uproar had ceased. v. From the context the uproar in question is clearly the riot or almost riot brought on by some tradesmen in Ephesus. vi. We unpacked all of this last week, but as a reminder these tradesmen feared the financial and religious impact that Christianity may have on them and the city of Ephesus. vii. Because of this they were overcome with civic and religious pride and began shouting and dragging certain companions of Paul to the theater where city disputes were often heard. viii. It all came to an end after the chief executive officer of the city warned them that they are in danger of being punished by Rome if they continue this illegal assembly. ix. With this in mind the crowd dispersed. x. We should probably not rigidly infer that the next hour or the next day is when Paul does what he does. xi. More likely we should see this as after the events and when people had moved on with their lives. xii. Now people do tend to move on shockingly fast. They get distracted by other things and what was very important one day tends to become very unimportant in a few days' time. xiii. After the dust settles, Paul says farewell to the church in Ephesus and leaves to go to Macedonia. xiv. In the process of saying farewell though, he summons and exhorts the disciples. xv. Paul does not overtly go to the hall of Tyrannus to bid farewell to the Ephesian Christians. This no doubt indicates that although he isn't leaving the city due to the recent trouble, he is not a fool. He won't flaunt a large gathering of believers right before he leaves. xvi. In this we see the heart of Paul. It is not enough to simply say farewell… he must preach to them. He must instruct and apply to them the scriptures so they can be ready to face what is coming. xvii. Paul will be giving a good number of goodbyes in the next several chapters of Acts. I think it might be good for us to observe how often he accompanies his goodbyes with some sort of exhortation, encouragement or preaching of the Word of God. b. [Slide 3] 2 - And when he had gone through those districts and had given them much exhortation, he came to Greece. i. Once again, we remind ourselves that Luke is not writing a history of the early Christian church. ii. Or at least we can conclude that if he is writing a history of the early Christian church, he is doing a horrible job. iii. Why do I say that? iv. He summarizes Paul's travels through Macedonia in 10 Greek words. v. What are some of the “districts” that he probably visited? vi. 2 Corinthians chapters 1-7 actually dovetail nicely with the events of these two verses, since it was probably during this time that Paul wrote the letter. vii. Taking what 2 Corinthians says we can be assured that Paul probably visited Troas, Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea. And potentially spent time in several other cities and even further west into the Latin speaking region of Illyricum, which he speaks about in Romans 15. viii. Luke does not give us the where, but notice he does give us the what. ix. What was Paul doing in these districts? x. He was exhorting. xi. The same thing he did in Ephesus to the disciples there before he left. xii. Paul continues to preach the word and train believers to live in submission to all that Christ had commanded. xiii. So, if Luke is not recording a history of the early church, what is he doing? xiv. Luke describes the purpose of his two books at the beginning of his gospel. He is writing these two books to Theophilus, a wealthy and potentially powerful person involved in the government of Roman Empire, who has professed faith in Christ. xv. He writes to Theophilus to describe both the certainty and the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. xvi. The certainty and the power of the gospel is on display in these 10 Greek words. How? xvii. Even though it has been years since Paul has visited these places in person – he returns not only to find believers still, but also, he returns with the authority to preach to them, encourage them, and commands their respect to listen to him. xviii. If the gospel was false and impotent, we would expect to find few if any believers here, or to find them reject Paul having wandered from his teaching. xix. Instead, he is welcomed and respected and the Word is preached again to them. xx. But how long did Paul spend in Macedonia? It is difficult to say. But some suggest that he spent as much as a year going back through these regions ministering to the local assemblies in these areas. xxi. Then, Paul goes on to Greece. xxii. There are two likely congregations that Paul visited in Greece. xxiii. The city of Athens and the city of Corinth. xxiv. We are not given any indication of how much time he spent in each city or whether he even went to Athens. We do know that he went to Corinth based on the writings of both Romans and the two books to the Corinthians. c. [Slide 4] 3 - And there he spent three months, and when a plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. i. So, Paul spends three months in Greece, probably most if not all of it in the city of Corinth. ii. There is a reason for that which we will talk about next. iii. [Slide 5] Now based on our timeline of the New Testament I'd like to take us on a little tangent so we can shuffle in to these events exactly when Paul wrote some of his letters. 1. Because in 1 Corinthians Paul expresses his desire to winter in Corinth before going back to Jerusalem, we can reasonably guess that while Paul was in Ephesus, and probably toward the end of his stay, he had written 1 Corinthians. 2. In 1 Corinthians there was indication that he had sent another letter to them before that. Which could have also been written from Ephesus or even before he began his third missionary journey. This is a letter that the Lord did not preserve for us. 3. In 2 Corinthians we learn of another letter that Paul had sent the Corinthians that is referred to as a harsh letter. This too could have been written from Ephesus. This is also another letter the Lord did not preserve. 4. As we have already said, 2 Corinthians covers some of the events after Paul leaves Ephesus. Paul travels north to Troas where he expects to meet Titus who will bring back word for him on the results of the harsh letter to the church in Corinth. However, Paul did not meet Titus there, so he went on to Macedonia. It was there that Titus met him with word that the Corinthians had received his harsh letter graciously and had repented. Therefore, during his time in Macedonia, Paul wrote 2 Corinthians which prepares them for his arrival in a matter of months. 5. This is why we conclude that Paul spent most of the three months he was in Greece in the city of Corinth, because there was some needed time of reconciliation. 6. Since Paul's mind was already on visiting Rome after he went to Jerusalem, since in the book of Romans he indicates that he has not yet visited them, and since Paul greets the Roman church from individuals we know were from Corinth, we can infer that Paul most likely wrote the book of Romans from Corinth during this three month stay. 7. [Slide 6] This means that by this time, before Paul goes back to Jerusalem, he had written six of his thirteen letters that we have in our New Testament. Galatians, I and II Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Romans – in that chronological order. iv. [Slide 7] Of course, we know that the Jews had always given Paul problems. It seems that in Corinth, again, they will stir up trouble against him. v. Apparently, the plot had something to do with his travel plans from Corinth to Syria. vi. So, Paul alters his travel plans to go back through Macedonia to set sail from somewhere else. d. [Slide 8] Summary of the Point: Luke presents to us via the travels of Paul as his third missionary journey comes to a close the unity and victory of the true church of Jesus. Although there have been many trials and tests, although there have been betrayals and even outright failures, the church continues to thrive in unity and victory over the forces of darkness and the wicked schemes of men. The church is the kingdom of Christ spreading to the uttermost parts of the earth, waging war against the dark domain of sin. Paul revisits these churches he helped establish with a message of encouragement and exhortation. This is the fuel of the church. The church is built up, energized, and rejuvenated by submitting to continual exhortation from the Word of God. And these churches were no different. They were united and they were victorious, but they still needed and welcomed encouragement and exhortation from the Word. We too must be continually encouraged and exhorted with the Word of God. The moment we neglect the regular preaching and teaching of the Word of God, is the moment we become weak and susceptible to error and compromise which disunifies us and defeats us. You see my friends, the Word of God is the key to unity and victory. That is why it must be continually preached and taught in every church claiming to be Christ's church. Transition: [Slide 9 (blank)] The true church of Jesus Christ is united and triumphant and the Word of God continually preached keeps it that way. But what else must continue since the church is united and triumphant? II.) The true church of Jesus Christ is united and triumphant, so we must continually love and care for one another. (4-6) a. [Slide 10] 4 - And he was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia. 5 - But these had gone on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas. i. Look at the brotherhood of believers that the Lord has raised up for the cause of Christ. ii. What began in Jerusalem around 20 years earlier had not only gone out to the uttermost parts of the earth, but even now there are missionaries from all over going to many other places helping with the spread of the gospel. iii. What a glorious testament to the power of God's grace and His work. iv. Let me briefly discuss each of these individuals or at least all we can about them and then I'll make some further comments about the significance of this list. 1. Sopater which is potentially a shortened form of the name Sosipater is only mentioned in this text and in Romans 16:21. From both texts we understand that he was a companion of Paul and from this text we see that he was from Berea and was the son of a man named Pyrrhus of whom we know nothing. 2. Aristarchus is no doubt the same one that was dragged to the theater by the Ephesian mob. During the riot we discovered he was a Macedonian and here we see that specifically he was from Thessalonica. We also know that Aristarchus accompanies Paul to Rome for his imprisonment because he is named in the letter to the Colossians and to Philemon, both of which were written during Paul's first imprisonment in Rome which is recorded at the end of the book of Acts. 3. Secundus is not mentioned in any other passage of scripture. He was from Thessalonica too. 4. There are four Gaiuses mentioned in the scriptures and because of what is revealed about them, it is really impossible for them to all be the same person. a. The Gaius that Luke records in Ephesus during the riot was from Macedonia. b. The Gaius mentioned here is from Derbe which is located in what is now south central Turkey. c. The Gaius mentioned in 1 Corinthians and Romans seems to be a member of the church of Corinth whom Paul baptized and whose home the church used for its gatherings. d. Finally, 3 John mentions a Gaius who is thanked personally by John for putting up traveling missionaries. John does not specify much more and this could be the same Gaius who put up the house church in Corinth, but because John is traditionally associated with the church in Ephesus after the fall of Jerusalem, we may wonder if the Gaius mentioned in his 3rd letter is the same Gaius from the riot or another Gaius altogether. e. In short, Gaius seems to be a fairly common name across the empire at this time. 5. Timothy of course is Paul's spiritual son, won to Christ in Lystra on his first missionary journey and accompanying him to various locations throughout Asia and Macedonia on his second missionary journey. Timothy is mentioned quite frequently in the scriptures, even having two books bearing his name as a recipient. We won't go into much more detail today about Timothy, but his role in the church could be the subject of an entire sermon. 6. Tychicus, besides being one of my favorite names to say in the scriptures, is found as a continual companion of Paul's. We find him being sent with the prison epistles of Ephesians and Colossians. In both letters Paul says that Tychicus, a beloved and faithful brother, will come and explain everything to them. He is also with Paul in Nicopolis and is being sent to Titus to relieve him on Crete so that Titus can come to Paul in Nicopolis. And of course, as we see here, he is from Asia, which typically means what is now western Turkey, although a city is not mentioned. 7. Finally, Trophimus. Trophimus is from Asia and has the unfortunate distinction of being one of the primary reasons that Paul is arrested when he goes to Jerusalem. Paul is seen with Trophimus in Acts 21, there noted that he is from the city of Ephesus. Because Paul is seen with this gentile and because Paul went into the temple it is assumed that Paul brought Trophimus in the temple with him. Of course, he didn't. But that didn't matter very much. Trophimus is also mentioned in 2 Timothy during Paul's final imprisonment in Rome. Paul tells Timothy that he left Trophimus in Miletus because he was ill. v. Such is the wide variety of Paul's companions. People from all kinds of origins and backgrounds joining him in the work. vi. They all go ahead of him to Troas where they await his arrival to go on from there to Jerusalem. vii. But I said that I would remark on the significance of this list and their region of origin. And that I will do, but only after the list is complete. Because for now it lacks 1 more name… b. [Slide 11] 6 - And we sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and came to them at Troas within five days; and there we stayed seven days. i. In verse 6 another unnamed traveling companion joins Paul as he heads to Troas to meet all those mentioned in verse 4. ii. Did you notice it? iii. That's right. iv. Paul picks up the author of the book Luke, probably from Philippi. v. Luke traditionally has been said to have been from Antioch of Syria, but with familial ties to Macedonia. Here we see him still in Phillipi where Paul left him all the way back on the second missionary journey. Since Paul picked up Luke in Troas and deposited him just across the Aegean Sea at Philippi it is safe to assume that Luke is probably living in this area at this time – even if he was from Antioch of Syria. vi. Paul and Luke wait until after the days of unleavened bread, probably to celebrate with the small group of Jews in Philippi. They make the trip to Troas in 5 days, probably against the headwind, and then stay an additional week there in Troas. vii. That will be the subject of next week's sermon as Paul has a very well-known episode concerning a young boy named Eutychus. We'll get to that next time. viii. So, what is the significance of this list? ix. Remember that during this time after Ephesus and heading to Jerusalem, Paul is gathering a collection for the Jerusalem church. He is gathering aid for them because they are experiencing great financial hardship. x. Not only is it safer to travel with a large group, especially when you have a good sum of money on you, but also, because Luke mentions where all these men are from, we can infer from this that each of these men represent churches all across the empire who are giving this financial aid to the church in Jerusalem. Indeed, from almost every city in which Paul has preached, we find members of that city church coming with Paul to give their gift to the church in Jerusalem. xi. What a wonderful testimony to the unity, compassion, love, and care that is present in the universal church. c. [Slide 12] Summary of the Point: Once again Luke presents to us a true church of Jesus Christ, from various backgrounds, that is united and victorious. In our last point we noticed that the way the church stays united and victorious is through regular exhortation from the Word of God. But, what we see here is an effect that is caused by the church being united and triumphant. We see that the church is abundant in love and sacrificial help to those who also bear the name of Christ. Even if we do not know them, even if we have never met them, those who bear the name of Christ have more in common with us than our own unbelieving family members. Those who have shared in the death and resurrection of Christ have become members of one body. That is something that family can never be. Although our family is DNA of our DNA they can never be one body with us. The unity and victory we share in the church produces a love for one another that exceeds all other loves possible from one human to another. Conclusion: So, what have we learned today CBC, and how then shall we live? Doctrinal Takeaway: [Slide 13] In the process of Paul closing out his third missionary journey Luke gives us a wonderful picture of the culmination of the work the Lord has done through Paul. Paul's legacy is the same as every other apostle and missionary of the early church. The Lord has produced through His abounding power and grace a church that is united and triumphant over the deception and darkness that permeated the Roman Empire. In less the 20 years after the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ, the church has been established and has permeated the Roman Empire leading various cities with long histories of pagan worship to be turned upside down with the gospel of Jesus Christ. But the nature of this status of the church and the effect of this status on the church is at the heart of these first six verses of Acts 20. The church is kept unified and victorious by continual exhortation from the Word of God. And one particular expression of church unity and victory is the unconditional and sacrificial love the church has for one another as the body of Christ. These two aspects come together to give us our application today. But let me get a little more concrete with these applications and explain how they might impact us on a daily basis. 1.) [Slide 14] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that the true church of Jesus is united and triumphant. a. Once again, every word in this application sentence is very important. If you remove one word here it could miscommunicate a few things. b. But if I had to draw your attention to the most important word in this application it would be the word “true”. c. I would love to use a word that is found in the ancient creeds. The word Catholic. However, today the word Catholic is only associated with the Roman Catholic Church. And it is probably so associated to it that to change it would be nigh unto impossible. Therefore, I use true here. d. By true church I mean the universal church. The invisible church. The church of people who are actually believers in Jesus Christ, the elect of God, called out from all the nations to be His people and do the works for which He has created them. e. The total of the true church of God is not found in one local assembly nor is each local assembly comprised solely of the true church. Every church is a mix of those who are actually believers and those who are not. f. Because of this, there are local assemblies that are not united and they are not triumphant. g. There are even entire regions where the visible church is not united or triumphant. h. So it is important for you to understand what I am saying here. i. We do not need to affirm that every single visible church is united and triumphant. Because that is, simply, not true. j. But we must affirm that the true church is united and triumphant. k. We are united and triumphant because we have been given true faith which unites us to Christ. Upon this true faith we receive the core essentials of the gospel of Jesus Christ which is found both in the early creeds and in the 5 Solas of the Reformation. l. In this the true church is united by doctrine and practice and we are triumphant because we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to do the work of God and be heralds of His Kingdom. m. The Scriptures tell us that we will not fail in this. If we are the true church, we will be united in what we believe and if we are the true church we will not fail. n. Therefore, we must affirm that the true church is united and triumphant. o. Unity is a much desired and often used buzz word in Churchianity today. Everyone wants unity. But we remain in disunity over how to be unified. p. And there is a reason for that… 2.) [Slide 15] Refutation: “What lies must we cast down” or “What do we naturally believe, or have been taught to believe, that this passage shows is false?” We must deny that in order for the church to be united we must compromise essential doctrine or practice. a. The call of many pastors, priests, bishops, reverends, apostles and whatever other titles there are out there in broad Christendom, is for us to be unified on what we agree on and discard the rest. b. The only problem is that this is NOT how we see the church unite in the scriptures. c. They do not unify over what they hold in common and then discard every thing else. d. Instead, they unify on all the essentials of the Christian faith and practice and show love in the areas that are not essential. e. There are some churches in broader Christendom that if we had to unify with them by discarding everything we don't hold in common, we would have to discard salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. f. There are some churches that we would have to discard the Deity of Jesus Christ. g. There are some churches that we would have to discard the inerrancy of the Scripture and its final authority over us for doctrine and practice. h. There are some churches that we would have to discard definitions of righteousness, holiness, and upright lifestyles, taking what the Scriptures call deeds of the flesh, and even celebrating them. i. You see the problem, I hope. j. If we would unify right now… today… every single church in broader Christendom with the one rule that anything we do not share a common belief on would be discarded… My friends there would be nothing left. k. The folks that are begging for unity pursue unity based on a cause. The cause is to come together to love and serve humanity. l. But the church is not supposed to be united in cause only… but also in identity. Indeed, our cause is only unified when our identity is unified. What happens when we unite over cause but sacrifice identity? m. We would lose unity because we would lose doctrinal clarity. In fact, we would be a unified group of nobodies who believe nothing and do nothing. n. We would lose victory because we would discard godly lifestyles in favor of a vague notion of loving people… which is only the second greatest command and not the first. o. These folks that want unity under these conditions have left their first love in order to pursue their second and in so doing have lost both. p. No, my friends, unity is only established when we demand that the essentials of our faith and practice are held in common… and if they are not – we do not discard the belief or the practice… we discard the church who does not conform. q. In the Athanasian creed it boldly declares that any who do not believe it cannot be not saved. r. Any church that does not hold to the creeds and salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone – also cannot be called the church in any sense of the word. s. There is no unity if we must compromise on doctrine or practice. t. But as the united and triumphant church… what must we do with this text today? 3.) [Slide 16] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” We must submit to regular exhortation from the Word of God. a. One motto that came from the reformation is Semper Reformanda. b. Always be reforming. c. This is essentially a recognition of what song writers have pointed out. We are individually and generationally prone to wander. d. We often go through spells of ups and downs and we as a race of man go through cycles of reformation and darkness. e. The church is called to continue to reform and purify itself. f. How do we do that? g. By submitting to regular exhortation from the Word of God. h. The Word of God is the foundation of all that we believe. It is the final authority for what we believe and how we live. And the Word of God never changes. i. It is not our only authority – but it is our final authority. j. We need constant reproof, rebuke, correction and instruction from its pages. k. It is only then that we will be complete and thoroughly equipped to do everything God has commanded us to do and be everything God has commanded us to be. l. Paul as he visited these churches… exhorted them. He may have eaten with them, fellowshipped with them, enjoyed the Lord's Supper with them, talked with them for all hours of the night… but the one thing Luke chose to record for us under inspiration of the Holy Spirit… is that Paul preached to them. m. If we are to stay united and triumphant, we need the constant reformation that only the Scripture can bring. 4.) [Slide 17] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” We must love the universal church unconditionally and sacrificially. a. This universal church is comprised of all those who are believing on Jesus Christ alone for salvation. b. We are called one body. c. Our friends and our families are close – but compared to any unbelieving family member, our brothers and sisters in Christ are much closer. They are united not by their own blood, but by the blood of Jesus Christ. d. Even our love toward our spouse is amplified because they are believers. e. And those who have spouses that are unbelievers understand the disconnect of that. They desire greatly for their spouses to know the Lord for they know that will truly bind them much closer together with their spouse. f. In our text we see members of churches from everywhere around the Aegean taking money to Jerusalem with Paul. What a glorious testimony to the love they shared with those whom they had probably never met. Those with whom they shared only their faith in Christ. g. We too must be unconditionally and sacrificially loving of the global body of Christ. h. We must weep with those who have been killed in Syria. We must mourn with those persecuted in India. We must help those impoverished in Africa. We must rejoice for those who come to Christ in Asia Pacific. These are our brothers and sisters. And one day we will be united with them in one body – a bride prepared for her groom. And we all will be with Him forever. i. Look around you and mark those whom you know to be a true believer. Now hear me… you will be living with these folks forever. We better start loving each other now. 5.) [Slide 18] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” God will not allow the true church of His dear Son to fail. a. God is doing a work through us. b. It doesn't depend on us… it depends on Him. And that is why it will not fail. c. He will uphold us and ensure that the work that He has commissioned for His church to accomplish, is accomplished. d. Knowing the end does not spoil our desire to work hard for His Kingdom. e. In fact, knowing the end means we have no fear of failure. f. We can press on and continue to share the gospel and disciple one another, preparing for that coming Kingdom – knowing that we won't fail. Christ will not lose even one that the Father has given Him. g. And all that the Father has given Him will hear His voice and follow. h. So let us take heart and set out to the work knowing that the Lord is faithful and will ensure that His church is united and triumphant to the very end. [Slide 19 (end)] Let me close with a prayer by the English Puritan Ezekiel Hopkins Lead us not into temptation, nor allow us to be assaulted and buffeted by the wicked one. Or if, in your all-wise counsel and purpose, you permit us to be tempted, yet deliver us from the evil to which we are tempted. Let us endure temptations as our affliction, but let us not say yes to them, nor make them our sins. Thy kingdom come, Lord! Raise, Lord; enlarge, Lord; establish your kingdom! For yours is the glory. And unless you want your glory confined only to heaven, or account the praises and eternal hallelujahs of saints and angels enough adoration for your great name, Lord, have regard to this your poor decaying kingdom. For only in it, and in heaven, is your glory celebrated. And if you leave this kingdom to be overrun by the agents and ministers of the devil, or if idolatry and the profane gain ground here so as to push you off the throne, would that not be giving your glory to another-which you have promised not to do? Lord, you are still the same God. Your essence is eternal. Your attributes will never change. Your power, wisdom, and mercy are the same as ever. So in your mercy, grant us the same favor. We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Benediction: May the Lord, Who longs to be gracious to you, Who waits on high to have compassion on you, Plant you firmly in the faith, established, steadfast and unmovable Through the hope of the Gospel, proclaimed to all the creation under heaven. Until we meet again, go in peace.

Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley discuss a core doctrine of the Christian faith; Christology.Questions Covered in This Episode:What is the common approach to Jesus in our cultural moment?Where should someone start if they want to dive deep into the question of who is Jesus?What about when Colossians 1 calls him the “firstborn?”What are the essentials of Christology?What are the implications of leaning into one of the natures of Jesus?In the creeds (Athanasian, Apostles, Nicene, Chalcedon) they focus on clarifying who, what, and how Christ is. Why this intense focus so early on?How does Christ perfectly fulfill the three offices of prophet, priest, and king?Helpful Definitions:Logos: The word.Σκηνόω: Skénoó: To dwell, to tabernacle, to pitch a tent.Arianism: The false view that Jesus, the Son of God, is the first created being. Πρωτότοκος: Prototokos: First-born, eldest.Communication of Attributes: We communicate from the two natures; the divine nature and the human nature to the one person Jesus Christ. Anything you can say about God you can say about Jesus, anything you can say about humanity, except sin, you can say about Jesus.Docetism: The false belief that Jesus's humanity was a figment or presentation, not a true human nature.Resources Mentioned in this Episode:John 1, Genesis 1, Hebrews 1, Colossians 1, Philippians 2Deep Discipleship“Mere Christianity” by C.S. LewisJoe Rogan Experience #2252 - Wesley Huff“Remaking the World” by Andrew WilsonCreeds:AthanasianApostlesNiceneChalcedon Follow Us:Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | WebsiteOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast | Tiny TheologiansSupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurchMidwestern Seminary is excited to announce FTC Talks, exclusive conversations with MBTS faculty about ministry related topics. Completely online and FREE, you can sign up for any and all FTC Talks today at mbts.edu/ftctalks to reserve your spot. Join us for talks about women's discipleship, God's heart for the nations, gospel-driven ministry, Spurgeon's pastoral ministry, and how every Christian is a counselor. We hope these conversations will spur you on in your service to the local church and help you connect with even more ministry leaders and friends across the country. Sign up today at mbts.edu/ftctalks.To learn more about our sponsors please visit our sponsor page. Editing and support by The Good Podcast Co.

Doctrine - The Three Early Creeds Apostles Nicene and AthanasianYour support sends the gospel to every corner of Australia through broadcast, online and print media: https://www.vision.org.au/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this amazing episode, we've got hosts Brandon and Lindsy hanging out with the one and only Doug Van Dorn. They're diving into Doug's super cool new podcast "Giant Steps" and his book "The Creeds". Get ready to explore the fascinating world of creeds in Christianity!These three amigos cover a bunch of interesting topics, like the historical roots of creeds and the different ways we can understand faith. Plus, they chat about how to hold onto strong beliefs while still being open-minded towards others. Doug expounds on his experiences in the Calvinist community. But wait, there's more! They wrap things up with a lively discussion on the importance of studying theology, the role of Christians in society, and the epic significance of the solas of the Reformation. It's a wild ride, my friends.So grab your headphones and get ready! Let's dive in!https://www.douglasvandorn.com/https://unrefinedpodcast.comTimestamps:The importance of creeds in Christianity (00:06:08) The history of the creeds (00:09:20) The origins and foundation of the creeds (00:09:20)The Importance of Creeds in Christianity (00:10:19The Apostles Creed and Heresies (00:11:19) The Dedicate and its Relationship to the Creed (00:13:22) The importance of acting out our faith (00:25:04) The challenge of behaving in a way that reflects our beliefs (00:27:06) Expanding the gospel beyond the core message (00:28:00) The importance of reading diverse theological works (00:30:00) The value of finding a church that aligns with your beliefs (00:32:12) Exploring the Q & Anon conspiracy theory (00:36:55) The importance of understanding devolution (00:40:01) The nature of fifth-generation warfare (00:41:01) The need for coherence in understanding truth (00:43:50) The importance of heart faith (00:50:06) The paradox of belief and unity (00:53:00) The significance of the five solas of the Reformation (00:58:34) The importance of creeds (00:59:28) The devotional aspect of "The Creeds" (01:00:33) The theological and warmhearted side of Doug (01:01:24)

If you ask a muslim, “Who is Jesus?” he will say, “Jesus, peace be upon him, is a prophet of Allah.” And while Christians will agree, He is a prophet of God, He is not merely a prophet of God. And of course when they use the term Allah (God) they mean a very different thing than we do. If you ask a Latter-Day Saint, “Who is Jesus?” they will say, “He is God the Father's firstborn spirit-child in heaven and the spirit brother of lucifer. He was begotten on earth by God the Father by natural means, not by the Holy Ghost and is now one amongst many millions of other gods.” If you ask a Jehovah's witness, they will say, “Jesus is not God almighty, he is God's son. Jesus is God's first creation, inferior to God the Father. And Jesus is actually Michael the archangel.” Like any lie, satan prefers to sprinkle truth in amongst falsehood so as to feign authenticity. Jesus is the son of God. Jesus is a prophet of God, but He is not created. His origin is one of eternity, begotten of the Father. He is the firstborn of all creation, but this is a title of preeminence, not descriptive of a point of time where he came into being. Like the person of the Father, the son has eternally existed. And so when Christians are asked who is Jesus, we recite the Athanasian creed.

Disagree, agree, or have a question: Contact us through the contact page on our website; http://www.biblebulldog.com The Three Forms of Unity. The Three Forms of Unity is a collective name for the 'Belgic' Confession of Faith, the Canons of Dort, and the Heidelberg Catechism, which are accepted as official statements of doctrine by many of the Reformed churches, including the URCNA. What are The Three Forms of Unity, and why were they written?   “Part of the reformation that looks to the continental Reformation (as opposed to the Anglo-Scottish Reformation).” Modern day Belgium and the Netherlands (Dutch).   How do The Three Forms of Unity reflect the theological beliefs of the Protestant Reformation, particularly those of the Reformed tradition?   In what ways do The Three Forms of Unity demonstrate the importance of theological precision and the use of creeds in the modern church?   What is the structure of The Three Forms of Unity, and how does this structure contribute to its usefulness as a confessional document?   How does The Three Forms of Unity differ from other Protestant confessions, such as the Westminster Confession or The Book of Concord, in terms of its theological emphases and historical context?   The Belgic Confession: (1561) What is the Belgic Confession, and why was it included in The Three Forms of Unity?   “In Article 9 it accepts the teaching of the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian creeds.” Why is this important?   “Holding fast to sound words.”   How does the Belgic Confession reflect the theological beliefs of the Reformed tradition, particularly with regard to the doctrine of God and the nature of salvation?   “And this holy church is preserved by God against the rage of the whole world, even though for a time it may appear very small in the eyes of men-as though it were completely extinguished.” A great encouragement. What was the historical context in which the Belgic Confession was written, and how did this context shape its contents?   What is the significance of the Belgic Confession for modern Reformed theology, and how does it continue to shape Reformed understanding of God and salvation?   The Heidelberg Catechism (1563)   “omits any direct teaching on predestination.” “According to the introduction, the Heidelberg Catechism was to provided a basis for confessional unity, a model for training youth, and a guide to teachers and pastors to prevent them from adopting doctrinal changes at will.”  Why is this important?   52 sections.   “The tone and phrasing of the first and last questions: 1. What is thy only comfort in life and death? That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ; who, with His precious blood, hath fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by His Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto Him. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/biblebulldog/message

Discipleship In The Home was born in Dr. Friedeman's own home, as the father of six, and in the classroom, as professor of Christian Education at Wesley Biblical Seminary. It is a wonderful blend of practical wisdom built on a firm Biblical foundation. It teaches:How to create a family discipleship routine using a powerful family catechism for the dining room tableExactly what simple steps you need to take in order to begin teaching your children (or grandchildren!) to love Jesus more.How to help your children to memorize ScriptureHow to get and maintain laser-focus on the most important things for your familyHow to plan a meaningful father/son or mother/daughter retreat and rites of passage celebrations.Darrell Stetler II (a small church pastor and dad of 7) and NewStart Discipleship added to the book a Resource Notebook that allows you to create a discipleship plan for children that you could start by tonight.The Discipleship In the Home Resource Notebook will help you implement a family discipleship time, in the evening or at your dinner table, and create valuable moments where your children learn:* Great hymns of the church* Great prayers & quotes from Christian history* The 3 great Creeds of Christian history: Apostles, Nicene, Athanasian* 18 Key Bible passages to memorize first (153 verses)* Catechism questions that will teach them core theology* Available in KJV, ESV, and NIV - your choiceShow Notes: https://www.95network.org/discipleship-in-the-home-w-matt-friedeman-darrell-stetler-episode-192/ Support the show

A @Christadelphians Video: Description: The Biblical Antichrist reveals those who attempted to corrupt the early Christian ecclesias by their false teaching. This teaching developed into the doctrine of the Trinity which continues to deceive the apostate churches. The speaker shows how Emperor Constantine's [AD312] personal ambitions merged Rome's doctrines with pagan beliefs resulting in a corrupted church and the formation of the false Nicean and Athanasian creeds. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/christadelphians-talk/message

Episode Notes We are most vulnerable to drifting from the core teachings of the Christian faith when we find them boring, irrelevant, or embarrassing. Dr. Trevin Wax wrote his book The Thrill of Orthodoxy: Rediscovering the Adventure of Christian Faith to counteract the familiarity with Christian teaching that he says is the enemy of wonder. He joins Dr. Keith Plummer to discuss a wide array of topics including the subtle yet often imperceptible ways that we drift from the gospel, how ancient summaries of Scriptural teaching like the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian creeds serve as valuable maps and grammars, why doctrinal details matter, and how Christian orthodoxy, contrary to its detractors, is actually broader, richer, and more satisfying than its heretical contenders.

We are most vulnerable to drifting from the core teachings of the Christian faith when we find them boring, irrelevant, or embarrassing. Dr. Trevin Wax wrote his book The Thrill of Orthodoxy: Rediscovering the Adventure of Christian Faith to counteract the familiarity with Christian teaching that he says is “the enemy of wonder.” He joins Dr. Keith Plummer to discuss a wide array of topics including the subtle yet often imperceptible ways that we drift from the gospel; how ancient summaries of scriptural teaching like the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian creeds serve as valuable maps and grammars; why doctrinal details matter; and how Christian orthodoxy, contrary to its detractors, is actually broader, richer, and more satisfying than its heretical contenders.

Title: Why All Man? Text: Hebrews 2:5-18 FCF: We often struggle with Christ's humanity. Prop: Christ must be human to save us, so we must celebrate the Lord's supper knowing this about the Lord. Scripture Intro: Turn in your bible to Hebrews chapter 2. One of these days I will get to preaching through the book of Hebrews. It is an amazing book and I keep coming back to it over and over again. But we must remain laser focused today. The scope of today's sermon is not to provide the same depth and dissection we would normally in a sermon. Instead, we will cover these 14 verses from a very high level as we attempt to answer the question that may plague some during this time of year. Why did Jesus have to be truly human? We hear the expression that Jesus was the God-Man or all God and all man… but why all man? Have you ever stopped to consider that? Why did Jesus need to be truly human? Some might answer that question quickly – “well to understand our situation he had to be man?” To some degree this is true. Christ, in his human nature, grew in wisdom and understanding. But to attempt to apply this to His deity is actually an affront on the omniscience of God. Did He truly have to experience humanity to understand it? I think not. Others may say he experienced humanity in order to give us an example to follow. I do not deny that Christ came to set an example, it is certainly true. But that cannot be the whole of it. And did Jesus really need to be human to do that? Could He not have simply appeared to be a man to guide us into a morally upright life? Indeed, some early church heresies like Docetism (doe- seat- ism) and Marcionism (Mar- see- on- ism) believed exactly this. He was fully God but only appeared to be like a man. The writer of Hebrews will help us to see at least some of the reason that Christ had to be all man if He were to accomplish the mission that the Father gave to Him from before the foundation of the world. I am in Hebrews 2 and I'll start reading in verse 5. I am reading from the NET which you can follow in the pew bible starting on page 1348 or in whatever version you prefer. Transition: Alright so let's dive in very briefly into the text, and see why Christ had to be human. I.) Point 1 (5-8a) a. 5 – For He did not put the world to come, about which we are speaking, under the control of angels. i. In chapter 1, the writer compares Christ to angels. ii. The writer of Hebrews is writing to a Jewish Christian audience who were tempted to abandon their belief in Christ to escape persecution. iii. In Jewish theology, angels were revered. In some communities the arch angel Michael is actually elevated to be superior to the still coming Messiah. iv. The writer of Hebrews addresses this head on by emphasizing that Jesus is the same as God the Father. He does so by quoting Old Testament scriptures which used the covenant name of God “Yahweh” as he is speaking of Jesus. v. He begins chapter 2 by expressing the danger of neglecting such a Christ, since He has provided such a great salvation. vi. So we begin in verse 5 with a further point showing Christ as superior to angels because God did not promise that the future Kingdom would be given to angels to rule. b. 6-8a – instead someone testified somewhere : “What is man that you think of him or the son of man that you care for him? You made him lower than the angels for a little while. You crowned him with glory and honor. You put all things under his control.” For when he put all things under his control, he left nothing outside of his control. i. Here the writer of Hebrews, rather than focusing on David's writing in Psalm 8, he focuses on the content written by the Spirit of God – where the Lord gave us a peek into his creative order. ii. Mankind for a time was made lower than the angels. iii. Yet, God crowned man with honor and glory making Him in God's image. God did not create angels in His image. He created man in His image. iv. And also notice the phrase “the son of man” v. What should we say about such a phrase? It is the title that Jesus most preferred to call himself. vi. This phrase is both a description and a title. vii. The description simply applies the attributes of a man onto the object (the son). To call someone a son of man is to call someone man-like. To call someone a son of thunder is to call someone thunder-like. viii. But the title goes far beyond the description. No doubt when Jesus called himself “The Son of Man” many chose or assumed only the description. But the title has roots in the Old Testament as God hints at a new representative of mankind that will be acceptable to God to the extent that God will share His throne with Him. This is spoken of primarily in the prophesies of Daniel. ix. Reading the New Testament we find the connection readily made by Paul and other apostles, in that Christ was the second Adam. He was our second representative. One that will kneel before the Father having completed the task given to Him by the Ancient of Days and in so doing, He will be accepted and given all authority over all creation. x. This is the title “The Son of Man” to which Jesus referred to Himself, to which David wrote about, and to which the writer of Hebrews is now referring. xi. Though Jesus, as the second representative for mankind – as the last representative for mankind – though He for a time was made lower than the angels – He too was crowned with glory and honor and given all authority. Transition: But it doesn't seem like that is true. Jesus said that His Kingdom is coming and in fact that it is here. And yet – it doesn't seem very “Kingdom of God and His Christ” out there does it? II.) Point 2 (8b-15) a. 8b – At present we do not yet see all things under his control i. The writer of Hebrews concedes our point. ii. But… b. 9-13 – But we see Jesus who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by God's grace he would experience death on behalf of everyone. For it was fitting for him, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For indeed he who makes holy and those being made holy all have the same origin, and so he is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers; in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.” Again he says, “I will be confident in him” and again “Here am I, with the children God has given me. i. Why is it that we say that death is the door to life for those who are depending on Christ alone? ii. It is because Christ has already suffered our death of punishment. Sure, we may suffer physical death – but a physical death that leads to eternal death has already been paid by Him, for us. iii. Indeed, because His death was commanded by God – by obeying He was given glory and honor because of His sacrificial death. His death was the door to His glory. So now we who are united to Christ are now crowned also with glory and honor after death. iv. This is why to die is gain. v. For Christ – to die was gain. So for us also – to die is gain. vi. And so he is the pioneer. He is the forerunner. What He has done, we who are united to Him, will also do. That, my friends, is a great definition of a representative. vii. Just as in Adam we all inherited a sin nature that doesn't seek God though we did nothing to earn such a dubious characteristic… through Christ we inherit glory and honor through all HE has done and nothing we have done. viii. And this brings us to the reason behind Jesus being human. It isn't just an example. It isn't just to understand us. It is more than that. c. 14-15 - Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death, that is the devil and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death. i. The power of death is held by the devil because he successfully caused the first representative to fall. He became then the father of all and secured death as the way to keep his children enslaved. ii. God inverts all of this on its head. He sends His son as a second representative sharing all their humanity. He endures the Devil's temptations remains the son of God and the Son of Man, dies the death of His people and secures their adoption and redemption to be children of God through Christ rather than children of Satan through Adam. iii. Now death is not a door to more death and eternal slavery to the devil's fate but rather a door to life and eternal freedom to Christ's fate in glory. d. 16-18 – For surely his concern is not for angels but he is concerned for Abraham's descendants. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. For since He Himself suffered when he was tempted, He is able to help those who are tempted. i. God's concern is not for those who are not being represented by Christ but for those whom Christ was sent to represent. Those of the promise. Those of the covenant. Those of His choosing. Not the angels. But the descendants of Abraham. ii. So he had to be made exactly like them. Not just all human – but A Jew. Of Judah. Of Abraham. iii. Being what He was he is now able to be merciful and faithful a high priest both offering atonement and also teaching all things related to God. Guiding in the worship of God. iv. And helping all His people to endure temptation! Conclusion: And so we have the answer to the question “what is the reason that Christ had to be 100% man?”! In order to be our second representative – our last representative – he had to be like us in every way – yet without sin. He had to die in our place. He had to obey in our place. In doing this – as a pioneer he could carve a path for us to God where no path existed before. And such a path was secured by His death! The path to sharing in His sufferings, His sinlessness, and His future glory is through His death and resurrection of His physical, human, body. But has the church always recognized this? Has the church always seen Christ's humanity as a necessary component of salvation? This is an excerpt from the Athanasian creed, written in the late 200s AD. There are creeds older, but the exact nature of Christ's humanity was not as defined as this one though they certainly believed what is written here. “Now this is the true faith: That we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son, is both God and human, equally. He is God from the essence of the Father, begotten before time; and he is human from the essence of his mother, born in time; completely God, completely human, with a rational soul and human flesh; equal to the Father as regards divinity, less than the Father as regards humanity. Although he is God and human, yet Christ is not two, but one. He is one, however, not by his divinity being turned into flesh, but by God's taking humanity to himself. He is one, certainly not by the blending of his essence, but by the unity of his person. For just as one human is both rational soul and flesh, so too the one Christ is both God and human. He suffered for our salvation; he descended to hell; he arose from the dead; he ascended to heaven; he is seated at the Father's right hand; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. At his coming all people will arise bodily and give an accounting of their own deeds. Those who have done good will enter eternal life, and those who have done evil will enter eternal fire. This is the catholic faith: one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and faithfully.” Notice what is said at the very end. This is the universal church's faith. And if you do not believe it firmly and faithfully you cannot be saved. Christ being All God AND All human was so important they were willing to declare that you could not possibly be united to Christ unless you believed it firmly and faithfully. Later, at the Council of Chalcedon it became necessary to educate biblical teachers on the precise union of the two natures of Christ. Both His deity and His humanity. So, they wrote, not a creed, but a teaching guide for the topic. The following then, is the Chalcedon Definition. “Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all unite in teaching that we should confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. This same one is perfect in deity, and the same one is perfect in humanity; the same one is true God and true man, comprising a rational soul and a body. He is of the same essence (homousios) as the Father according to his deity, and the same one is of the same essence (homousios) with us according to his humanity, like us in all things except sin. He was begotten before the ages from the Father according to his deity, but in the last days for us and our salvation, the same one was born of the Virgin Mary, the bearer of God (Theotokos), according to his humanity. He is one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, and Only Begotten, who is made known in two natures (physeis) united unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably. The distinction between the natures (physeis) is not at all destroyed because of the union, but rather the property of each nature (physis) is preserved and concurs together into one person (prosopon) and subsistence (hypostasis). He is not separated or divided into two persons (prosopa), but he is one and the same Son, the Only Begotten, God the Logos, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the way the prophets spoke of him from the beginning, and Jesus Christ himself instructed us, and the Council of the fathers has handed the faith down to us.” Again, the definition concludes that this is the faith that was handed to them from the fathers. The apostles. And from Christ directly. To believe anything else is to be without hope. And even to modern day we can see this teaching emerge, even in our New City Catechism. Question #22 Why must the Redeemer be truly human? That in human nature he might on our behalf perfectly obey the whole law and suffer the punishment for human sin; and also that he might sympathize with our weaknesses. Christ must be all God AND ALL MAN – or we cannot be saved. At this time I'd like to ask the Elders to come and distribute the bread and the cup to each who are here. For we have a correlation to make between this teaching that Christ came and was incarnated as a man. This thing we celebrate at Christmas time – the humiliation of Christ – His taking on human nature – it is far more significant than God giving us a gift. Oh, my friends – it is everything. Let me pray before we make these connections. Knowing then, that Christ being 100% human was absolutely necessary to our salvation, and approaching the table today to commune with Him – to be united with Him all the more – to grow in our faith and dependance on Him… Of what significance is it that Christ said of the bread – “This is my body”? If His death took our death – if His glory is our glory – If He is the pioneer of our faith, carving the path we walk behind Him by faith – what significance is it that He says “This is my body”? The writer of Hebrews later says that it was His body, which the veil to the holy of holies merely represented, was torn in two so that we might enter into the holy presence of God. Again, I ask you what significance is it that He says “This is my body”? It is of eternal significance. As we chew, break, crush, and consume this bread – as our body takes it in and converts it to energy – so also we are energized and enlivened by God the life-giver. We approach Him now, not as guilty sinners – not as wretches – but as sons and daughters. We walk between the broken body of Christ, we walk through the pierced side and enter as covenant partakers. We are His children. We are in Christ. My friends – the body of Christ – being Human like us and having said body – He has made a way for us to follow Him right into the holy presence of God, from which we can receive mercy and find grace for help in a time of need. Eat and remember! Eat and grow in your faith! Eat and be united to Christ and follow Him there to the presence of God. And knowing the reason that Christ must be truly human, what is the significance of his statement when he says that this cup is the cup of the new covenant in His blood? What does the bible say about blood? Blood is where the life is – which is why the Israelites were not allowed to drink it. Blood is the object of repayment and guilt for taking life. Indeed, death can only be undone by blood – for without the shedding of blood, no one can be forgiven. Strictly speaking then – no one is truly forgiven of their sin. Not unless they die. But as was demonstrated imperfectly, as a sign to those who performed sacrifices, and fulfilled now in Christ – a substitute can be acquired to be pardoned. Someone can take our place. And in the book of Hebrews the writer tells us that Christ's blood sprinkles us clean. He tells us that His blood is the signature on a will enacted after the death of the person who signed. A will that installed the new covenant whereby God puts his law in the hearts of His people and changes their hearts. He makes them new and gifts them His Spirit to work out His commands and press them into His mold and follow His Messiah. So when we take the cup and we know that this cup is the new covenant in His blood and that it took the actual shedding of the God-Man's blood to secure not just our forgiveness but our entrance into glory – we partake in communion with His sufferings and His exaltation knowing that one day we will eat this meal again but WITH HIM. So drink and remember! Drink and grow in your faith. Drink and be united to Christ and follow Him sprinkled clean of your sin and washed in His blood. Having supped with Christ in the power of His atonement in which His Humanity and Divinity made a way for us to be free unto Him – and in knowing the eternal significance of Him being truly Human- I can, with more meaning than perhaps I ever have – wish you and all God's true children – A very… Merry… Christmas! Let us pray.

As late, I have been studying the four most well-known and broadly affirmed creeds from Church History - the Apostles' Creed (abt. 180AD), the Nicene Creed (325-381AD), the Chalcedonian Creed (451AD), and the Athanasian Creed (abt. 500AD). What do they explicitly say? And how or why do they differ from one another? Why were they written and then handed down? And can we learn from them, through compare and contrast, important truths about the expression of Christian life and thought in our time and place? At between 1500 and 1800 years old, their ancientness can be mind-boggling for many moderns - only all the more with each passing year and decade. For that matter, the repetitiveness of the creeds can seem redundant to a cursory glance and casual observer. Especially when you come to the creed commonly called Athanasian from a millennium-and-a-half ago, there seems to be a kind of pedantry and almost irritation hinted at in how explicit and emphatic the repetition of details becomes. Yet delving even just a little into the history of why these creeds were written down in the first place reveals interesting and important insights into what has traditionally been the responsibility of the Church, particularly her shepherds, since the outset. That is, these creeds serve not only to unite all true Christians on what constitutes sound doctrine, as well as serving as the basis for that sense of purpose and belonging to be found by God's design in the Church. They also serve as refutations and rejections of unsound doctrine. Such comes up frequently as well in studying the creeds, which since the beginning has proven by its recurring challenges to the Church the veracity of the warnings Christ and his apostles gave us: "Beware of false teachers." And why ought we to beware of false teachers? Because they bring false teaching. But why ought we to guard ourselves against false teaching? Because it at a minimum impedes our fruitfulness and joy, and at worst gives us a false assurance of salvation which we do not and will not enjoy. That is to say, our ancient forebearers in the faith formulated these creeds, and held to them, from the conviction that such were really a matter of spiritual life or death for the Church. As such, I have been thinking quite a lot lately about whether I am, and we are, as serious also about the importance of each word and phrase handed down in these creeds. If I am, and if we are, then what are the implications for what is understood to be a truly Christian manner of both relating and relaying? There is much to consider on this point. But first things first, I set myself to studying the creeds themselves and trying to apprehend them. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/garrett-ashley-mullet/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/garrett-ashley-mullet/support

In this episode, Trinity Associate Professor of Historical Theology The Rev. Dr. Joel Scandrett, demystifies the doctrinal foundations of Anglican theology by relating the meaning and uses of the three traditional creeds (the Apostle's creed, the Nicene creed, and the Athanasian creed) and the thirty nine articles. He goes into sufficient detail about how these creeds came to be, and why they should matter to believers today.For those who might be unfamiliar with the Three Creeds, we recorded them being read in their entirety by The Ven. Rev. Dr. Mark Stevenson (Parish Deacon at the Church of the Ascension and Former Academic Dean of Trinity School for Ministry) as a bonus episode for the season.  Give it a listen before or after this episode if you're unfamiliar with one or more of the creeds, or you just want to listen to one of the best voices in the business. 

In this homily, I talk about the Trinity and attempting to understand the mystery. The best description of it is perhaps the Athanasian creed. Listen to my homily to learn more!

In this episode, Sean and I finish out An Orthodox Catechism by Hercules Collins.

In this episode, Sean and I finish out An Orthodox Catechism by Hercules Collins. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-particular-baptist/support

On this week's episode of Red Pill Revolution, we take you on a complete deep dive into Hunter Bidens Laptop including "alleged" cocaine-fueled sexual relations with Barack Obamas Daughter, his inappropriate relationship with his 14-year-old niece, the incestuous relationship with her mother (Beaus Wife), and all the shady business deals in between; as the main stream media has finally acknowledged its legitimacy. We also discuss Madison Cawthorn's recent comments surrounding being invited to an orgy by 70-year-old Washington politicians, Elon Musk exploring the option of starting his own social media company, Will Smith pulling out of the Oscar Academy, Psaski leaving the White House & more! ----more---- On this week's Patreon-only bonus content, we discuss the contents of Ashley Bidens Diary which includes comments about alleged inappropriate showers with her father and the difficult life of addiction she has led since. Click the link below to subscribe! Please support the show by going to https://Patreon.com/redpillrevolt----more---- For all the articles, videos, and documents discussed on this week's podcast join our substack!  Podcast Companion Substack: https://redpillrevolution.substack.com ----more---- Please consider leaving a donation for all of the hard work that goes into this ad-free podcast. I love doing what I do and can only continue through your generosity and support!  Donate https://givesendgo.com/redpillrevolution   Full Transcription: Welcome to red Hill revolution my name is Austin Adams Red Hill revolution started out with me realizing every thing that I knew everything that I believe everything I interpret about my life is through the lens of the information I was spoonfed as a child religion politics history conspiracy Hollywood medicine money food all of everything we know was tactfully written to influence your decisions and your view on reality by those in power now I'm on a mission a mission to retrain and reeducate myself to find the true reality of what is behind that number and I'm taken duress welcome to the revolution hello and welcome to red Hill revolution my name is Austin Adams and thank you so much for listening this is episode number 23 of the red pill revolution podcast again can't you so much we have had a crazy week to say the least and the really looking forward to this conversation around it to some of the topics that were the talk about I will highlight briefly so you know what you're getting yourself into because if you're not in the car you gotta find some way to buckle up because this week was crazy really looking forward there so just highlight high level of organ to talk about today John Zach Psaki some you may find me in the in the simple reviews for not saying her name right so the PSakae PSasaki at the government calling her process is asking him however you say her stupid name she is going to leave the White House for low and behold a position with an MSNBC who would've thought that there was somehow collusion between corporate news companies and you know politics rushing to touch him briefly some pop culture again briefly to his Will Smith resigning from the film Academy as a result of his lap controversy which there is an interesting conspiracy around having to do with a company called Pfizer and their new alopecia medication which was actually one of the sponsors of the Oscars he didn't see that Pfizer was actually a sponsor of the Oscar show they put it right up there beautifully on the board during their broadcast of this that they were sponsors of the Oscars and they just so happen to be coming out with an LP should medication whom interesting next thing to discuss is going to be found she himself having a video resurface of him basically explaining that you shouldn't got vaccinated next they were to touch on is Elon musk potentially coming out with his own social media platform were also go into detail some of the discussions on recently Madison Cawthorn came out during a podcast and you been listening to show you know medicine Cawthorn is the man has had several conversations with him myself is a great guy and has brought some really interesting topics up to the modern political arena so he basically said something about somebody offering him to become a part of their political teams orgy for theft in the also seeing somebody basically doing cocaine in front of him that was part of the GOP annexing ring to discuss is going to be a deep deep dive into Hunter Biden's laptop which is resurfaced recently with believers the New York Times and a few other media entities which came out and finally you know maybe a year into the presidency interesting how they waited that long to basically say yeah I guess this is true you know after social media band you if you said anything about the laptop for how long nobody's discussing that you were going to dive completely into that laptop what was in that if you don't recall these things will retouch on them if you never heard about what was in this laptop you know some crazy crazy things crazy things including him him basically sleeping it were doing an appropriate social things this 14-year-old niece you know the daughter of the late Bo Biden some of the other things are including him potentially having sex with Malia Obama that the child of Barack Obama and doing cocaine be as shown by her credit card wild wild stuff and then the White House coming out and saying that they will not rule out Biden pardoning Hunter for these actions which seems completely on the wrong soap anyways that was a foreman and introduction on all the crazy shirt that were to talk about today I hope you're on board because can be an awesome conversation now if you hear this next noise that is because this can be such a great show you will hear me opening up a beautiful fear to go through this conversation with you ready if you got one the time it together right next year grab it and there we go all right looking for this conversation and we are going to start off right here with Jen for the sake biggest the sake basically leaving her job and I see this is gonna have to do with radix right is all do with numbers and they know that she is been a horrible in a horrible face for Biden nobody believes her ship any more than they believe his ship and so they basically decided to get rid of her and she somehow landed a job at MSNBC so let's go ahead and watch this clip which is from the help are sorry for the terrible 70s porn music but go ahead and see if we can find the actual clip because that was the hill doing some overlays and typing stuff instead of you know making an actual video about it so let's find the very first video that comes up for her leaving the White House which we will watch right here all right here we go this is by ABC seven let's watch this video and see if they actually tell us what's going on conference at Sec. 10 sake appears to be on the verge of a big career move the 43-year-old will initially said she would stay in a position for a year is reportedly in advance contract talks to join MSNBC access first broke the news onetime political commentator will serve as a host and an honor expert with the move expected to come next month sake will join a cable news landscape that is clad with alumni of high-level Washington politics that's the coach for 30 seconds of them telling you exactly what I told you which of the fact that she's leaving the White House after one year of lying to the American people and to be replaced by some of the outs and she's going to lie to us more only under the guise of people who we know are liars which is in the mainstream media so I don't know whether to feel good or bad about this we'll see I saw some the else some woman that stepped into her position answering questions recently and didn't seem any more reliable than she was and but it's been a fun year clown show of watching this female Pinocchio tell lies to us over and over and over again is almost insulting at this point to see that with the way that they rub it in your face because how many times that you know how many times she been asked a question as she other dances around it is completely lysed completely lies right to your face about it you know it's it to me it's telling of were white houses right now right it you know if if they can even tell that you should at least be able to find a way to tell me something that doesn't make you look like a 100% liar the second you may be able to pull up any of the facts around the situation so just always mention that finally you know the witch is dead Zaki is leaving the White House and going on to continue her lying career with MSNBC now annexing to touch on briefly is what I talked about earlier which is will Smith resigning from the film Academy over the Oscars slap controversy which we have a video here for you a week and what a week it has been sent to Wilson a slapped comedian Chris rock on my TV at the Oscars that aftershocks of that movement continues to reverberate around the world snap snap comedian over a calculated that's next wife Jadda Pinkett Smith now the actor has announced he's resigning from his membership and be a timely statement to the actor says he will fully accept any and all consequences for his conduct calling his actions shocking painful and inexcusable and that is where we begin this edition how we can have you joining us to discuss on your hammy house displacement content so will leave it there would only listen like I could you can listen to me so Will Smith decided he was no longer going to be part of the Academy know if you're familiar with that little conspiracy that I told you about earlier the conspiracy is that Pfizer basically funded the Oscars which if we have been paying attention all of the last two years you've seen celebrities everywhere basically be pro Pfizer in every single potential way you could possibly imagine looking at every turn for pushing the American people along with the agenda of Pfizer to get vaccinated right that your kids accident to get your pregnant mom vaccinated get your wife actually to get your dog vaccinated all coming from celebrities which have no fundamental reason to be talking about science now we come to see why they were doing that right of course if the Oscars is funded by Pfizer the Oscars is the you know Pfizer is now going to have as much political push and play because otherwise why would they buy would they fund the Oscars why would they push money towards celebrity academies because they know that the academies control the individuals you have to be a part of the Academy so if you're part of the Oscars you know the Academy at the Oscars Academy when you're going to push the fundamentally systems and in in the things that you're told to push by the biggest single sponsor of an organization which in this case happen to be Pfizer right so interesting enough there's been full blowing articles around the inter-web of the world wide web I may say the basically that Pfizer was coming out with a brand-new elocution medication and that the potential for this controversy happening at the very same time after coming out of this alopecia medic of medicine is quite low right why was a hell how weird if you know how many times he heard the word alopecia in the last item a decade let's talk about that was less time heard alopecia well you heard it the second that will Smith smacked the ship out of Chris rock for saying anything about his wife in the what a lot of people believe was fake interesting now that's the case right it just so happens that the guy who went up there and slapped the ship out of Chris rock for saying something about his wife who had alopecia then one the single highest honor at the Oscars of the best after and then now he says his goodbye piece from leaving now that I've got best actor and probably made tens of millions of dollars from Pfizer if not more for smacking somebody on stage so if you're in that conspiracy world that is an interesting thought right did he go up there and did this event happen this acting event happened to raise awareness about this I do know autoimmune disorder which Pfizer then just so happens to sponsor the authors for which then just so happens to be the biggest talk of the night for the Oscars last 10 years and just so happens to be run the same time that the releasing and outpatient medication in an efficient southland whoever's doing this is obviously quite good at it whoever is on their Pfizer marketing team that that should should be the one winning actor of the year because all all of the things that they've done over the last couple years to make these things happen is from an outside perspective beside looking at it for the negative terrible things that they've done and all the people that they killed is quite the feat to get to know whatever percentage of the American public vaccinated with something for no specific reason at all and then to go on and sway the Oscars to get Will Smith to go smack the ship out of Chris Russia for an alopecia medic's medicine if this is all true it's almost impressive and obviously in the worst way right you know the things that Hitler did were impressive in a terrible horrible unbelievable way were how the hell did you get that many people to go along with your ship in this case same thing what in the world who is running the show it it because I receive the things that they're doing it is impressive in the worst way if the all of these things are true now I don't know not saying that it was but it seems pretty where that is alopecia medicines coming out right along the same time as will Smith smacking Chris rock over this alopecia joke the biggest platform ever right so now speaking of Pfizer and speaking of vaccinations let's go ahead and listen to Dr. Fauci who had a clip resurface recently of him basically saying there is absolutely no reason that anybody who has had the flu should get a flu vaccination because that's the best thing you could ever have is the flu the best vaccine he says you could have is actually getting the virus so let's go ahead and listen to his own words here generally that appears to be the case with you of the cheese of the flu for 14 days should she get a flu shut will know if she got the flu for 14 days Jesus protected his anybody can because the best vaccination is the get infected yourself and so should not get it if she really has the flu if she really has the flu she definitely doesn't need a flu vaccine yes she really has the flu she should not get it again that she doesn't need it because there it's the best is the most potent vaccination is getting infected yourself Henderson North Carolina okay now could you imagine if somebody said that on national television about Kovic you if you got COBIT have absolutely no reason at all vaccinated flagged misinformation hate speech racism sexism misogynistic trans phobia which put his will have to be careful in effect for a book on social media if you said that ship right now or two days ago or two years ago when this coven 19 thing came out if you said that you have no reason to get it at all if you said Word for Word what he just said on national television about coven you would literally have been removed reamed out now don't mistake it this same principle exactly translates in science has not changed guys no matter how much gas lighting the American political system tries to push in your face with or their corporations or the Hollywood Oscars science is not changed Yankovic is no reason you should be vaccinated because the most powerful vaccination according to Dr. Anthony Fauci is to have gotten the flu if you got the flu and you know you got the flu there's no reason to get the flu shot Dr. Anthony Fauci now replace the word fluke for culvert and we know how much of a flocking hypocrite that this man is just pushing the narrative of the companies that fund him like he has done for a very very very long time all the way back to the AIDS epidemic and what was the medication and ZT I am pretty sure it sends easy now that could either be the limitless drug from opposite Bradley Cooper cookbook for half her is either AZT or NZD am pretty sure the the fifth pretty sure it's AZT yeah NDT was the one from limitless alleyways agency was a drug if you know that was a cancer drug that was repurposed for the AIDS epidemic by fudging himself and end up killing tons and tons and tons of people that was completely ineffective and did nothing but they were basically repurposed it because they had no reason to be able to use it for cancer treatments and they made so much money off of repurchasing it for the AIDS epidemic which some people don't even think was real interesting so from the words of Dr. Anthony Fauci if you get the flu Nova Scotia a covert don't the Cova Chuck over the vaccine is your have the most powerful vaccine that you could ever get according to Dr. Fauci do that information which please know I don't know if anybody still getting vaccinated at this point like if you'd be if you gone this long without getting vaccinated this probably very few people were going to the local CVS or McDonald's drive through like that you were doing for a while is a crazy lie, it's quite only crazy things that happened over the last couple years were those like you know from from the guy that was eating you know it was like the New Jersey congressmen are governor who is eating a cheeseburger like sloppily wholesome mom now love this love this burger and his French fries know you can only get a free one Nephi a bold bit of vaccine in all you flat people out there that want a burger on the go get your vaccinations out to cadets was gonna make you healthy maybe just skip the burger lose the weight and you'll probably live longer Ellen probably don't get vaccinated either because now we know if he does get COBIT yet the basically the flu and for some people even less than what the flu was you have the strongest vaccination possible quote unquote Dr. Anthony Felty not my rent on codes over not wearing a look at a quick video about Elon musk teasing the idea that he may put out a new social media platform nose on the back of true social right now if you don't know my Instagram has been shadow band I only when they got talked about this yes my Instagram is been shadow band of beyond oblivion you cannot even look my name up in the search bar right now and find rental revolt if you look for my name and you'll follow me he did for type in the name exactly red Hill revolt you will not see it in the search bar you will see my backup count account with 400 people who follow it if you fall back up to follow it reparable to but look up her adorable and Instagram and you will no longer find their account we have been shut up and be on oblivion for reposting that Senate hearing about the bio weapons labs that's it that was what it was and now I lost basically my entire platform and I've built with hundreds and hundreds of hours of work over the last several several months and and having to find new channels to market this podcast and builder audience so if you know any ways around that complete Alabama let a brother know because my videos dropped in my story Japanese to get lean on for 5000 people watch my story at drop down like 300 or 200 and used to get you know up 350,000 views on some videos now it's about 3000 with 50,000 followers the leg incompletely organically and it's all done hundreds of hours of work down the drain now is I don't drink as you're here listening to this and I appreciate you so much but point is pointy for my perspective that for speaking the truth in talking about a Senate hearing my channel has been obliterated off of Instagram and you can no longer find my channel even if you search it directly word for word letter for letter cannot find it really quite disappointing like deep down in my soul really sucks really sad about it but that's right will keep moving forward I will build it back even better and we will continue this revolution but please consider donating please consider sharing this podcast know of everybody on his pockets or an undershirt to one person we could double the audience and I would appreciate that so much so if you think I'm doing a good job go ahead and share this with 1235 people that you know many would mean the world to me because right now it is a struggle trying to build this with no you know at least the singular platform that I built it on with organic outreach being just to be taken for me for no other reason than telling the truth so we like to do that there's a share link rate on their you know you could also go ahead and subscribe subscriber now click that click the subscribe button if you haven't already you know if your listeners podcast for the first time thank you so much click that subscribe button I would appreciate it and also leave a five star review from Apple podcast grants modify go heavenly five-star view would mean the world to me but other than that what you can do is also go to give single.com give single.com/rental revolution to make a donation there it would mean the world to me it tells me that what I'm doing mean something to you or you can join the patron on the patron we have a full video episode if you like to listen to it is right on the patron for you it's five dollars a month and you also get the discord server for $15 a month really moving towards eventually once we get a few people on there a live additional episode every single week right on the patron for you guys were it's all user generated questions and topics so patriotic.com/red Hill revolt current so yeah let's go out and watch this I'm not on the backs of basically true social taking it sweet little time approving people to get into true social still have been on the waiting list for several months now lost all contact with them that I had directly to get me signed up ahead of time so now Elon musk may be able to build an entire platform in the input before her fifth trumpet is letting people actually on the true social I wouldn't put it past you on musk so let's see what he's talking about with this new social media platform Tesla's chief executive officer and billionaire Eli lost his difficult serious thought to building a new social media platform which he announced in a post last weekend according to Reuters bus was responding to a Twitter users question on whether he would consider building a social media platform with an open source algorithm and one that would prioritize free speech and what propaganda was minimal must've been critical of twitter and its recent policies his announcement comes a day after he put out a Twitter poll asking users that they believed to twitter it here is to the principle of free speech over 70% voted no I'm surprised that there's 30%… At Chevrolet twitter doesn't care to eat twitters better than the rest the right sliding scale I don't know if Twitter is better or worse than Facebook yeah kind of debatable item there are things I like about Twitter better I like there sort of bird watch fact checking saying is better than Facebook's third-party fact checkers which are atrocious twitter just twitter let's you and it doesn't block the whole article though they let you like put a comment on that and then you can count on that comment and it's a better program than Facebook's like just utterly awful that checking but I do know it I guess I don't know which is worse overall.Dorsey was kind of committed to free speech in some ways he was the Noah Zuckerberg so so Zachary Zuckerberg still in a still there any but were at that me but I have both platform sensor data center slightly different content same thing right tape that's really challenging navigating all of these big tech platforms for you know if you like right for example because it were posting clips on twitter and on YouTube on Facebook you have to kind of know okay let's platform have its own rules and regulations and are not all the same and so what is it can it be but it was interesting to think about a platform that would prioritize free speech I'm not really sure what that would look like my guess at Elon built that I did I don't know if it would be one of those things would like to let you know where he goes full throttle with it and says okay let's do this like twitter and bagging alternative or if it would just be something he kinda builds commands like twitter and then change its policies that formula but why start networking via twitter and just fix it up a little bit in the richest man in the world why not yeah and in the hole having it be free speech it is so okay so it's it's a private organization so doesn't have to follow the First Amendment none of these you platforms do and I don't think anyone people say they were they just want to be free speech platform usually what they mean they still want some level of moderation like we don't just wanted to be you know porn and death threats and right now there's going on twitter there is talk on twitter to visit regularly on Twitter it's been most discordant social media policy there is porn allowed on twitter not on any other platforms but that but all this via some amount of harassment and in the policing of that kind of stuff pretty much everybody at the end of the day is going to think is appropriating the question is where you draw the line and you know different people would dry differently but not know any platform that sets out to say no whenever to draw that line just a line is not heavy as a platform that said it could definitely be more allowing of open in a discussion and debate of legitimate issues like the things we talk about in the shower try to talk about the extent to let's us that could certainly be a better and improve note in Norman on a platform like Twitter for me the line is the loss so if something is breaking the law and that would be where I buy I think that you build the law is aligned but that would be more like like technically that is I don't think it's illegal to you know to do it just to just say where someone lives or what their phone number is right that you can't Go to jail for sharing that information on twitter I think of you post someone's phone number or or or address physical address I think they should take it down II would support a social media policy against that kind of behavior even though that behavior is fine under the First Amendment rights really you now yeah that's it's totally legal to dock somebody yeah everywhere absolutely yeah the 10th shut down Nexus now that I think about it I guess they do it all the time like here in LA you can do a tour of the Hollywood homes write a check and go see the celebrities nozzle drive you buy them yeah AI I suppose yeah there there are some things that should be different on social media that right they would not complete First Amendment I think it's my opinion that is patient they should prohibit right that the meeting is to be genuine community guidelines like for example if they collectively put it out there and asked the people would you be okay with docs and should we allow that on a platform and people would overwhelmingly say no anything okay that's part of the community guidelines one of the issues of these big tech platforms are not even really asking the community what the community wants or doesn't want right or just telling us these are our identity guidelines whether you like them or not but maybe if something was more inclusive right and said as a community what it really made it legible for all we know that the community on Twitter in particular might be totally for absolute censorship of dissenting views right eyes and that's real nice certificate not on Facebook now on Facebook I think the commute Re: so getting mixed reviews or temperature taxing in some ways this is illegal it can be us to consider the form of harassment however anyways Eli must coming out with his own the platform potentially at least he uses it now if he does decide to do that like I said appropriate and probably happen faster than I'm even let into true social know what would I have a problem with is all of these you know secondary tertiary social media outlets all tend to be like a Twitter reproduced twitter basically were just gives you a certain my letters and if you posted it goes on the civil feed and you can find people to follow based on who people share their feeds of and like I do hate that like short form you know I'd much rather talk to guys through video and discuss things that way and in get organic outreach that you know it's like much more I do know I just don't like the Twitter I've never really use Twitter's and cyclic 2012 so that I don't know if true socials like that it seems like it might be but I do know we'll have to see it and I hope you know somebody eventually comes out with a differentiation between tick-tock and Instagram is interesting finding like what they just said is that you know you have to walk that line and I'm sure the hell does but you know what I do even more with content that I talk about is that you have to find the line with each individual social media late and I'm pretty sure tick-tock will give anybody flexor stuff it just immediately is taken down the post of the video about the cat situation from you know what an episode or two ago where the cats got banned from the international Federation for Russian And that got flagged for hate speech on on talk but it's the most effective way to get your podcast or you know is the most effective marketing tools if you can put out solid video content in the the amount of reach that you can get where people just don't put very much time into video editing and if you do it well and in the things you're talking about are interesting and you are tend to be an interesting person who is talking about them they can circulate quite well on those platforms so I hope that eventually tick-tock Instagram reels get replaced with something that is speech based because I would be really good for the revolution rental revolution the show they are listening to rhino but it will be interesting to see if that plays out and haven't heard much more about it other than that now were going to jump right into our last topic before going into the Hunter Biden laptop which is a nice segue medicine Koestler went on to a podcast over the last week and discussed how he was approached by people within the political sphere about joining them in an orgy FS you heard that right and then he went on about how he seen people snorting cocaine and things like that all while in the political sphere so as much as video and then we will discuss it and is a quick little video about a new source and some people would been going after Madison Cawthorn for speaking about these things so let's go ahead and watch this clip here does revealing it was a show called house of cards number for my head around… Are you familiar with how you are seriously as I am with Kevin Spacey and I forget who else was in it, but AMI will not ship very well done aerial gunship but it was so dirty and it was about this Congressman who was Kevin Spacey who is an ethic was minority or majority whip yet what was yeah and so anyway very very powerful guy and it was just kind of like his secret life of all this corruption in power and money and perversion and was just purity how much in your opinion because your you been behind the veil is this fictitious show or is this more closer like a documentary it isn't that bad so I heard a former president that we had the 90s asked the question about this hand he gave an answer that I thought was so true and he said the only thing is not accurate in that show is that you could never get a piece of legislation about about education past that quickly and everything else is, aside from that I mean the sexual perversion that goes on washing I mean it being kind a young guy watching norm of the average age probably 60 or 70 and I literally feel a lot of that I have looked up to the my life always paid attention to politics guys that you Allison you get invited to hang with sexual get together at one of our homes you should turn them what what what you deserve some kind that and the is asking to come to an orgy or the fact that you list some of the people that are leading on the movement to try and remove addiction in our country and that you want him doing a keep on cocaine like Bernie and it's this is this is why and then there's also, the whole espionage aspect of what goes on washing of so many people trained in secrets and there there's a currency of secrets and so a it's wild and then yelled there's members of the of the the media the journalist you kinda will keep nasty stories about you or about other people on a shelf and then we fear about, speak out against him then once you will come out safe or about to drop the story of when it was 17 years ago you did X, Y, and Z you don't want us to drop that story to you sort were in a bully back in this position practically let's say that all of a sudden I was going in the office by the way I have no political aspirations zero and in people are always like children for office will by no absolutely not like sport people are have that colic have no desire to do that… Is a little thought experiment I am just elected Congress Senate whatever and I get in there and I go through my orientation and I have my good values and stuff and I stand for something like many others before how does that slippery slope actually get in front of our current president in always been in public service for 50 years at a certain salary which is kinda like good but it's not great you can't become a lavish multi-multi-multimillionaire with all these different houses in it the math doesn't work like the battery example that there was a real example of a real exam yet not good right before we added of a Nancy Reagan at about 700,000 electric vehicles to our federal fleet I noticed because if you go to that uniting its CEO watchlist.work you can see the trades that public traded company CEOs in a bind the C suite are making or ought what all trade members of Congress making is a will, monitor that justice was going on and I notice a lot of people in the majority party were buying stocks that had to do with some kind of bad racing technology for electric vehicles and then what you know it about a month or two later it would then announce right 700,000 electric vehicles Julia visit to the to the fleet and that while so let's let's address that in parts so is ask about house of cards great show unfortunate that it's Kevin Spacey because they don't think both left the difficult path for now but speaking on sexual perversion he get it he gets asked you know it he gets basically it starts the sentence with the fact that you know most of Congress and Senate and these people that I look up to for a long time and are in their 60s in their 70s and they came to me asking me to come to this sexual party after house and then he refers to them talking about an orgy this but if there is anybody that Madison Cawthorn is interested in you know how the 22nd 26 decent looking guy you know is interested in having an orgy with its probably not any single person that's also so happens to be in politics unless it was some sort of like you know despite sex with AOC which you know if they decide to do that you know I'm sure some people would do with pay a for a paper before but anyways if there's anybody that he can have an orgy with is probably not anybody that there's you know he's alongside in politics and in the enough audience to the see how many heart attacks happen if this political orgy especially because they all have to have the vaccine in those so it's in the he got like work for this after he talked about it is in and that second thing he goes on to say is basically that the same people were going on to push the policies around American drug addiction are also sitting in front of them taking a key bump of cocaine right in front of him and so he got so much pushback from his own party right for talking about these things and they don't have update they never refuted them right they said no we'll have you know 70-year-old orgies at the GOP convention that convicted but you shouldn't be talking about them is basically what they said about this in the same thing with the regular cocaine situation nobody said he wasn't telling the truth and so will go on to the next clipper they kind of comment on this right were they say you know he should've talked about this it's immature we hope to have him replaced by several other people who would never have brought the situation up but nobody's going on here to say that no that never happens in the political sphere were all great people and don't have the sexual perversions and you know so it is puzzling to me that anybody who tells the truth in politics is vilified immediately in Madison co-authored just tells the truth too much for these people when it comes to their perversions whether it's drugs whether it's sexual perversions whether it's you know they're back back and investments in companies they shouldn't be investing and based on insider-trading knowledge like Nancy Pelosi so he said the things that you're not supposed to say why should you say that the true right there is there somebody here legit a legitimate person in our political sphere who is speaking the truth about these situations is being vilified for so there's a quick clipper here were they we actually see this vilification of him talking about that for for talking about these things by his own political party saying that he should be out of the party because of him discussing these things now that they were wrong but that he should just have nothing to do with politics because he speaking the truth here's that forgings and cocaine those claims are drawing a lot of disbelief after North Carolina Congressman made them good evening everyone abroad, I'm Angela Taylor Martin Cawthorns comment had drawn criticism from his own party before the attendings rice bowl and join that the wrath who was he referring detailed well his colleagues in Congress he didn't name names but even so it's enough to draw fire from the people who work alongside two implicate your colleagues in orgies and not just cocaine but key box of cocaine phrase it frankly I had to Google before you really do what it bit so this was a new and even for medicine got what political scientist Chris Cooper who lives in Madison call thorns congressional district is referring to is a podcast and video work Hawthorne was asked whether the Netflix show house of cards is closer to a document Rick Hawthorne went on to claim he been invited by fellow lawmakers to orgies and watch them use cocaine both North Carolina Senators Tom Tillis and Richard Berger have criticized the comments has have other Republican lawmakers who typically remain silent like Arkansas Congressman Steve Womack I think it goes without saying that no one thanks this was a good thing to say to today I can even believe that Madison caught the work with think this is a good thing to say it sounds like you got dressed down by Bob McCarthy and don't really say this but in this case I think it was well-deserved that dress down comes less than a week after minority leader Kevin McCarthy responded to call for calling Ukrainian Pres. Zelinski fog Madison is wrong if there's any thug in this world it's and his video is been released of one of several times that call for his been pulled over for speeding and cited for driving while his license was revoked what you do with this which is really interesting right so he comes out and says and if you listen to that they didn't say anything about him not being correct didn't say anything about these orgies being fictitious or that these people doing drugs and cocaine in front of him being wrong then say that they said there was not to provide whatever like I said not appropriate we shouldn't even have talked about it and do it if you got right fully dressed down by this other old ass is 75-year-old Sen. for speaking about these things what what nothing he said was wrong nobody's refuted these things yet they're going to now release which is exactly what he said they would do Word for Word so that they keep these things on the shelf and literally the only thing they can find with him is him getting pulled over her for speeding or driving without a license or something on top of that so and he says that's well deserved because he talked about that that the unspeakable orgies and cocaine usage in our political spectrum he literally just proved him right he said that they're going to shelf something about me and then use it when I say something that they don't like so he says only they don't like you old people to gross people want me to join your orgy and you also do cocaine while also trying to save the world from drug addiction and then when I say something about it you're gonna shelf something like a video of me getting holdover that's the worst thing you can find of medicine co-author in doing, and release it at the same time so it tries to overshadow the statements that I said about you asking me 26-year-old to have an orgy with you 70 weirdos and then things only about your cocaine usage right and again this guy this political scientist is standing next to the sky in this interview says nothing about the him being wrong he says is not a good idea to talk about those things whom may be because their true May because there is sexual perversion within our our political sphere maybe because they are doing drugs there as we saw with Nancy Pelosi is inability to keep her dentures in her mouth or did not look like a lizard weirdo standing up in the metal cup of Joe Biden's no speech but few months a couple months ago or a month ago solicitors out theirs and theirs 40 seconds left with zero at the rest they have to say about this if you're one of the other candidates whether you're on a daily or and all are in the 11th district running in his primary there are seven people been running into medicine called Lawrence show a total in the primary and all seven are trying to portray themselves as more mature more grown-up better decision-makers in Madison called work clearly this is going to make that an easier proposition and without a doubt guys I imagine were innocents some of this and some of those ads that have reached all across the state at this point for his part so far Madison Coulter and has not, got the wild very interesting stuff they're not every day those two words out first out your mouth that's exactly on the news all right thinking of us that so can nobody saying he's wrong and he says that older more mature and older than them so they're trying to do depict themselves that way within the seven district so that they can get elected above medicine Cawthorn because you know when they get invited to our orgies hopefully they'll both say yes this and that will speak about it on the podcast you know like that it's so funny that these people can sit here and try to justify note the quote unquote dressing down of Madison Cawthorn on which again they didn't post anything that showed any venom or anything that he said being wrong they support that but they don't support him speaking the truth about politics and speaking the truth about what's behind that veil that they talked about right they just want to diminish what he says throw a video of him getting pulled over and let it fizzle off into the distance and think that he's gonna get outshined by these other people because you know Bill will actually go to the orgies and do the cocaine with the other politicians who do you want in politics the guy calling out these weirdos or the person who's it's partaking in these 70-year-old orgies while doing cocaine is just so weird to me that were in a place where it's the person speaking out about the orgies and cocaine in politics who's wrong who's being in note Guzy was having the news media go after him for saying something about it not a bunch of like news articles like who is he talking about whose heavenly orgies and if them for the in politics who's doing the cocaine bump in the bathroom will probably Nancy Pelosi was but the conversation is not that the drama around who is doing these things are why he said these things the drama is around the fact that he spoke the truth medicine Cawthorn spoke the truth about politics spoke the truth about the sexual perversion within the political spectrum in the political sphere and spoke the truth about the drug usage of the senators that are pushing for addiction correction in the United States while also doing a bump of cocaine but you know medicine cost thorns in the wrong for mentioning the truth not the you know that that the normal conversation that should come of this of like who is who are these people whose doing drugs in the bathroom of the Senate right who is who is calling Madison Cawthorn to see if he wants to come to an orgy neglect that should be the conversation can we be talking about that not the fact that he actually talked about the truth it's crazy like literally anything that you look up right now about this co-author in the a medicine conference talking about these things is a negative connotation about him speaking the truth right like other all in the group of the orgy group like their all in this group chat together talking about all ship medicine because her and spoke about our Sunday night orgies in Washington and thought that the fact that he actually talked about these things try to figure out who did it like the right news media would be going after who is the person who's doing cocaine in the bathroom of Senate or Congress that's the big story the big story is not the congressman who's talking about these people and speaking the truth about these things the big story is they are in the bathroom and that no bump of cocaine or at that person's house was a bunch of seven-year-olds have an orgy and having a heart attack when it happens like that's the story into it to see that there diminishing the truth to see that they can even combat the things that he says but yet they go after him like he's the villain for speaking the truth is disgusting absolutely disgusting so again like you've heard me say before kudos to you Madison Cawthorn first of all for not going to the seven-year-old orgy right entry can do better buddy if in fact the second of all for speaking out about these things against them shelving that video of you getting pulled over which they felt was great timing proving every statement that you said right by the way anyways so where you're going to now move on to the Hunter Biden story about the laptop now again this is resurfacing this is resurfacing again and this was like crazy crazy news coverage right this was this was the story of the year released in 2020 at the very last week of the election cycle got diminished got shadow band got eliminated off of all social media platforms became a part of their fact checker narratives that do Hunter Biden laptop was a rush of collusion right so now comes back up again now that they are did the same news media companies that were diminishing this is false information the same news media companies that were saying there was Russia in collusion that this this laptop is fake news right now the coming out because they know that it's coming to a point where this can be a legal battle hundred Biden has now been subpoenaed for this laptop finally a year after the presidency because they knew that it can be overturned at this point potentially over this collusion or maybe it's all part of the plan and now they know there to be able to put someone else in power right who knows what let's go ahead and see what Tucker Carlson has to say about this the start of this video says Tucker shreds media over HUD and Hunter Biden coverage three minutes long let's go ahead and list with them will talk about systems going on with Joe Biden's poll numbers are absolutely tanking but it seems like elements within the Democratic Party or turning on them record 10 we understand exactly what's going on here something definitely is here's an example new members very well just for the last election your post ran the story of what the contents of Hunter Biden's laptop the human story with big tech censored it immediately seen and in dozens of other former Intel officials told us that laptop was Russian disinformation there are fears that what Giuliani is now pushing here in the United States could actually be part of Russia's latest and very massive disinformation campaigns in the US presidential election so you have a president who is asking to obtain Russian disinformation knowing that that is what it is he is accepting that same information and he is then turning it and using it on the campaign trail against his his opponent and that's the mind blowing it's sort of a crazy quilt at this point which has all the hallmarks of of of Russian disinformation that said it wouldn't for lack of try CNN reported on Friday that US authorities are seeking if those emails we just talked about are connected to an ongoing Russian the disinformation effort so it turns out when the accused people of Russian disinformation are not always sincere course the wires will say where they need to say that was before you actually need to get by elected they did it but others are usually very different now telling in fact the laptop is real piercing and yesterday this is very very bad for the president signs it is an Internet station as you pointed out going back to 2018 and and right now prosecutors in Delaware where you are focusing on a number of things including whether Hunter Biden and some of his business associates violated laws including tax and money laundering laws and the foreign lobbying laws are now gaining steam and they need to make a decision I think in the at least intermediate future in this case is been going on for four years and there is a realistic chance this could result in federal charges of course then we be an unprecedented political territory not legal territory but a situation of having potentially the Justice Department prosecuting and trying to imprison the son of the president what a freak show the channel is to look to other new subscription service but now telling yeah it's all true actually and that's not the only story about Russian disinformation has fallen apart this week the Federal election commission just find the DNC and Hillary Clinton or campaign $100,000 if she determined that the Clinton campaign should hide its role in funding the steel dossier Phil dossier is the false document that claimed among many other things that President Trump elected turns out the disinformation was in fact paid for by the campaign was coming from the D&C subscribe to the fact so exactly what he just talked about there is CNN and you know all these companies that are were formally talking about being Russian disinformation about this laptop and now they're coming out and saying that although maybe it could be true now that they're going in it with you see this all the time like they they come out and say that ship though I got everything's wrong and that what what you're saying is untrue and then eventually went they know that they been backed in a corner enough that they try to salvage whatever amount of respect that they could even with the spec of respect that and they could find on the grounds of themselves left both before they lose all of their I don't know how they still have anybody who listens to them at all but they try to salvage what reputation have left with the people that they've brainwashed enough to continue to listen to them but I do and I hear right this all coming to a legal had and there is now the steel dossier and the Hillary Clinton campaign is now being find 100 and something thousand dollars over there real Russian is no disinformation campaigns they try to go against trump it in our seeing that the truth is coming out in there trying to backpedal enough to try to salvage whatever reputation they have with the brainwashed people that continue to listen to them so now we're going to look at is it rockers news and they talked about how the White House won't rule out Bidens party her pardon contact his party probably has a lot of parties I would death us judging by his laptop but trying to rule out it will not rule out Biden's pardon for son or his brother so says presidential spokesperson dodges questions about hundred Biden probe after laptop info resurfaces does the White House repeatedly refused on Friday to rule out the possibility that Pres. Joe Biden could pardon his son Hunter Biden or Brother James Barton if suspected financial crimes related to business dealings in China are proven in court despite questions from multiple journalists in the growing volume of articles on the subject it says quote that's not a hypothetical I'm going to entertain said White House news communication director Kate Bedingfield who she told a room full of journalists after she was asked whether the president had considered a pardon for his son Hunter or brother James both of whom are being investigated for financial and property impropriety put regarding a business deal with Chinese energy firm at CFC China energy which is even mentioned the Prisma situation asked about the president's continued insistence that there was nothing unethical and that joke Hunter Biden had made no money from this thing about what you are talking about China Bedingfield double down on the elder brother Biden's denial which was made over a year earlier that his son was guilty of any wrongdoing we absolutely stand by the president, and she said insisting that she did not have anything to add from this podium when the question was phrased another way Hunter Biden is currently being investigated by the Justice Department regarding a business deal he was involved in with China proof of which surfaced almost 2 years ago on the infamous laptop from hell left by back by him and the laptop repair shop in Delaware the younger Biden appeared to have raked in millions of dollars for a consulting role despite insisting the deal itself fell through in his Chinese partner in the affair was later detained in China while a handful of media outlets initially reported on the content of the laptop which included not only incriminating financial documents also more siliceous materials including images of Hunter engaged in sexual acts and drug use most major press Alex gave the pass either dismissing it as Russian propaganda without any evidence or refusing to comment on the the president in famously infamously laughed when asked about the laptop again after the election however with Biden safely in the White House mainstream outlets at from the New York Times to CNN have begun to nibble at the story acknowledging not only that the laptop along hundred by whether there are some serious problems with the business skills discussed in emails contained so will not rule out his pardon for his son's know-how in the in the world can the president pardon his own children for doing back deal shady deals with China or Russia or Ukraine which were all included in their when he was elected under the guise it in that the money came for him right he was the one that is he if he has to pardon the sons he can have to pardon his damn self because he was the reason that they even had access to these situations to begin with right the only reason that Hunter Biden and James Biden which of them heard that name really before had access to China had access to Ukraine was because they were pushing and peddling his their father's influence the vice president I stay to the time and knowingly at a strong political proponent in the United States who could get things done within the political spectrum SMEs and a lot of political spectrum political sphere political arena whatever it is right we know that the only reason they had the opportunity to to give these deals into make this money was because of their father who was elected based on this being Russian disinformation right is like two thirds of people said that it would've sway their vote on the Democratic side if the laptop was deemed true how in the world he that's the part of himself he can just pardon his sons E the department not only Hunter not only James but you thought also have to pardon himself and if he has to do that than he is not fit to be president he was being utilized by China and Ukraine and for business dealings and in that little if he recalled Ukraine's intuition but were about to dive into a little bit more of why this laptop even has a conversation around Ukraine on which even there's an article right here this is Hunter Biden emails backup Ukraine BioLab claims we know that Biden was that the only reason that they had these business deals with it in the in the in shows in Bidens herb Hunter Biden's laptop where he says that 50% of all money he makes goes to Joe goes to the big guy he talks about right we know these things and the only reason he can pardon them is because he became present and became present because of these back and shady deals that he was doing on behalf of his sons which are going to have to be pardoned because her to go to jail for peddling their father's influence was now the most influential man in the world so on that note let's go into a deep deep dive of what was actually on that laptop right no I'm to be reading this from a subsector in the sub stack is Jessica Reed Krause Jessica REE D KR AUS her sub stack she goes into a great number of detail on all of us which includes evidence of addictions affairs incest over seals overseas dealings and corrupt media coverups within under Biden's laptop so it says the Hunter Biden email cover up may not only be the most contemptible example of the modern political media's corruption but it is most probably the most demonstratably which is by the New York Post the lack of curiosity for most of the media is repellent and really corrupt I think the dam is about to burst that was by Miranda the Wien so this says in late 2020 just as the presidential election was coming to a head news of Hunter Biden's discarded laptop broke only to be quickly dismissed as a Russian hoax by nearly every major outlet in mainstream media the laptop was said to contain evidence of extreme depravity as well as emails text messages photos financial documents detailing how Hunter uses political leverage to help him and his father profit overseas and corrupt secret dealings waged with companies in Ukraine and China the extent of the scorn of the shut down by media was of course aided by big tech particularly Facebook and Twitter whose combined efforts to silence block and censor the story helps quash it as soon as it started to gain the kind of momentum that could possibly sway an election across the board was deemed dangerous misinformation TicTac going so far as to punish anyone who tried to share the news of it on Twitter by locking them out of their accounts for extended periods of time with others across the board Facebook Instagram twitter everywhere every media outlet echoed the same dismissive statements Jen Sasaki even tweeted the political story titled Hunter Biden story is Russian this info thousands of formal Intel official say in nearly every mainstream media outlet talk to the political story and ran with it now it shows the tweet says why have you seen any stories from NPR about the Newark posts Hunter by the story read more in this week's newsletter we don't want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories assessed by NPR and we don't want to waste the listeners and readers time on stories that are just pure distractions okay and downsize the Senate and Sen. Marsha Blackburn which was the same Sen. who really grilled Canton conducted what is it Ketanji Brown Jackson and the new Supreme Court justice about what is a woman if you recall that name was Senator Blackburn who tweeted Hunter Biden's laptop was always real the mainstream media and big tax silenced you for talking about it anyways the article goes on to say when I saw back then when I was allowed to see back then was the least troublesome contents of the laptop mostly images of Hunter partying in hotel with hotel Hooker slumped in the bathtub smoking a cigarette passed out in bed with a crack piping out of his mouth they were gross improve the sad state of his addiction but I didn't see anything criminal while I'm in smoking crack pits is criminal but 7.3 extent of my political allegiance by this time is lymphoid is all but anyone who is half a brain knew that this has been one of Trump's kids caught with the crack pipe the media would have pounced on it flooding us with headlines in the blue it wouldn't of been able to escape if we try why I wondered header coverage become so unbalanced and why didn't anyone I know seem to really care I spent the majority of trumps presidency listening and believing in all of the Russian collusion accusations assuming they were true because it's all we heard from reputable news sources nearly 4 years later however it was proven false I heard it was nothing for media retractions curing them of his charges charges many today still believe is true 18 months later the laptop is in the first confirmed by the same news outlets who helped Chavarria exposing the real purveyors of this information all those who failed to do their journalistic duty and investigate it any further the fact that the story was not followed up on during 2020 will go down as one of the most glaring examples of criminal tendencies embraced by modern journalists who continue to choose party ties over the quest for truth that previously defines the role in society was interesting to me because you like you hear about the way the journalist or look at surveys like you know it's looked at like this like Crimea gross job now as it should be like in it in the way that our mainstream media has looked at you know we we look at journalist and if you look back click towards the 70s and 80s like think about comic books rightly think about Marvel think about like the way that journalists were looked at like hard-nosed cigarette smoking truth defining journalists who would like go after people mortised afraid of anything and wouldn't you know chase you down in the parking lot like real James O'Keefe project Veritas style OG journalists were like where was a cool job right like boots on the ground in in a different country at figuring out the truth sit down with you know the tally band like hearing them in like putting your life on the line and now Genoa services like little sissies and Twitter saying whatever the hell you know George Soros puts down the domain streamlined effort for what they should be saying about things that's not journalism right in journalism should be about the truth like if you are a good journalist in today's society should be easily rising to the top right through sub stack through whatever it is like there there are many many different ways for you to get your messages out there in the right way and in you will eventually build an audience based on truth based on facts based on you know your personality based on the things that you say based on everything you can you can build an audience around the truth and in that's what people are hungry for people are so sick of listening to journalists who who can barely you know say anything other than the script that put in front of them in front of the TV like ever every news commentator and that's kind of why like the hill was because is not fully scripted you can see in the way that their discussions and panels ours is not scripted is not that the reading from a Teleprompter but every word literally did this by drives me nuts sometimes but that's because you know if it is just they don't have the best takes on everything all the time but their truthful takes and you can tell it from the dialogue in the way that they have these conversations so I appreciate that so it's it's decent journalism but but the way that journalists are looked at today is like they are the purveyors of disinformation they are the minister of truth right of the 1984 George Orwellian perspective they are the the Ministry of truth in everything that they say is actually a lie and so there needs to be a new wave of journalism through these like disassociated individuals on you know whether it's tick-tock platform sub stack whatever it is who come out with the truth on these things you know what there's a few that I really like to follow like somebody asked me what are what are my platforms I follow there's a few like Atlas news generally is a good one real news nobles to rebel news I follow if you like that that are really in group good boots on the ground smaller entities that tell the truth about things and incorrect themselves when the wrong because they are interested in the

Southern Baptists have been talking a lot about a resolution the last two years, and with good reason. But far more important than talking about a resolution is showing some. For the day we are facing we need resolve—godly, humble, Spirit-empowered resolve to stand firm in this evil day. This sermon was given by Dr. Tom Nettles on June 14, 2021 at the Founders "Be It Resolved" conference in Nashville, Tennessee before the 2021 Southern Baptist Convention. #SBC21 All Founders Ministries resources are copyrighted and any use and distribution must be approved by Founders Ministries. Become a part of the F.A.M. | https://press.founders.org/fam/ By What Standard? God's World...God's Rules: https://founders.org/cinedoc/ Wield The Sword: https://founders.org/wieldthesword/ The Sword & The Trowel: https://founders.org/the-sword-the-trowel/ Follow Founders Ministries: Website: https://founders.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FoundersMin/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/FoundersMin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foundersministries/

Doctrine - The Three Early Creeds Apostles Nicene and Athanasian Support the show: https://www.tan.org.au/radio/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Mary Live with Dr. Mark Miravalle” offers a weekly commentary of contemporary news event in the Church and in the world, but from a uniquely Marian perspective.

Comprehending the Mystery of Godliness. Bruce R. McConkie. ACU Sunday Series. The Mystery of Godliness | Bruce R McConkie | 1985 https://youtu.be/EpXzTR-qNB0 157,736 views Jun 12, 2020 BYU Speeches 112K subscribers To us mortals, the infinite wisdom and power of God may always be, in part, a mystery. However, there are many things about His nature that we can know. This speech was given on January 6, 1985. Read the speech here: https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/bruce-... Read more about Bruce R. McConkie here: https://speeches.byu.edu/speakers/bru... Subscribe to BYU Speeches for the latest videos: http://www.youtube.com/c/byuspeeches Read and listen to more BYU Speeches here: https://speeches.byu.edu/ Follow BYU Speeches: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/byuspeeches Twitter: https://twitter.com/byuspeeches Instagram: https://instagram.com/byuspeeches Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/byuspeeches © Brigham Young University. All rights reserved. "I rejoice in the privilege of presenting to the young and rising generation some basic concepts about the deepest and most profound doctrine of the gospel. It is the first principle of revealed religion, the great cornerstone upon which all else rests, the foundation for all of the doctrines of salvation. I shall speak of what the revealed word calls the mystery of godliness. If our vision is blurred where this doctrine and these concepts are concerned, or, if knowingly or unknowingly we have fallen prey to any of the false sectarian notions that abound with reference to them, our progress toward eternal life will be slow indeed. Comprehending the Mystery of Godliness A mystery, so the dictionary says, is “something beyond human comprehension.” Defining the word from a theological standpoint, it says a mystery is “an article of faith beyond human comprehension, as the doctrine of the Trinity.” How apt this illustration is! If there was ever something beyond human comprehension, it is the sectarian doctrine of the Trinity. This doctrine defines God and the Godhead as a three-in-one spirit essence that fills the immensity of space; it teaches that it and they are without body, parts, or passions; it acclaims that it and they are unknown, unknowable, and uncreated, and specifies, in the creeds, that unless we believe all these things we cannot be saved. It is true that finite man cannot comprehend his Infinite Maker in the full sense of the word. We cannot tell how gods began to be or from whence existent matter came. But we are duty-bound to learn all that God has revealed about himself and his everlasting gospel. If we are to gain eternal life we must come to know the Great God and his Only Begotten, whom he sent into the world. And this probationary estate is the appointed time to begin to know God, and to learn his laws, and thereby to start the process of becoming like him. If we do not so begin we shall never receive the promised reward. Because God stands revealed or remains forever unknown, and because the things of God are known only by the power of the Spirit, perhaps we should redefine a mystery. In the gospel sense, a mystery is something beyond carnal comprehension. The saints are in a position to comprehend all mysteries, to understand all doctrine, and eventually to know all things. These high levels of intelligence are reached only through faith and obedience and righteousness. A person who relies on the intellect alone and who does not keep the commandments can never, worlds without end, comprehend the mystery of godliness. There is probably more ignorance and confusion as to the mystery of godliness than there is about any other doctrine. As set forth in the three creeds of Christendom—the Nicene, the Apostles', and the Athanasian, which God himself said were an abomination in his sight—and as defined in the articles of religion of the various denominations, this doctrine is a mass of confusion and a mountain of falsity. Even in the Church, thanks to a lack of knowledge and to intellectuality and the worldly enticement to conform to the general beliefs of an apostate Christendom, there are those who have fallen prey to many false delusions about deity. By way of illustration let us note some of the problems. Who and What Is God? Is there a God? If so, who or what is he? Is he the laws and forces of nature? Or an image of mud or gold? Or is he Baal, the resurrected son of El to whom the Canaanites offered human sacrifices? Is he Allah or Buddha or the confusing and contradictory nothingness described in the creeds of Christendom? Is there such a thing as the Trinity in which the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three gods, and, yet one god, a god who neither hears, nor speaks, nor appears, as did the one worshipped by the ancients? Is God omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, or are these descriptive designations part of the legends of sectarianism? Are there three gods or one? Why does Jesus say his Father is greater than he, and Paul say Jesus is equal with the Father? Why the great scriptural emphasis on proclaiming that three gods are one, and that the Lord our God is one Lord?   Zach Williams, Dolly Parton - There Was Jesus (Official Music Video) https://youtu.be/37wV6D49iEY 28,810,460 views Apr 23, 2020 Zach Williams 828K subscribers Watch the official music video for “There Was Jesus” with Dolly Parton now. Listen to #ThereWasJesus everywhere: https://ZachWilliams.lnk.to/RescueSto... Check out my new Christmas album, I Don't Want Christmas to End: https://ZachWilliams.lnk.to/IDontWant... Connect with me: Email List: https://ZachWilliams.lnk.to/EmailSign... Facebook: https://ZachWilliams.lnk.to/facebookTm Twitter: https://ZachWilliams.lnk.to/ZWtwitterTm Instagram: https://ZachWilliams.lnk.to/ZWinstagr... Website: https://ZachWilliams.lnk.to/websiteTm There Was Jesus   Every time I tried to make it on my own Every time I tried to stand and start to fall All those lonely roads that I have travelled on There was Jesus   When the life I built came crashing to the ground When the friends I had were nowhere to be found I couldn't see it then but I can see it now There was Jesus   In the waiting, in the searching In the healing and the hurting Like a blessing buried in the broken pieces  Every minute, every moment Of where I been and where I'm going Even when I didn't know it Or couldn't see it There was Jesus   For this man who needs amazing kind of grace For forgiveness at a price I couldn't pay I'm not perfect so I thank God every day There was Jesus   On the mountain in the valleys (There was Jesus)  In the shadows of the alleys (There was Jesus) In the fire, in the flood (There was Jesus) Always is and always was I never walk alone   There Was Jesus Every time I tried to make it on my own Every time I tried to stand and start to fall All those lonely roads that I have travelled on There was Jesus When the life I built came crashing to the ground When the friends I had were nowhere to be found I couldn't see it then but I can see it now There was Jesus In the waiting, in the searching In the healing and the hurting Like a blessing buried in the broken pieces Every minute, every moment Of where I been and where I'm going Even when I didn't know it Or couldn't see it There was Jesus For this man who needs amazing kind of grace For forgiveness at a price I couldn't pay I'm not perfect so I thank God every day There was Jesus On the mountain in the valleys (There was Jesus) In the shadows of the alleys (There was Jesus) In the fire, in the flood (There was Jesus) Always is and always was I never walk alone Music by Zach Williams and Dolly Parton performing “There Was Jesus” (Official Music Video). #ZachWilliams #ChristianMusic #DollyParton

Comprehending the Mystery of Godliness. Bruce R. McConkie. ACU Sunday Series. The Mystery of Godliness | Bruce R McConkie | 1985 https://youtu.be/EpXzTR-qNB0 157,736 views Jun 12, 2020 BYU Speeches 112K subscribers To us mortals, the infinite wisdom and power of God may always be, in part, a mystery. However, there are many things about His nature that we can know. This speech was given on January 6, 1985. Read the speech here: https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/bruce-... Read more about Bruce R. McConkie here: https://speeches.byu.edu/speakers/bru... Subscribe to BYU Speeches for the latest videos: http://www.youtube.com/c/byuspeeches Read and listen to more BYU Speeches here: https://speeches.byu.edu/ Follow BYU Speeches: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/byuspeeches Twitter: https://twitter.com/byuspeeches Instagram: https://instagram.com/byuspeeches Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/byuspeeches © Brigham Young University. All rights reserved. "I rejoice in the privilege of presenting to the young and rising generation some basic concepts about the deepest and most profound doctrine of the gospel. It is the first principle of revealed religion, the great cornerstone upon which all else rests, the foundation for all of the doctrines of salvation. I shall speak of what the revealed word calls the mystery of godliness. If our vision is blurred where this doctrine and these concepts are concerned, or, if knowingly or unknowingly we have fallen prey to any of the false sectarian notions that abound with reference to them, our progress toward eternal life will be slow indeed. Comprehending the Mystery of Godliness A mystery, so the dictionary says, is “something beyond human comprehension.” Defining the word from a theological standpoint, it says a mystery is “an article of faith beyond human comprehension, as the doctrine of the Trinity.” How apt this illustration is! If there was ever something beyond human comprehension, it is the sectarian doctrine of the Trinity. This doctrine defines God and the Godhead as a three-in-one spirit essence that fills the immensity of space; it teaches that it and they are without body, parts, or passions; it acclaims that it and they are unknown, unknowable, and uncreated, and specifies, in the creeds, that unless we believe all these things we cannot be saved. It is true that finite man cannot comprehend his Infinite Maker in the full sense of the word. We cannot tell how gods began to be or from whence existent matter came. But we are duty-bound to learn all that God has revealed about himself and his everlasting gospel. If we are to gain eternal life we must come to know the Great God and his Only Begotten, whom he sent into the world. And this probationary estate is the appointed time to begin to know God, and to learn his laws, and thereby to start the process of becoming like him. If we do not so begin we shall never receive the promised reward. Because God stands revealed or remains forever unknown, and because the things of God are known only by the power of the Spirit, perhaps we should redefine a mystery. In the gospel sense, a mystery is something beyond carnal comprehension. The saints are in a position to comprehend all mysteries, to understand all doctrine, and eventually to know all things. These high levels of intelligence are reached only through faith and obedience and righteousness. A person who relies on the intellect alone and who does not keep the commandments can never, worlds without end, comprehend the mystery of godliness. There is probably more ignorance and confusion as to the mystery of godliness than there is about any other doctrine. As set forth in the three creeds of Christendom—the Nicene, the Apostles', and the Athanasian, which God himself said were an abomination in his sight—and as defined in the articles of religion of the various denominations, this doctrine is a mass of confusion and a mountain of falsity. Even in the Church, thanks to a lack of knowledge and to intellectuality and the worldly enticement to conform to the general beliefs of an apostate Christendom, there are those who have fallen prey to many false delusions about deity. By way of illustration let us note some of the problems. Who and What Is God? Is there a God? If so, who or what is he? Is he the laws and forces of nature? Or an image of mud or gold? Or is he Baal, the resurrected son of El to whom the Canaanites offered human sacrifices? Is he Allah or Buddha or the confusing and contradictory nothingness described in the creeds of Christendom? Is there such a thing as the Trinity in which the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three gods, and, yet one god, a god who neither hears, nor speaks, nor appears, as did the one worshipped by the ancients? Is God omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, or are these descriptive designations part of the legends of sectarianism? Are there three gods or one? Why does Jesus say his Father is greater than he, and Paul say Jesus is equal with the Father? Why the great scriptural emphasis on proclaiming that three gods are one, and that the Lord our God is one Lord?   Zach Williams, Dolly Parton - There Was Jesus (Official Music Video) https://youtu.be/37wV6D49iEY 28,810,460 views Apr 23, 2020 Zach Williams 828K subscribers Watch the official music video for “There Was Jesus” with Dolly Parton now. Listen to #ThereWasJesus everywhere: https://ZachWilliams.lnk.to/RescueSto... Check out my new Christmas album, I Don't Want Christmas to End: https://ZachWilliams.lnk.to/IDontWant... Connect with me: Email List: https://ZachWilliams.lnk.to/EmailSign... Facebook: https://ZachWilliams.lnk.to/facebookTm Twitter: https://ZachWilliams.lnk.to/ZWtwitterTm Instagram: https://ZachWilliams.lnk.to/ZWinstagr... Website: https://ZachWilliams.lnk.to/websiteTm There Was Jesus   Every time I tried to make it on my own Every time I tried to stand and start to fall All those lonely roads that I have travelled on There was Jesus   When the life I built came crashing to the ground When the friends I had were nowhere to be found I couldn't see it then but I can see it now There was Jesus   In the waiting, in the searching In the healing and the hurting Like a blessing buried in the broken pieces  Every minute, every moment Of where I been and where I'm going Even when I didn't know it Or couldn't see it There was Jesus   For this man who needs amazing kind of grace For forgiveness at a price I couldn't pay I'm not perfect so I thank God every day There was Jesus   On the mountain in the valleys (There was Jesus)  In the shadows of the alleys (There was Jesus) In the fire, in the flood (There was Jesus) Always is and always was I never walk alone   There Was Jesus Every time I tried to make it on my own Every time I tried to stand and start to fall All those lonely roads that I have travelled on There was Jesus When the life I built came crashing to the ground When the friends I had were nowhere to be found I couldn't see it then but I can see it now There was Jesus In the waiting, in the searching In the healing and the hurting Like a blessing buried in the broken pieces Every minute, every moment Of where I been and where I'm going Even when I didn't know it Or couldn't see it There was Jesus For this man who needs amazing kind of grace For forgiveness at a price I couldn't pay I'm not perfect so I thank God every day There was Jesus On the mountain in the valleys (There was Jesus) In the shadows of the alleys (There was Jesus) In the fire, in the flood (There was Jesus) Always is and always was I never walk alone Music by Zach Williams and Dolly Parton performing “There Was Jesus” (Official Music Video). #ZachWilliams #ChristianMusic #DollyParton

I love being the pastor of Jerusalem Church in the small town of Manheim, PA. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. My desire is that this podcast serves my local church well. I also want to reach outside the bounds of my church. In my experience, many local churches and the Christians in them have moved away from the historical and ecumenical creeds (Apostles', Nicene, Athanasian) and Reformed confessions/catechisms. This has left the church somewhat confused about what it believes and how it should live. Kevin DeYoung wrote a book titled The Good News We Almost Forgot: Rediscovering the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism. It's a book about the Heidelberg Catechism. Many people, including Reformed/Presbyterian Christians, have forgotten the usefulness of the Heidelberg Catechism and the ancient creeds. I would love to be part of a resurgence of these invaluable resources. My hope is that this podcast will encourage and deepen the Word and sacraments ministry of my local church and other local churches.

Dr. R. Scott Clark of Westminster Seminary California guides us through the indispensable through the 44 articles of the Athanasian Creed which explore the mysteries of the Trinity and the essential Christological doctrines. "This is the catholic faith: which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved."  https://heidelblog.net/athanasian/  

We close out our conversations on the creeds by talking about the Athanasian creed (which isn't really a creed nor was it written by Athanasius) plus we highlight an ancient heresy and Lisa delights to learn Jon was wrong* in a previous episode.   Notes *Thanks to Jaan Sass for clearing up (in a FB message) that the updated eCP app subscription is $9.99 per year, not per month Also thanks to listener Kristen Burkholder for composing, singing, and sharing the new "Stump the Priest" theme song! Episcopal Dictionary https://episcopalchurch.org/library/glossary/all BCP Online https://www.bcponline.org Visit us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/subversiveundercroft   Music Be Thou My Vision, Jaimie Jorge We Walk by Faith, St John's, LA, Choir  

The Morning Meditation Podcast is brought to you by HardwareOnTheSquare.com. Hardware on the Square is the only hardware store with a Pizza Restaurant right inside. Come in and we can mix your custom paint color while you enjoy some of the best pizza in Texas. It would be a big favor to me if you would follow us on your favorite podcast player app and leave an objective review of our show.https://www.hardwareonthesquare.com/podcastHardware On The Square would love your feedback. Post a review to our profile.https://g.page/hardwareonthesquare75972/review?gmHardware On The Square - Broaddus would love your feedback. Post a review to our profile.https://g.page/hots-broaduss/review?gm(936) 275-9474(936) 872-3227San Augustine Lumber | Hardware on the Square is the only place to get lumber in San Augustine county. Please come by and visit with us any time. The experience is worth the visit!#SanAugustinePizzaRestaurant#SanAugustineLumber#SanAugustineCoffeeShop#SanAugustineHardwareTHE POWER TO BECOME SONS OF GOD John 1:10-13Verses 10-13 say, “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”John says “He was in the world.” The verb “he was” is an imperfect tense referring to continuous action in the past. John did not use the aorist tense and gather up the whole history of his Lord's stay on earth in a point of time. He used the imperfect tense suggesting the continuous exposure of Jesus to the world over the period of His life and ministry. John adds, “and the world was made by him.” The Creator was in human flesh. The natural man never accepts the teaching of the Scriptures when they present truth like this. It gave the lost religious leaders of Jesus day a problem and it gives unsaved men the same problem today. One of the identifying marks of a cult is that they do not believe in the deity of Christ. Several will argue with you that they do. But they do not believe that Jesus is God incarnate in the flesh. They deceive by the use of their own private definitions to the old terms. This way they can say, “We believe in the virgin birth.” But they do not believe what true Christians believe when they say the same. The Athanasian creed says, “Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation: that he also believe rightly [faithfully] in the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess: that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; God, of the Substance [essence] of the Father; begotten before the worlds: and Man, of the Substance [essence] of his Mother, born in the world. Perfect God: and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father, as touching his Godhead: and inferior to the Father as touching his Manhood. Who although he be [is] God and Man; yet he is not two, but one Christ. One; not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh: but by taking [assumption] of the Manhood into God. One altogether; not by confusion of Substance [essence]: but by unity of Person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man: for God and Man is one Christ.”Man wants to believe in a god that is subject to his rational thought. A god of this kind is not god at all. Then John adds, “and the world knew him not.” The word “knew” (ginosko) according to the Linguistic Key means, “to know, to recognize, more than intellectual knowledge, rather ‘to be in right relation.'” This is a revelation of the spiritual bankruptcy of mankind. Think about the event of his birth and the things he did during his ministry that only God could do. Yet they did not recognize him. I have a problem that will illustrate. I will be looking for a book in my library and as I look for it on the shelves, it will be right before my eyes and I will not see it. Jesus was right before their eyes and to them he was just another man. This will give you a little glimpse of that to which the eternal Logos humbled himself. Next John says, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” The words “He came” (erchomai) means “to come from one place to another, and used both of persons arriving and of those returning.” Where did he come from? He came from heaven. He came from the bosom of the Father, and from the Holy City, and from the eternal now, outside of time separate from time, from a state of protection into which no foreign power could penetrate, and all the safety that that eternal place offers. He came from that place from which he spoke and the things we see and the things we cannot see suddenly appeared simply because he spoke the word. He came from that eternal place into time, and into a virgin womb, and into a stable, and into a hostile environment, and subjected himself as God manifested in the flesh to a world that didn't want him or recognize him. John said, “He came unto his own.” “His own” means his own nation; it means his own people whom he had raised up of the loins of Abraham and made of him a nation of people whom he had rescued as a slave people from Egypt and established them in the land of Canaan. “His own” refers to those he had given the Law and the Covenants. It refers to those to whom he had given the Scriptures. It refers to those beyond the borders of the nation of Israel because he was their creator to. “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” The words “received” (paralambano) means “to accept or acknowledge one to be such as he professes to be.” They did not accept or acknowledge him for what he claimed to be. This means they believed him to be an imposter. They believed him to be a liar. They received him not.Next John says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” The words “But as many as” identifies a group different from a world who rejected him and refused to receive him. This group identifies all the saved. John says, “to them gave he power to become the sons of God.” The words “gave he” is an aorist active indicative verb. The active voice means that he made the choice to do it. The word “power” (exousia) means “authority.” He had the right as God manifest in the flesh tomake such a gift. I'll never forget a preacher in Oklahoma City who had a man come forward in a service and give him a check for one million dollars. It got into the papers. They rejoiced in this great gift. But in a short time they realized this man was an imposter. He did not have the resources or the right to make such a gift. What a disappointment! What embarrassment that the preacher had fallen for such as this! Jesus did have the resources and the right to give those who received him the power to become the sons of God. Then John adds, “even to them that believe on his name.” This is what those who received did in the process of receiving him, they believe on his name. Every verb and verb form in this verse is aorist tense except this one. The verb “received” means that they did this at a point of time. The word “gave” is aorist tense and means that Jesus gave them at that point of time the power to become the sons of God. The words “to become” are an aorist infinitive and speak of a point of time in the past. But the word “believe” is a present active participle. It is saying that those who received him continue to believe. I have a part of my past that it not a good story to tell. It was a time when I got away from the Lord and did not serve him. This went on for a period of about eight years. But I can tell you that I never ceased to believe in Jesus. I knew I was wrong. But I never ceased to believe in Jesus. A believer will always be a believer. If you have faith in the circumstances of your religion, you may become an apostate to that faith. If you have your faith in your church, you may become an apostate to that church. If you have faith in Christ, there will never be a reason to disbelieve in him. Paul said in Roman 10:11, “For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” The word “ashamed” means that one will never be embarrassed that he put his faith in Christ.May the Lord bless each of you.Don't forget to visit HardwareOnTheSquare.com and find out more about our amazing service and the only Pizza Restaurant in San Augustine Texas.

In this episode, Arnie and Fred discuss what the Bible says about human traditions, doctrines and creeds. We talk about the three main creeds, their influence upon the denominational churches and the result of the same which is primarily to replace the actual gospel teaching from the Bible. Creeds address only the interests of the uninspired councils that produce them. We note that the original text of the New Testament remains unaltered from generation to generation, unlike creeds that are often revised or replaced.  We discuss the completeness of the New Testament and its inspiration. We also note that Jesus condemns any tampering of it. Take about 30 minutes to listen in on our conversation. Have your Bible handy so you can verify that we are in fact noting what the Bible says about the subject.

It's not just hard to understand that Jesus Christ is, at the same time, God and man.  Jesus is both perfect God and perfect man, and it's difficult for sinners to understand a perfect man - but that's exactly who Jesus Christ is, and He's perfect God as well!  Our reason and logic can't contain God, but we read the Scriptures to say as much as Scripture reveals about God as we can. Rev. David Oberdieck, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Lebanon, Missouri and chaplain in the United States Army Reserve, joins guest host Rev. Peter Ill to discuss the second part of the Athanasian creed, especially as it confesses the truth of Jesus Christ. Listen to the first part of the Athanasian Creed conversation from last week at kfuo.org/2021/03/23/concord-matters-032321-worshipfully-confessing-the-athanasian-creed.

On the Name "Lutheran." By Larry Beane “I ask that my name be left silent and people not call themselves Lutheran, but rather Christians. Who is Luther? The doctrine is not mine. I have been crucified for no one. St. Paul in 1 Cor. 3:4-5 would not suffer that the Christians should call themselves of Paul or of Peter, but Christian. How should I, a poor stinking bag of worms, become so that the children of Christ are named with my unholy name? It should not be dear friends. Let us extinguish all factious names and be called Christians whose doctrine we have. The pope's men rightly have a factious name because they are not satisfied with the doctrine and name of Christ and want to be with the pope, who is their master. I have not been and will not be a master. Along with the church I have the one general teaching of Christ who alone is our master. Matt. 23:8.” — MARTIN LUTHER, 1522, *ADMONITION AGAINST INSURRECTION* The name “Lutheran” was coined as a pejorative by the papal theologian Johann Eck some time between 1520 and 1522. It was also used by Pope Hadrian VI, the successor to Leo X. The intent was to give the impression that “Lutheranism” was a heresy named after Luther - the way “Arianism” was named after Arius, and “Montanism” was named after Montanus, etc. The above quote, in response to this use of the term “Lutheran,” registers Dr. Luther's vehement objection. The word “Lutheran” never appears in our Book of Concord. The word “Evangelical”, used as an adjective to describe either our churches or our faith, appears eight times. The word “catholic” appears thirteen times (not counting its use in the ecumenical creeds). In fact, the Lutheran Church is referred to as “the true and genuine catholic Church” in the signature block of the Treatise. And yet, with all of the above duly noted, Charles Porterfield Krauth points out, citing Gerhard, that “in the ancient Church the Arians styled those who held the true faith as Athanasians.” Of course, the popular name of the Quicunque Vult - the Athanasian Creed - uses this term “Athanasian” in this way, as Athanasius did not write it and was long dead by the time it was written. The Third Ecumenical Creed reflects the “Athanasian” faith - that is, the Orthodox, Catholic, Nicene faith - over and against the Arian faith. As Krauth cites Gerhard: We do not call ourselves Lutherans, but are so styled by our enemies, and we permit it as a token of our consent with the pure teaching of the word which Luther set forth. We suffer ourselves to bear his name, not as of one who has invented a new faith, but of one who has restored the old, and purified the Church [emphasis original]. Moreover, not all Lutheran churches in the world are called “Lutheran.” Krauth points out that: In Poland and Hungary, the official title of our communion is ‘CHURCH OF THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION,' and this is the name which, on the title-page of the Form [sic] of Concord, and repeatedly within it, is given to our churches. This way of describing themselves remains true among Lutheran bodies in modern Poland and Slovakia - though neither of these church bodies is in fellowship with the LCMS. So should we continue to use the name today? Our confession has been known around the world as “Lutheran” for nearly five centuries. It is a kind of shorthand that identifies us as churches of the Augsburg Confession, and serves to separate us from the Reformed and Anabaptist wings of the Reformation. The name has stuck to us the way that taunts from the enemy often do in wartime, as with the British taunt of “Yankee Doodle” to mock the “Yankee” army, and with the Yankee taunt of “Rebel” to mock the Confederate “Rebels” less than a century later. Though these names were put upon them by their opponents, sometimes the name sticks - and what was intended as a banner of shame becomes a banner of solidarity. There is a contemporary trend to eschew the name “Lutheran” in LCMS churches - although I have never seen an example of such a congregation replacing “Lutheran” with “Church of the Augsburg Confession.” In every case that I have seen, removing “Lutheran” is a distancing of the congregation from the confessional label out of fear of alienating potential new members. Perhaps it is seen as stodgy and incongruous with a more modern “spiritual but not religious” culture. Rather than adopting a historical description of our confession as an alternative to “Lutheran,”, such as “Evangelical” or “Catholic,” the move seems to be one of disassociating of oneself from the idea of being a “Lutheran” church. I have never seen a liturgical, traditional, and confessional congregation drop the name Lutheran. I have seen this phenomenon among “big box,” non-liturgical, and non-traditional churches. In this context, it is as though a child changes his last name because he is ashamed of his family, or especially doesn't want to be associated with his father, or with other relatives who bear the same name. It certainly gives the impression that the name is sullied, and implies a sense of the desire to separate oneself from those who continue to be thus identified. I know of one congregation that was recently renamed nearly a hundred years into its history, in which not only “Lutheran” was removed, but even the name of God was taken out of the non-committal, generic new name - which reflects merely the neighborhood where the church is located. Needless to say, this is not a congregation where Gottesdienst would be available to pick up in the narthex on the way out, though it was a formerly traditional congregation. Another example is an LCMS congregation whose impressive website never mentions the word “Lutheran.” The “Who We Are” tab says that the congregation “is a place to belong as you change, and change as you follow Jesus. We want to help people realize all God has for them in a life-changing relationship with Jesus, give people a safe place to belong, and teach people what it means to follow Jesus.” Their values are: "Prayer, Applications of Scripture, Spiritual Growth, Integrity, Outreach, Families, Small Groups.” The list of values does not include the Cross, the Gospel, Holy Baptism, the Lord's Supper, or the Resurrection. Their mission statement is equally bland and bereft of the cross, mentioning “change” and “relationship.” There are “Weekend Worship Experiences” and “Wednesday Experiences.” Yet another example is a very old congregation that used to bear the name of one of the apostles followed by the name “Lutheran Church.” A few years ago, they made a big deal of their new generic name that has excised both the apostle's name and the name “Lutheran.” Their website shows a huge stage as well as scenes of multitudes of laughing boomers drinking coffee in Starbuck's style plastic cups. Their “About Us” includes their “Approach” which is fourfold: “Unconditional Acceptance, True to Life Approach, Inspiring Connections, and God Directed Journey. “ Neither Jesus nor the cross are mentioned, though they do mention “messages, music, and traditional practices like baptism and communion,” the latter of which is a twice a month affair. Under “What we believe,” there is a begrudging nod to both Lutheranism and the LCMS, as the congregation was “born out of the Lutheran (LCMS) tradition.” That kind of sounds like it is a spinoff of Lutheranism rather than an actual Lutheran church. They also acknowledge their history, beginning with the quote: “The only constant is change” and an invitation to learn more about the congregation's history at “Legacy Hall.” Holy Communion is offered to “all who share in our profession of the Christian faith are encouraged to partake in Holy Communion, provided they Have received Christian Baptism (Acts 2:36-38), Recognize and confess their sinfulness (Proverbs 28:13; 1 John 1:8-9), Forgive others (Matthew 5:21-24; Matthew 6:12) Believe the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ are truly present, offered under forms of bread and wine (1 Corinthians 10:16; 1 Corinthians 11:27-29) They also note that “Non-alcoholic wine is offered in the blue section of the communion trays and gluten-free wafers are also available at all communion stations for those with special needs.” I recently ran across another LCMS parish that did not change its name, but its online presence omits the word “Lutheran” in its title and logos. This congregation's self-description lists six “core values,” and not one of them nor their explanations mentions anything about Jesus. These “Core Values” are: “Acceptance… Compassionate Community… Spirit-Led Bible-Based Lutheran Church [that one is a surprise]… Worship… Transformation… Passing on the Passion.” At least they used the name “Lutheran” buried here in the fine print, but as for me, I think that I will indeed “pass on the passion.” They aren't referring to the suffering and death of our Lord. The world has a very different connotation about “passion,” and it is usually a cheesy marketing word. Not only is Jesus missing from these “Core Values,” so is the Gospel. This same congregation also lists six “Worship Values,” and they are: “Non-Judgemental [sic], Biblical Preaching, Good Music, Casual Dress, Fellowship, Fun.” I'm not sure how Law and Gospel (Biblical) preaching can happen without the judgment of the law being part of the equation, nor can I wrap my head around the “Worship Value” that worship is supposed to be “fun.” And how did something so pedestrian and banal as “Casual Dress” become one of the Six Chief Parts of Worship? Most of the congregations that have dropped the name “Lutheran” have dropped the Lutheran liturgy, replacing it with some form of pop-culture entertainment worship, complete with a stage, drum kit, mixing boards, guitars, and emoting vocalist - calling to mind the popular non-denominational or charismatic worship that is big on ginning up emotion but light on the incarnational presence of Christ in Word and Sacrament. Many such churches that have excised the name “Lutheran” make it a point to celebrate the Sacrament of the Altar (such as it is) infrequently - not unlike those confessions that see it only as symbolic. It gives the impression that they are not only ashamed of their confessional subscription, but even of the Eucharist itself. At very least, it didn't make the cut in the above Core Values or Worship Values. One thing that I have noticed that binds all of these rejecters of the name Lutheran is that their worship does not call to mind our shared confession of Apology 24:1: In our churches Mass is celebrated every Sunday and on other festivals when the sacrament is offered to those who wish for it after they have been examined and absolved. We keep traditional liturgical forms, such as the order of the lessons, prayers, vestments, etc. (Tappert translation) Nor do they embody the spirit of the Augustana 24:1 Falsely are our churches accused of abolishing the Mass; for the Mass is retained among us, and celebrated with the highest reverence. (McCain translation) So insofar as those who distance themselves from the name “Lutheran” - and thus distance themselves from the rest of the family who retain our old and venerable name - maybe it is a blessing that they are not readily identified as Lutheran. In removing the name Lutheran, they are mercifully relieving the rest of us of being lumped in with them, at least at first glance. Yes, indeed, there is always something to be thankful for. At some point, perhaps they will, as St. Paul put it in Galatians 5:12, go all the way and cut themselves off in more than name only.

Is the Rapture different from the Second Coming of Jesus or is it all one and the same? To answer this question we will look at the Apostles creed the Nicean creed and the Athanasian creed. We look at testimony from scripture. By the time we are all done we will have noticed seven distinctions between the Rapture and the second comimg.

Title: Disturbers of the Peace Text: I Timothy 6:2c-5 FCF: We often struggle remaining united in truth. Prop: Because false teachers selfishly cause strife, we must teach and exhort the truth. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to I Timothy chapter 6. I am so happy to finally be back to expositing a passage of scripture. Certainly, there is a place for topical sermons that are done in a way that draws the meaning out of the text. And for the last three weeks we’ve talked about some fairly necessary things. But it is good to come back to I Timothy to finish out Paul’s message to his protégé. At the beginning of the book, Paul writes to prepare Timothy for the work that will be required there in Ephesus. His primary message to Timothy, is to preach the gospel. The reason? Because there are false teachers that are attempting and have succeeded in gaining an audience there. They have mythicized the Old Testament and desiring to be teachers of the law, they have polluted core truth and caused much division, strife, and disunity. Church order is undone, leadership has been handed to the unqualified, and people are not living as gospel-formed people. So Paul, in the middle of the book, reminds Timothy that the church is the pillar and bedrock of the truth. That he is writing to Timothy to instruct him on how the church is to live as the Family of God. That the gospel is not a set of things we believe, but rather a truth we have received, a truth that continues to change us, more and more into new image bearers of our God and King. In chapter 5, we see that gospel work in action. Paul describes how the church should love, honor, and care for each other. And now, Paul will turn his attention back to the thoughts from the first chapter. In fact, if you set chapter 1 and chapter 6 side by side, there are remarkable similarities. Paul goes back to the false teachers. Back to their danger. And back what to do about it. I’ll start reading in the last part of verse 2 from the NET, which you can follow in the pew bible on page 1340. Transition: Let us once again familiarize ourselves with the plight of the Ephesian Church. I.) Those who do not cling to sound teaching are arrogant and sickly, so we must teach and exhort the true gospel. (2c-4b) a. [Slide 2] 2c – Teach them and exhort them about these things i. Coming out of this entire section revolving around how the church should operate toward one another in light of the gospel, Paul commands Timothy to teach and exhort his people about these things. ii. Gospel changed people are to be a loving, respecting, serving, supporting, honoring kind of people toward one another, their leadership, and even toward outsiders. iii. This is all because the gospel has invaded their hearts and changed them into new people. People who treat each other like family, who care for each other, and who rebuke each other when necessary. iv. This phrase serves as a transition to get back to Paul teaching Timothy directly. v. He is reminding Timothy the reason he must continue to teach and exhort these things. Why? vi. Because there is a problem there in Ephesus. b. [Slide 3] 3 – If someone spreads false teachings i. Paul introduces a conditional statement here – an if…then statement. However, because of how it is used, this does not introduce the concept of uncertainty. Instead, it is the opposite. If this is true, the second is true also. ii. So what is the protasis – what is the first truth? iii. Well it has 3 parts that we’ll address individually. iv. The first is if someone/anyone spreads false teaching. Certainly, the NET hits the nail on the head here, however in Greek this is simply “different” teaching. Heterodox. Teaching that has not been received. Perhaps we could even say – “new” v. This dovetails nicely with Paul’s command to Timothy to continue to teach and exhort what? The things I have already taught. The things you have received from me. vi. So the first element to this conditional statement is if there is someone in the church who spreads teachings that are not familiar, that are new, that are foreign or added teachings. vii. What else… c. [Slide 4] And does not agree with sounds words (that is, those of our Lord Jesus Christ) i. The second part of this conditional statement is not simply that they add to the teachings that have been received – but also that they reject or deny certain teachings. What kinds you may ask? ii. They deny the sounds words, or healthy words of our Lord Jesus Christ. iii. Sounds words are those of Christ. Now we shouldn’t be so exclusive here that we say that only the red-letter words are the ones that we need to absolutely agree with. Indeed, John calls Jesus the Word, and the scriptures as a whole are called the Word of God or the Word of Christ. God breathing revelation happened primarily through His Son, the God-Man, the Word who became flesh and dwelt among men. iv. So, when we talk about Jesus’ words, what we need to see is the scriptures as a whole. And even from that, we can reasonably include the universally accepted doctrines of the true church of God. If I can be so bold, not only the scriptures themselves but even the accepted interpretation of those scriptures. What easily fits into this list is not just the early creeds (Apostles, Athanasian, Nicaean) but even the 5 solas of the reformation regarding salvation. That it is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as revealed by scripture alone, for the glory of God alone. v. And one more piece of information is necessary too. Anything that the church has officially met and declared to be heresy, should be denied. vi. Although we must be careful what we add to this list - in my estimation, if you deny anything from the scriptures, these creeds, the 5 Solas, or accept any of the heresies, you cannot be a Christian. vii. So we’ve seen two components of Paul’s conditional statement, viii. But…there is actually one more component that Paul sees in the “take away from” category that is quite profound. d. [Slide 5] And with the teaching that accords with godliness i. Although the wording is difficult here, the NET translates the meaning well. Teaching that accords with, or produces godliness. ii. Which is exactly what Paul has been saying this entire time. It is exactly the crux of the entire letter here and even the New Testament as a whole. The gospel produces godliness in someone. That is why Timothy must continue to teach and exhort these things, because they are the predictable outcome of one changed by God’s grace. iii. They may deny this by stating that a person need not be godly. They may also deny this by saying that a person needs more than the truth they have received to be truly godly. iv. And right there you have the two terrible enemies of the early church – legalism and license. Either you need more than Christ to make you live a godly lifestyle, or you don’t need to live a godly lifestyle because Christ has freed you from that obligation. v. And in half a conditional statement, without knowing the end, Paul has effectively undone them both. vi. So if a person adds to what we have received, and if they deny parts of what we have received, and if they deny the power of what we have received to make us godly people… vii. What is the apodosis? What is thing that is true if someone is like this? e. [Slide 6] 4 – he is conceited and understands nothing, but has an unhealthy interest in controversies and verbal disputes. i. Conceited means puffed up, the word translated “and” here would probably be even – he is arrogant even though he knows nothing. This is analogous to chapter 1 where they desire to be teachers of the law even though they do not understand what they teach. ii. To have so fully rejected the core tenants of the faith, by adding to them, denying the words of Christ, and godliness producing teaching, is to reveal a teacher who is high minded, puffed up, and proud. They have so convinced themselves that they know better. iii. The irony is, that while claiming and even appearing to have knowledge… they are actually oblivious to real truth. iv. They understand nothing, Paul says. v. Instead, they have a craving, a sickly or unhealthy desire for what? vi. Controversy and verbal disputes. vii. Being so puffed up, and not understanding truth – such a man cannot abide any who would disagree. Indeed, they would wrangle and fight over the slightest of variation in words. viii. I have two extended quotes to read 1. The first is from a commentator named Phillip Graham Ryken – 252-253 (Eschew means to avoid) 2. The second is from an early church Father named Chrysostom who lived during the late 4th century and early 5th century. – pg 210 ix. It is possible to have much knowledge and know nothing. What is a symptom of that being true? A morbid and sickly fascination with controversies and verbal disputes. f. [Slide 7] Passage Truth: i. Paul’s exhortation to Timothy comes first, but what follows is the sad reason for it. ii. The truth Paul presents is that those who would spread added teachings to what Christ through Paul has already said, reject the sound doctrines of the scriptures and the apostles, and reject teaching that produces godliness, are men who are self-promoters, who know much but understand nothing. iii. And they will only fight and dispute – because they crave it. iv. It makes them look all the wiser when they are able to disarm and destroy others. g. Passage Application: i. The application then is that Timothy must continue to teach and preach the truth of the gospel message. ii. That Christ alone is the purchase of our pardon and our freedom from sin. That is why when someone receives teaching about him, it produces godliness. Because that teaching is true. iii. And it doesn’t come from self-serving teachers who desire controversy – in fact they would very much like to be left in peace. But the gospel they teach is controversial, so they often find no peace at all. h. [Slide 8] Broader Biblical Truth: i. So for us we must understand that the true gospel produces humble people who obey God and love one another despite differences of opinion on small matters. ii. But false teaching produces the opposite. False teaching rejects sound doctrine and godliness- producing-teaching in favor of teaching that argues, disputes, and desires to magnify the teacher over the thing being taught. iii. Zooming out in all of scripture we saw this in the judges – when everyone did what was right in their own eyes, and most readily we saw it with the Pharisees. They desired to examine and multiply words, primarily so they could be seen as pious people worthy of admiration. They were self-serving people who cared nothing of godliness and truth. They simply wanted to argue and fight over added words and denied teachings. iv. And today is no different. Teachers abound who desire to be seen as the teacher. The theologian. The one with the answers. v. They want to be the innovator. They want to be the novel theologian. They want to invent new teachings and new understandings of long held truths. They add to the truth because the truth is foolishness on its own. So, they must explain it more fully so people can truly grasp it. And of course, they need a teacher to show them. vi. They also want to be the one taking away the stumbling block of Christ. One who wants to go back and question everything. One who wants to pluck out doctrines long held – why? Because they know better than generations of Christians before them. Has God actually said we need to be holy people? Do we really need Jesus to be human? Or Divine? Maybe works play a part in the way we are saved. Maybe God only made it possible for us to be saved by Christ and not assured to be saved by Christ. i. Broader Biblical Application: i. So for us we must also be sure to teach and exhort the truth. ii. That the teachings of Christ may dwell in us richly. iii. That we see godliness as a result of our doctrinal precision. iv. This is a both and not either-or kind of situation. v. We must have the right gospel that produces righteous people. vi. We must be so careful to stay true to what we have been given, neither adding to it, nor taking from it. Transition: [Slide 9 (blank)] But what is the result of these arrogant men, who desire controversy and verbal battles? II.) Those who do not cling to sound teaching sow ungodly discord, so we must teach and exhort the true gospel (4c-5a) a. [Slide 10] 4c – This gives rise to envy, dissension, slanders, evil suspicions i. What does a conceited man who understands nothing, yet has a sickly desire for controversy and verbal disputes lead to? ii. All sorts of ungodliness and disunity. A person with this foundation cannot possibly fit well in the true church of Christ. A church unified in one faith as proclaimed by the enduring Word of God. A Word that changes us to be more and more like Christ. iii. Proverbs 26:21 – Like charcoal is to burning coals, and wood to a fire, so is a contentious person to kindle strife. iv. They are not satisfied until everyone sees it their way. And in that spirit they will be supremely envious when others have the ear of the people more than they do. v. They will desire to be the one heard. They will sow discord and cause division. They will accuse people of all sorts of sin. And they will demonize the motives of people. b. [Slide 11] 5a – and constant bickering by people corrupted in their minds and deprived of the truth, i. They are so conceited that it is not enough to add to what has been revealed, it is not enough to deny the teachings of Christ and the fact that those truths produce godliness in His people… they can’t even agree in how to oppose this sound teaching. ii. They are corrupt in their minds and unable to know truth. iii. This is the doctrine of depravity. It is the normal condition of our hearts from birth, neither seeking God, nor His righteousness. And it is the condition of all those who teach falsely and reject Christ and His message of true change through the gospel. iv. But there is hope for those in Ephesus who know the truth, to recognize these people and their teaching and be able to escape being caught up in these controversies and debates. v. What is that hope? vi. That Timothy does what Paul has told him to. To teach and exhort these things. vii. That Timothy would teach the true gospel, which affirms the word of God and the teaching received by the apostles, which agrees with teaching that leads to people living godly lifestyles. viii. That is the antidote here. That will pull out those who know the truth from this hellish whirlpool. c. [Slide 12] Passage Truth: i. Paul has revealed the theological problems of the false teachers and their desire not for sound teaching but for controversial teaching – because they are arrogant and lacking understanding. ii. He adds to that picture their ungodly practices that flow from a heart that feels it is always right. iii. In short, it produces only discord and quarrels. Attacks against the body of Christ, and constant disputes with each other. d. Passage Application: i. His application to Timothy endures. ii. Teach the truth! Exhort the people in the gospel that I gave you and show them how that gospel changes their hearts. iii. This will prevent them from being sucked in to this quagmire of quarrelling. e. [Slide 13] Broader Biblical Truth: i. The rest of scripture agrees. Whenever we see people in scripture consumed with self, and loving to be known as the teacher – endless dispute and disunity abound. ii. Names are called, relationships severed, and unity is destroyed. iii. All in an effort to say – see, I told you so! iv. Many of the things the Pharisees and Sadducees challenged Christ with, were disputes they had among themselves. v. They figured if they couldn’t answer it – neither could He. vi. And how’d that turn out for them? vii. And what is the cause of this? A depraved mind. A mind that lacks the truth. Because as we saw in I John – when someone truly receives the truth, it unites them in love to others who have received the same. f. Broader Biblical Application: i. Applying this in our congregation is fairly simple. ii. May we be perpetual and humble students that sit at the feet of Christ learning of His goodness and kindness to us. Learning of His holiness and majesty. Learning by doing as we walk in His obedience. iii. It is that simple. May we continue to teach, exhort, and live the truth of the gospel of Christ. Transition: [Slide 14(blank)] But what is the motive of these kinds of people? We know they are conceited. We know they are proud and self-serving. But what are they trying to achieve? What is their goal? III.) Those who do not cling to sound teaching have baser motivations, so we must teach and exhort the true gospel (5b) a. [Slide 15] 5b - Who suppose that godliness is a way of making a profit. i. No matter where you turn in the pages of history, there have always been some who seek to profit from being known as a godly person. ii. Of course, Paul uses this term tongue-in-cheek. He will do a similar thing in the next verse with the word profit. iii. Afterall you cannot call it godliness if your motives are to fleece the sheep. iv. But here especially, we see one driving force for people desiring to be thought of as wise teachers. People desiring to be new thinkers and those with novel or innovative theology. v. They desire to gain from this. Whether that be power, prestige, or simply money. They want to be respected and cared for. They want to tickle those ears. vi. Do you think it is attractive to preach a message that denies the message by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, revealed in Scripture alone, for the glory of God alone? History teaches us that a message that denies any of these – is VERY appealing. vii. Do you think the message of a gospel that does not demand godliness as a necessary consequence of conversion is appealing? Again, history tells us – people desire greatly to have a Christless and lawless Christianity. viii. It seems like the message is either “You are enough” or “God needs you” or both. ix. What better way to draw a crowd than preach these messages they so desperately want to hear? x. And sadly – we have many of those in our country. Whether it be fame or fortune – preachers pursue that end. xi. But their desire produces quarreling and disputes. Why? xii. James 4:1-3 asks the question, from where do conflicts and quarrels come? They come from desires and passions. xiii. They come from desires that we have but cannot meet. Whether that be justice, equality, freedom, fairness, power or wealth. xiv. When we desire these things and do not have them we clamor for them. xv. So these men desire to be known as teachers, yet they are fools xvi. And so they quarrel and fight to their own destruction – all for what? xvii. Something earthy. Something worldly. Something like personal gain. xviii. I have one final commentary to read from today and it is a bit extended but I’d like you to listen. 1. He summarizes this whole section quite masterfully. 2. Barclay 126-128 – NO NYSSA - (abstruse – difficult to understand / recondite – little known / exchequer – iks checker – national treasury / meh -lank- thin) b. [Slide 16] Passage Truth: i. Paul taught that these people abandon sound teaching because they are arrogant, understanding nothing and love controversy. ii. He taught that where they go, discord and disunity is sure to follow iii. And to this he adds, and Timothy can be sure, the motivation for all their ungodly behavior and belief is something base. Something worldly. Something earthy. iv. They wish to gain in some way from how they live and what they teach. c. Passage Application: i. So Paul implores Timothy to teach the truth. ii. Exhort God’s people to live the gospel and cling to what they’ve been taught. iii. And be example to the people. iv. This will prevent them from being like these men, or succumbing to their lies. d. [Slide 17] Broader Biblical Truth: i. All of scripture testifies that the core of sin is idolatry. ii. Is it so surprising to think that the core of false teaching is self? iii. Whether you promote a false god, false religion, or distortion – the core is all about you. iv. And the pride, and controversy that follows only continues to prove that over and over again. v. Is it any wonder why so many that leave the faith do so when they have wealth, influence, or power? What does that reveal? It could reveal that wealth, influence, and power corrupt people. But we know better. In reality – that corruption is already part of us. vi. Perhaps it is what they desired all along. e. Broader Biblical Application: i. But true Christianity knows that the fact that we gain anything from the cross of Christ is a majestic gift of grace. ii. We know that in this life – we stand to lose… EVERYTHING for His sake. iii. WE ARE NOT WINNERS HERE! We are the worlds biggest losers. iv. You. Will. SUFFER for Him. v. So to the gospel we cling. WHY? Because it is all we have! It is the good news of a promise. A promise that Christ has rescued us from our sin. A promise that one day, though we lose everything… We will gain eternity with Him… NOT BECAUSE WE SUFFERED… vi. But because Christ suffered for us. vii. Hold fast to the gospel and desire nothing from this world so much that you lose your focus. Conclusion: To quickly summarize here. Paul tells Timothy, that although false teachers will come with new teachings that deny the truth they have received, and make godliness unnecessary; although they will love controversy and attempt to destroy unity and sow discord; although they come with motives of gain – they can be undone by simply teaching and exhorting the same truth that he has already received from Paul. In thinking of how to apply this to our church, I recalled the exact nature of the error of these men. Although it is difficult to know for sure, we surmised that their error in doctrine was primarily an error in their Eschatology. They had come to the conclusion, supported by genealogies and old testament myths, that they were living in the new kingdom after the resurrection, and were no longer bound by the old laws. It is such a subtle error, but with catastrophic implications. Today we look at views on eschatology as a non-separation issue. And I think we do that rightly. But when even less important teachings like eschatology start adding to the doctrines that we have received, denying doctrines we have received, and denying the gospel’s power to change our lifestyles… even something less important like erroneous Eschatology must be opposed. But how? See if it was eschatology our tendency would be to oppose it with our view of eschatology, right? Angelology vs. Angelology. Calvinism vs. Arminiansim. You get all your arguments on your side for why your right and I’ll get all my arguments on my side for why I’m right, and we’ll duke it out. But how does Paul advise we oppose different teaching that adds to, denies, or denies the power of the gospel? By teaching the truth. Because if you draw the battle lines and fight toe to toe on the points you disagree on – you will only entrench yourself in the view you already have. But when you go back to the gospel and preach what has been revealed. You can still correct the points that are wrong from a position of unity and authority. It isn’t me vs. you – it is your teachings vs. the gospel. The gospel is the reset button. As you know or may have guessed I am a Calvinist. I agree with the incorrectly named 5 points of Calvinism, primarily because I think that they best accommodate the teachings of scripture regarding our salvation. But my goal when approaching an Arminian, even one who is adding to, denying, or denying the power of the gospel, is not to see him converted to a Calvinist. Rather to affirm the 5 solas. To affirm the early creeds. To deny the heresies that the church has denied. In short, I am calling that Arminian to doctrinal fidelity of the unified church. And if he is able to do that and remain an Arminian – then praise the Lord! Why? Because it is not their Arminianism that I am dismantling. Rather it is the version of Arminianism that has caused them to walk out of step with the unified teachings of the gospel. And even if I still think that they’ve got some stuff messed up – If they affirm the scriptures, the early creeds, the solas, and deny the heresies… They are my brother. Our pursuit is not division but unity. And it is true that we unify under some very divisive truth. The gospel is an offense to the pagans and a stumbling block to pretending Christians. But we know that it unifies God’s people. Once again… our job as the church of Christ is crystal clear. Preach the gospel. Live the gospel. If we do that – our noses will be attuned to smell the stink of rotten theology. If we preach the gospel and live the gospel, we will recognize those who sow disunity with other teachings. Furthermore, we will be able to oppose them from the position of God’s untainted Word and not our opinion. May we at CBC be in the business of unity under truth and not division over words.

* So we did! Ha! 8/14/20 Update: The Cancel Culture got to our petition. Change.org took down our Russia Pulitizer petition because "it violated our Community Guidelines."  Right. By telling the truth (Gal. 4:16). See this now on BEL's List of When We've Been Dissed! 8/18 Update: Here's a knockoff petition! 8/20 Update: Now they squashed even the knockoff petition. Sheesh! * First Time BEL Takes a Trump Suggestion and This Happens: Earlier this week on the Fox News Channel on Hannity president Trump said, "Frankly, [somebody] ought to start a petition to return the Pulitzer prize because they were all wrong." So we did. Until change.org unceremonisously quashed our petition it was at change.org/p/ny-times-and-washington-post-must-return-russia-pulitzer. Here's a red-lettered screenshot: In Text: KGOV Petition NY Times and Washington Post Must Return Russia Pulitzer The New York Times and Washington Post connected hundreds of dots that had no actual connections in what Pulitzer ironically called their "deeply sourced, relentlessly reported coverage... of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and its CONNECTIONS to the Trump campaign..." Trump/Russian collusion is known today to be false including through the investigations of the Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the Senate Intelligence Committee, the House Intelligence Committee, and the Inspector General of the Justice Department. Rather, the actual collusion to interfere in the election was committed when Hillary Clinton spent millions purchasing the anonymous Russian disinformation that filled the falsified Steele dossier used by the Obama/Biden administration's weaponized law enforcement and intelligence communities to spy on their political opponents and attempt to undermine the election and their later attempt at a treasonous coup against a duly elected American president. Donald Trump on Aug. 11, 2020 said on Hannity on the Fox News Channel, "about Russia... the New York Times... and the Washington Post... they got the Pulitzer Prize. The Pulitzer Prize is worthless as far as I'm concerned..." Pulitzer Board, rescind the prize. NY Times, stop the lies. And with the Washington Post, return the prize. * Also on today's program: We discussed Obama's Safe School's Czar, our lawsuit announced on yesterday's program Bob Sues the Government, our brief email reply to a leftist anti-Trumper who's been trolling Bob, and Bob's reply to leftist listener who wrote in that Christians should all believe the earth is flat because the Bible says it's flat. * Obama's Safe School's director and GLSEN founder Kevin Jennings who promotes pedophiles through his praise of pedophilia advocate  Harry Hay who worked with NAMBLA (the North American Man/Boy Love Association dedicated to repeal age of consent laws and end the "opression of men and boys in consensual relationships"), who thanks the 25-year-old man who raped him when he was 14, and who wished that experience on other boys, sometimes saying, "13, 14, 15-year old kids [who] would be welcoming this", and at other times, lowering that age, as he did speaking publicly in San Francisco in a forum titled, Man/Boy Love and Sexual Liberation, "I think that the 12-year-old, 13-year-old boy approaching puberty knows [what] he needs... and he wants very much to reach out and find someone who will give this to him." Pervert freak. And Jennings is just as bad for honoring Hay, and Obama is worse for absurdly giving Jennings a "safe schools" appointment. (Find this at kgov.com/pedophiles, kgov.com/homos, and kgov.com/superfluous.) * Christian Religious Orders that Taught a Flat Earth: Which of the following Christian authorities and organizations taught the flat Earth? - Of Catholic religious orders...   (Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians, Benedictines, Trappists, Carmelites, etc.) - Of Protestant denominations...   (Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Congregationalists, Church of Christ, Baptists, etc.)  - Of Eastern Christianity...   (Eastern Orthodox, Oriental, Ethiopian, Eastern Catholic, Assyrian) - Of the Popes of the Roman Catholic Church...   (which among all 266 of them) - Of the councils...   (Jerusalem, Rome, Ephesus, Carthage, Antioch, Nicea, etc.) - Of the creeds...   (Apostles, Nicene, Chalcedonian, Athanasian, etc.) - Of the confessions   (Augsburg, Confession of Faith, Heidelberg, 95 Theses, Canons of Dordt, Westminster, etc.) - Of the Reformation's universities...   (Universities of Geneva, Jena, Leiden, Dublin, Groningen, Strasbourg, Utrecht, etc.) - Of the Christian-founded universities of the Middle Ages...   (Oxford, Cambridge, Universities of Paris, Bologna, Rome, Toulouse, Pisa, Orleans, Prague, Salamanca, Florence, Monpellier, Naples, Dublin, Vienna, Heidelberg, Cologne, Barcelona, Basel, Glasgow, Tübingen, Aberdeen, Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Bonaventure, St. Andrews, etc.) - Of the church's leading historical theologians and authors...   (Justin Martyr d. 165, Athenagros, 190, Clement 216, Tertullian 220, Origen 254, Cyprian 258, Athanasius 373, Basil 379, Gregory 395, Ambrose 397, Chrysostom 407, Jerome 420, Augustine 430, Cyril 444, Boethius 525, Gregory the Great 604, Anselm 1109, Hildegard 1179, Magnus 1280, Francis 1286, Bonaventure 1274, Aquinas 1274, John Duns Scotus 1308, William of Ockham 1347, Wycliffe 1384, Zwingli 1531, Erasmus 1535, Luther 1546, Servetus 1553, Ignatius 1556, Melanchthon 1560, Menno 1561, Calvin 1564, Knox 1572, John Foxe 1587, Arminius 1609, John Milton 1674, Owen 1683, John Bunyan 1688, Whitefield 1770, Wesley 1791, etc.) Answer: NONE OF THEM. If the Bible actually taught a flat Earth, and especially prior to Copernican heliocentrism, one would expect the church to have taught the flat Earth. But the Bible doesn't, and the church never has. Against the truth, millions of atheists, etc., continue to allege that the church has historically taught a flat earth either because those materialists are uneducated or because they are willing to make false accusations. See the links at rsr.org/flat-earth#prof for University of California history professor Dr. Jeffrey Russell's writings Inventing the Flat Earth and The Myth of the Flat Earth. Today though, combining the negative effects of social media with the low-quality science education of our public schools, and we have a global phenomenon whereby, as per above, 10% of the population of France (a secular society) is unsure about a spherical Earth, and remember, according to LiveScience the president of the Flat Earth Society Daniel Shenton is a Darwinist. (Find this at rsr.org/flat-earth.) * Bob Sues the Government: Bob Enyart, as the pastor of Denver Bible Church, along with pastor Joey Rhoads, of Brighton Colorado's Community Baptist Church, through their attorneys Rebecca Messall and Brad Bergford, have filed suit against the federal and state governments. If we here at BEL present this lawsuit in the vernacular using our typical talk-radio street-talk style, please don't hold that against our attorneys who have dotted every i and crossed every t. We've sued Steve Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury, Alex Azar, HHS Secretary, Chad Wolf, Homeland Security Secretary, and the vacant Office of the Governor, State of Colorado, and Jill Ryan, director of the Colorado Deparment of Health. DBC v. the Federal and Colorado Governments is case #1:20-cv-02362.  

The Creeds are those defining statements of core orthodox (small "o") Christian belief. They represent what the Church has believed, does believe, and should always believe as the foundational statements to our faith. But of course there's always some bones to pick among our three clerics. Do we use the creeds in liturgy? If so, how? What are their relationship to Scripture? And will Fr. Adam's goats make another appearance? So if words like "Athanasian" or "Niceno-Constantinopolitan" make you feel like asking the bartender for another round, then this episode is for you. If the first thing you thought of when you read the word "Creed" is Creed Bratton, then you might need this episode more than the rest of us.

200607 Trinity Drive in Service AudioTrinity Order of ServiceSermon manuscript:A creed is a statement of belief. The Christian Church has three creeds—the Apostle’s Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. All three of these creeds describe what Christians believe. All three of them describe the God in whom Christians believe. The shortest and simplest and oldest creed that we have as Christians is the Apostles’ Creed. This is the creed that we have been speaking on non-communion Sundays. It is also the creed that is in our Catechism. The other creed that we are quite familiar with is the Nicene Creed. We speak this creed on Communion Sundays. It is quite similar to the Apostles’ creed, but it goes into more detail about who Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is. One of the earliest controversies that arose after the death of the Apostles is how Jesus Christ is to be seen. There were some who thought that he wasn’t as fully God as God the Father. Some said that he was created and not eternal. The Nicene Creed is responding to these errors when it says of Jesus: “God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made.” Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary in time, according to his human nature. He is eternally begotten, and true God, according to his divine nature. This takes us to the third creed which we will speak later today. It is the longest and least familiar to us. From the way that the creed speaks, being so emphatic, you can tell that two mysteries are firmly laid out for us to believe in. There continues to be the concern that we’ve already mentioned—that Jesus Christ is true man, born of the Virgin Mary, and also true God, begotten of the Father from eternity. This is taken up in the second part of creed. The other mystery is in the first part of the creed. It has to do with the Triune nature of God. The words “Triune” and “Trinity” are not in the Bible. They were words that were made up by Christians to describe two facts that are clearly taught in the Bible. The first part of the word is “tri” as in “triangle.” A triangle has three angles or sides. The word “tri” means “three.” The Bible speaks clearly of there being three: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The second part of “Triune” or “Trinity” is “une,” as in “uno” or one. The Bible speaks of God as singular and as the only God—not three gods but one God. God says, “Behold, the Lord your God is one.” Therefore the words “Triune” or “Trinity” are like shorthand for what the Bible says. The Bible speaks of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Bible speaks of there being only one God, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. We naturally have difficulty with these mysteries because one of the ways that our brain is especially fond of operating is by relating whatever it is that we are talking about to something else that is already known. We like to put stuff into categories and compare and contrast them. Unfortunately this is something that we cannot do either with God or with Jesus Christ being true God and true man at the same time. The reason why we can’t categorize and compare and contrast with God or Jesus very well is because God and Jesus are absolutely unique. The word “unique” has that word “uno” in it, to which we have already referred. “Unique” means that there is only one of them. Since there is nothing like the Trinity where God is both three persons, but only one God, at the same time, and since there is nothing like Jesus Christ being true God and true man at the same time, our intellect has a hard time with this. It wants to be able to categorize and understand. And so it has been the case that there have been a great many people who have tried to figure out these mysteries over the history of the Christian Church. The reason why we have the careful, clarifying language that we do in both the Nicene and Athanasian creeds is so that only what the Bible has to say is what is believed—not adding to what the Bible has said, nor taking away from it either. As the Athanasian creed says, the catholic faith (which is another way of saying Christian faith) is to worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance. That is to say that we believe that God is one. At the same time we believe what the Bible reveals about this one God, that he is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.   It would be wrong to say, though, that the main thing about God is that we have to accept this puzzle of him being three in one and one in three. The reason why we affirm this is not because we like puzzles—either having puzzles or solving puzzles. We say what we do about God because it is how he has revealed himself to be. But you won’t find anywhere in the Scriptures where the concept of the Trinity is dwelt upon in and of itself so as to make sure that everybody has it straight—as though that were the main thing. What the Bible reveals about our God with much more emphasis is the way that he has made himself known to us in time. God making himself known to us creatures by his words and deeds is the real substance of our faith. It’s what the Bible talks about. God made himself known to the Israelites in the Old Testament. There is a great deal that we could say about that—after all, the whole Old Testament is about that. However, it was a foreshadowing and a prophecy of what was to come. God ultimately reveals himself and his intentions in his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. This is why the creeds spend more time on the second article than they do on the first and the third. For us and for our salvation, God sent his Son to be born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered and died under Pontius Pilate. On the third day he rose again from the dead and ascended into heaven. On the last day he will come again to judge the living and the dead. The fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Jesus’s words and actions you know God’s will toward this world that is otherwise damned for death and hell because of their sins. In our Gospel reading today we have such a clear statement to that effect, that it is known as the most important verse in the Bible: For God loved the world in this way, that he sent his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. In Jesus, who suffers and dies, you are shown God’s heart—his will—his desire for every man, woman, and child. His desire is that we should be set free from the devil, that we should be born again as his children through baptism, and live together with him in righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. God sends the Holy Spirit, together with the Gospel, so that when and where it pleases the Holy Spirit those who hear the Gospel may believe in Jesus, and not perish, but have eternal life. Amazingly, God has bound himself up together with us for our salvation. It is amazing that God should do this, for who or what are we? We, seemingly, are very insignificant. But evidently we are not. For God has loved us and saved us. This is the God in whom we believe. This is the God whom we confess in our three ecumenical creeds. I’m going to let this suffice for our teaching on the Trinity today. I’d like to take a moment now for us to reflect on the Sacrament of the Altar. For some of you it has been a long time since you have received the sacrament, and so it is good for us to consider what is taking place. The Lord’s Supper was instituted by Christ himself. He said that the bread is his body and the wine is his blood. Therefore, this is indeed the case. His true body and true blood are under the bread and wine for his Christians to eat and to drink. Jesus tells us why we do this as well in his words of institution. He says that his body and blood are given and shed for us for the forgiveness of our sins. We are poor, helpless, miserable sinners who can do nothing of ourselves. But Jesus offered his body and his blood as the great atoning sacrifice for all sinners on the cross. All sins are atoned for. All sins are forgiven in Jesus’s cross. Jesus gives you this body and blood to eat and to drink in the Sacrament so that you may know this, and believe this, and through faith in him be saved. In summary, I’d like to refer to the Christian Questions and Answers that are a part of our Catechism. St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians that as often as we eat the bread and drink the cup we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes again. The question is asked: Why should we remember and proclaim Jesus’s death? Answer: First, so that we may learn to believe that no creature could make satisfaction for our sins. Only Christ, true God and man, could do that. Second, we should remember and proclaim Jesus’s death in the Sacrament so that we may learn to be horrified by our sins and to regard them as very serious. Third, we remember and proclaim his death so that we may find joy and comfort in Christ alone, and through faith in Him be saved. God bless your reception of the Lord’s Supper today.

Despite being placed in all three of the essential Creeds of the Church (Nicene, Apostles,' Athanasian), the Ascension of Christ is overlooked by many modern Christians. Learn about this important observance and why it matters for us as believers.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” This sermon about the Athanasian Creed was preached on June 16, 2019, The Holy Trinity, by the Rev. Jeff VanOsdol at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Simpsonville, SC. The sermon texts are Acts 2:14a, 22-36 and John 8:48-59. The Athanasian and Nicene Creeds can be read here: https://www.lcms.org/about/beliefs/lutheran-confessions Connect with Immanuel at https://www.immanuellutheranchurch.com/.

This week we're going back into our vaults to dig out a previously unreleased episode. If you're part of the Christian faith, you may have heard of the Apostle's and Nicene Creeds, but did you know there's a third creed? Mr. Bob Orr guides us through the lesser known Athanasian Creed and provides a history of how and why it was developed.

In North Africa, Fulgentius of Ruspe defends the Nicenes against the return of Arian Persecution. In Gaul, Caesarius of Arles writes the first Western rule for Monastic Women. In Italy, Theodoric seeks to keep the peace between the Arians and the Nicenes. Plus, the Athanasian and Apostles’ Creeds. Links: Page from from the Arian Bible […]

Greer Apostolic Lutheran Church – Rutherford Road, Greer, SC. A lay preacher requested audience with the Board of Trustees to bring accusations of the preaching of false doctrine against Steve Anderson, also a lay preacher. The audience was granted on Thursday, September 7, 2011 where Steve was tried in abstentia for the Reformation doctrine he preaches. Steve was invited to Meeting 2 on Monday, September 12, 2011 to answer the charges. The Board voted 5-3 on Monday, September 19, 2011 to remove Steve from the ministerial rotation. The Board then scheduled a special congregational meeting on Friday, January 13, 2012 where the congregation heard the matter and voted 50­‐41 to not reinstate Steve as a servant unto them. The bylaws of the church hold doctrine to be the King James Bible, the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian creeds, the Augsburg Confession, and Luther’s Catechism. http://finnforge.blogspot.com/2012/05/grace-apostolic-lutheran-church-open.html

Greer Apostolic Lutheran Church – Rutherford Road, Greer, SC. A lay preacher requested audience with the Board of Trustees to bring accusations of the preaching of false doctrine against Steve Anderson, also a lay preacher. The audience was granted on Thursday, September 7, 2011 where Steve was tried in abstentia for the Reformation doctrine he preaches. Steve was invited to Meeting 2 on Monday, September 12, 2011 to answer the charges. The Board voted 5-3 on Monday, September 19, 2011 to remove Steve from the ministerial rotation. The Board then scheduled a special congregational meeting on Friday, January 13, 2012 where the congregation heard the matter and voted 50­‐41 to not reinstate Steve as a servant unto them. The bylaws of the church hold doctrine to be the King James Bible, the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian creeds, the Augsburg Confession, and Luther’s Catechism. http://finnforge.blogspot.com/2012/05/grace-apostolic-lutheran-church-open.html

Greer Apostolic Lutheran Church – Rutherford Road, Greer, SC. A lay preacher requested audience with the Board of Trustees to bring accusations of the preaching of false doctrine against Steve Anderson, also a lay preacher. The audience was granted on Thursday, September 7, 2011 where Steve was tried in abstentia for the Reformation doctrine he preaches. Steve was invited to Meeting 2 on Monday, September 12, 2011 to answer the charges. The Board voted 5-3 on Monday, September 19, 2011 to remove Steve from the ministerial rotation. The Board then scheduled a special congregational meeting on Friday, January 13, 2012 where the congregation heard the matter and voted 50­‐41 to not reinstate Steve as a servant unto them. The bylaws of the church hold doctrine to be the King James Bible, the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian creeds, the Augsburg Confession, and Luther’s Catechism. http://finnforge.blogspot.com/2012/05/grace-apostolic-lutheran-church-open.html

Greer Apostolic Lutheran Church – Rutherford Road, Greer, SC. A lay preacher requested audience with the Board of Trustees to bring accusations of the preaching of false doctrine against Steve Anderson, also a lay preacher. The audience was granted on Thursday, September 7, 2011 where Steve was tried in abstentia for the Reformation doctrine he preaches. Steve was invited to Meeting 2 on Monday, September 12, 2011 to answer the charges. The Board voted 5-3 on Monday, September 19, 2011 to remove Steve from the ministerial rotation. The Board then scheduled a special congregational meeting on Friday, January 13, 2012 where the congregation heard the matter and voted 50­‐41 to not reinstate Steve as a servant unto them. The bylaws of the church hold doctrine to be the King James Bible, the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian creeds, the Augsburg Confession, and Luther’s Catechism. http://finnforge.blogspot.com/2012/05/grace-apostolic-lutheran-church-open.html

Greer Apostolic Lutheran Church – Rutherford Road, Greer, SC. A lay preacher requested audience with the Board of Trustees to bring accusations of the preaching of false doctrine against Steve Anderson, also a lay preacher. The audience was granted on Thursday, September 7, 2011 where Steve was tried in abstentia for the Reformation doctrine he preaches. Steve was invited to Meeting 2 on Monday, September 12, 2011 to answer the charges. The Board voted 5-3 on Monday, September 19, 2011 to remove Steve from the ministerial rotation. The Board then scheduled a special congregational meeting on Friday, January 13, 2012 where the congregation heard the matter and voted 50­‐41 to not reinstate Steve as a servant unto them. The bylaws of the church hold doctrine to be the King James Bible, the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian creeds, the Augsburg Confession, and Luther’s Catechism. http://finnforge.blogspot.com/2012/05/grace-apostolic-lutheran-church-open.html

Greer Apostolic Lutheran Church – Rutherford Road, Greer, SC. A lay preacher requested audience with the Board of Trustees to bring accusations of the preaching of false doctrine against Steve Anderson, also a lay preacher. The audience was granted on Thursday, September 7, 2011 where Steve was tried in abstentia for the Reformation doctrine he preaches. Steve was invited to Meeting 2 on Monday, September 12, 2011 to answer the charges. The Board voted 5-3 on Monday, September 19, 2011 to remove Steve from the ministerial rotation. The Board then scheduled a special congregational meeting on Friday, January 13, 2012 where the congregation heard the matter and voted 50­‐41 to not reinstate Steve as a servant unto them. The bylaws of the church hold doctrine to be the King James Bible, the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian creeds, the Augsburg Confession, and Luther’s Catechism. http://finnforge.blogspot.com/2012/05/grace-apostolic-lutheran-church-open.html

We kick off our series "My Name is Baptized" with the celebration of Holy Trinity, which of course means the Athanasian Creed. We talk about fine china and our Baptisms, ownership and inheritance.

Theological Inception, episode 3 - Riley and Gillespie continue to talk about C.S. Lewis talking about Athanasius talking about Jesus, and offer lots of explanations for what they said in episode 2. Our Text:  Introduction to Athanasius’ On the Incarnation (http://silouanthompson.net/library/early-church/on-the-incarnation/introduction/) Show Notes: Inception (2010) Highlander - “There can be only one…” C.S. Lewis - The Last Battle “I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now...Come further up, come further in!” The TARDIS Hermann Sasse Christianity and Islam - Thinking Fellows Who Wrote the Book of Mormon? “Simul iustus et peccator”—"Simultaneously righteous and sinner" by Donavon Riley (1517 Blog) High Noon (1952) Jiru Dreams of Sushi (2011) — Questions? Comments? Show Ideas? Send them to us at BannedBooks@1517legacy.com. Please subscribe, rate, and review the show in Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/banned-books-podcast/id1370993639?mt=2. And as always, don't forget Gillespie's coffee for your caffeinated needs and especially the 1517 Reformation Roast. We’re proud to be part of 1517 Podcasts, a network of shows dedicated to delivering Christ-centered content through weekly, monthly, and seasonal audio platforms. Our podcasts cover a multitude of content, from Christian doctrine, apologetics, cultural engagement, and powerful preaching. Find out more at 1517.  

Theological Inception, episode 2 - Riley and Gillespie continue to talk about C.S. Lewis talking about Athanasius talking about Jesus, but there’s no tub of water to fall back into at the end of this podcast. Our Text:  Introduction to Athanasius’ On the Incarnation (http://silouanthompson.net/library/early-church/on-the-incarnation/introduction/) Show Notes: CS Lewis - Thinking Fellows Podcast Preaching and the Sacrament - Herman Sasse (We Confess) Ravel - Bolero Bunyan- Pilgrim’s Progress Super Why Imperial March (Major Key) Dante - Divine Comedy: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso 40 Minutes In the Old Testament  - Leviticus and the Sacrificial System (Episode 108ff) A Shropshire Lad.  1896., XL. Into my heart on air that kills INTO my heart on air that kills   From yon far country blows: What are those blue remembered hills,  What spires, what farms are those? That is the land of lost content,   I see it shining plain, The happy highways where I went  And cannot come again. (A. E. Housman, 1859–1936) First Things - How Should We Celebrate Reformation Sunday? We’re Already Home: A Response to Joshua Genig — LOGIA — Questions? Comments? Show Ideas? Send them to us at BannedBooks@1517legacy.com. Please subscribe, rate, and review the show in Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/banned-books-podcast/id1370993639?mt=2. And as always, don't forget Gillespie's coffee for your caffeinated needs and especially the 1517 Reformation Roast. We’re proud to be part of 1517 Podcasts, a network of shows dedicated to delivering Christ-centered content through weekly, monthly, and seasonal audio platforms. Our podcasts cover a multitude of content, from Christian doctrine, apologetics, cultural engagement, and powerful preaching. Find out more at 1517.

On this feast of Ss. Athanasius and Cyril, Fr. Andrew discusses the Athanasian doctrine of theosis and what it means for the individual Christian.

The Athanasian Creed has some strong words about what Christians must believe to be saved. In fact, it seems unreasonable. Pastor Jedidiah Maschke, in this sermon for Trinity Sunday, reveals how this creed tells of a God who transcends reason in ways that benefit all who believe in Him.

On this feast of Ss. Athanasius and Cyril, Fr. Andrew discusses the Athanasian doctrine of theosis and what it means for the individual Christian.

Summary of today's show: Our usual Thursday panel of Scot Landry, Susan Abbott, Gregory Tracy and Fr. Roger Landry consider the headlines of the week, including Pope Benedict's first tweets on Twitter; the Roman symposium marking the 15th anniversary of the Ecclesia in America synod; the Supreme Court taking up two cases on same-sex marriage; concerns over a possible elimination of the charitable tax deduction; and Christmas gift giving that makes a real impact. Listen to the show: Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: Today's host(s): Scot Landry and Susan Abbott Today's guest(s): Gregory Tracy, managing editor of the Pilot, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston, and Fr. Roger Landry, pastor of St. Bernadette Parish in Fall River Links from today's show: Some of the stories discussed on this show will be available on The Pilot's and The Anchor's websites on Friday morning. Please check those sites for the latest links. Today's topics: Papal tweets; Ecclesia in America; Supreme Court consider same-sex marriage; charitable deductions; Christmas gift giving 1st segment: Scot welcomed everyone to the show and talked with Susan Abbott about the visit of her children and grandchildren over the week, including a massive family portrait. Scot said he was able to go to part of the God of This City tour in Wakefield last night. The photos are available at . Tonight, they will be continuing at Immaculate Conception Parish in Stoughton, 7-9pm, and at Cathedral of the Holy Cross tomorrow, 7-10pm. 2nd segment: Scot and Susan welcomed Gregory Tracy and Fr. Roger Landry back to the show. Scot said this week Pope Benedict launched his new Twitter feed and as opf this morning he has 1.6 million followers already. Fr. Roger said the questions the pope responded to where about what Fr. Roger expected. He's not surprised that Pope Benedict is so good at being profound in 140 characters because this was already his nature. He hopes that this doesn't become so routine that we take these tweets for granted. Scot read one of the questions and response: “How can faith in Jesus be lived in a world without hope?” “We can be certain that a believer is never alone. God is the solid rock upon which we build our lives and his love is always faithful” Susan said she isn't surprised either and there's a lot to meditate on. Another pair was: “Any suggestions on how to be more prayerful when we are so busy with the demands of work, families and the world?” “Offer everything you do to the Lord, ask his help in all the circumstances of daily life and remember that he is always beside you” Greg said this is another great pearl of wisdom and he often finds himself struggling to work in some prayer time. He admits he didn't think Twitter would be a great medium for the Pope. He used to be able to find 150 words in the speeches of Pope John Paul II that is one coherent thought, but it was difficult to find that in Pope Benedict's writings. Scot said he was interviewed by Ira Kantor of the Boston Herald yesterday and he was asked why the Holy Father isn't following back the people following him. Scot said it's too difficult to follow everyone and the hashtag #askpontifex is the answer to the dialogue. Scot said the reporter also asked if Cardinal Seán would be communicating directly with the Pope on Twitter. Scot said the Church has developed lines of communications over the centuries and this type of communication isn't necessary. Fr. Roger said the launch of the initiative on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is significant, that invoking Mary who brought to the world, Pope Benedict wanted to do the same thing. And because she is patroness of the Americas and the Americas is where Twitter was born and is especially active. Scot pointed out that you don't have to have a Twitter account to read the Pope's tweets. Just go to the webpage linked above. Also going on in Rome this week was a symposium to discuss the 15th anniversary of the post-synodal exhortation Ecclesia in America. Scot said Cardinal Sean gave a speech in Spanish that has been reviewed as being fabulous. Greg said the synod was an effort to bring unity of effort in the Churches throughout the Western Hemisphere, which are dealing with many similar issues. Scot said the eyes of the Church worldwide often look to where we are as the Church in the Americas. He said he was astounded to learn that the apparition of Guadalupe occurred at exactly the center of the Americas on Tepeyac Hill outside Mexico City. Susan said the Holy Father's comments were insightful as he started with an encounter with the living Christ and formation with fidelity to the truths of the Church. She notices in document after document is the emphasis on love. When you take a step back, you see such hateful dialogue and conflict and the Pope is calling us back to love. Fr. Roger described his front-row seat as a seminarian in Rome for the Synod for the Americas that this was the anniversary of. He said that Pope John Paul II insisted that Our Lady of Guadalupe is patroness of America, not the Americas, to emphasize that unity. He said the recommendations of the synod and document have been virtually unimplemented and so this symposium is an attempt to look at them again to revisit them. Fr. Roger said he hopes that Cardinal Seán's speech is posted on his blog in both Spanish and English to show Cardinal Seán's facility with the language and the passion with with he preaches and speaks in Spanish. Scot said Cardinal Seán says that he never said a Mass in English until he was made a bishop. Greg said the speech was 45 minutes long so it might be difficult to get into the blog. He noted that the language in which you're speaking affects the way you say it and the passion with which you preach. Scot said Cardinal Seán is so good with Spanish that the keyboard on his own computer is a Spanish keyboard. 3rd segment: Scot said the Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases related to same-sex marriage. One case challenges the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act. The other case is a challenge to Proposition 8 in California. Both cases allege that the laws have unconstitutional bans on marriage between of the same sex. Greg recounted the history of the Defense of Marriage Act and how it was a response to concerns about the full faith and credit clause of the constitution. He noted it only concerns federal law in relation to marriage, not state law. The Obama administration recently said it won't defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court. He said the Supreme Court may decided to rule on the full constitutionality of same-sex marriage, which is an all or nothing situation, which is a bit unnerving. Scot said this decision could be as big as the Obamacare decision last June. Fr. Roger said the two cases cover both state and federal levels and he said he can't believe that the Court would agree with the Obama administration that bans are unconstitutional discrimination against gay and lesbians, but he also doesn't think they will say that same-sex marriage itself is unconstitutional. Instead they will leave it to the states to pass laws through referendum or the legislative process to define marriage. He thinks the decision will be tight. Greg agreed with Fr. Roger's assessment. The current Court has generally been ruling in terms of strict constructionism. Scot said many charitable organizations are making their case in Washington DC this month as we face the fiscal cliff that their futures are in peril if it results in the loss of charitable deductions. Many charities are struggling today, especially smaller church organizations that rely on small donations. There are also two articles in the Pilot this week about some of the year-end appeals that occur in the Archdiocese. Joe D'Arrigo talked about the Christmas collection as the primary source for the care of our retired priests. Scot focused on Christmas gifts that make an impact. We often spend money on things we end up not even liking. He talked about how much he dislikes the tradition of Yankee Swap in his family and how a gift to anonymous homeless man from his parish's giving tree prompted him to consider the true gift of giving gifts that make an impact. He also included an appeal for the Pilot, for people to support the newspaper because subscriptions and advertising no longer support the cost of running the newspaper. Susan said the column shows we sometimes sell kids short, that they are not necessarily consumed with getting more things, but that they can be motivated on their own to want to sacrifice for another. Scot said Fr. Roger wrote this week that we should “give the Giver” meaning Jesus. Fr. Roger said in this Year of Faith, that should affect the gifts we give at Christmas. Especially for kids, we often give them gifts that foment their idolatries instead of getting them gifts that emphasize Christ in their life. He made specific suggestions in the column on the gifts that would be appropriate. Scot read a list of the ten prayers for the Year of Faith offered by Bishop Ricken of Green Bay. The Nicene Creed. The Lord's Prayer. The Hail Mary. The Glory Be. The Magnificat. The Canticle of Zechariah. The Memorare. The Acts of Contrition, Faith, Hope and Love. The Angel prayers. Prayer for the New Evangelization. Fr. Roger would have added the rosary and substituted the Athanasian creed instead of the Nicene creed. Scot asked for listeners to submit their own top 10 lists of prayers with the reason why to LIVE@thegoodcatholiclife.com for consideration in a later show.

The word "Trinity" is not in the Bible, so where did this teaching come from? Pastor John explores the teaching the Trinity, including the Athanasian Creed, one of the three historically ecumenical creeds.

2008-01-02-1900 Dr. George Voorhis talks this evening January 2nd, 2008 in the 7:00 evening service. He answers questions from the congregation  about the Bible and doctrine.Scripture Ref: variousTopic: QuestionsNotes: - Education (Seminary etc.)- Question: What is the Church of God’s teaching on eternal security?- Creeds: Apostle's, Nicene, Athanasian.  Creeds changed over time.- Church of God Declaration of Faith- Calvinism- Methodist doctrine- Catholic doctrine- Baptist doctrine

This episode is titled, “The Spreading Tree “Tertullian, pastor of the church of Carthage in North Africa, addressed unbelievers at the beginning of the 3rd C, saying à“We are but of yesterday, and yet we already fill your cities, islands, camps, your palace, senate and forum; we have left to you only your temples.”That introduces our theme for this episode; the expansion of the Faith in the early centuries.Writing in the middle of the 2nd C, Justin Martyr said,“There is no people, Greek or barbarian, or of any other race, by whatsoever appellation or manners they may be distinguished, however ignorant of arts or agriculture, whether they dwell in tents or wander about in covered wagons—among whom prayers and thanksgivings are not offered in the name of the crucified Jesus to the Father and Creator of all things.”Comments by other Early Church leaders like Irenæus, Arnobius, & Origen lead us to conclude that by the end of the 3rd C the name of Christ was known, revered, & persecuted in many provinces & cities of the Roman Empire. In one of his edicts, the Emperor Maximian says that “almost all” had abandoned the worship of the old gods for the new sect called Christianity.In the absence of hard numbers, tallying the number of Jesus' followers can't be precise, but a reasonable assumption of the faithful stands about 10 to 12% of the total population at the beginning of the 4th C. In some places, the number was much higher as local movements saw the Gospel take firmer root. According to Chrysostom, the Christian population of the city of Antioch at the end of the 4th C. was half the whole.While 10% of the entire Empire may not seem that impressive a number, keep in mind that 10% shared a spiritual unity that made them appear a far larger group when set over against the highly-fragmented 90% of the pagan world.Looking back to Asia where the whole thing started, the Apostles had spread the new faith over Israel, Syria, & Asia Minor. According to Pliny the Younger, at the dawn of just the 2nd C, the pagan temples in Asia Minor were almost completely neglected & animal sacrifices hardly performed because so many pagan had converted to the new faith.In a first step of what would prove to be a major outreach to the East, during the 2nd C Christianity took root in the city of Edessa in Mesopotamia along with several regions in Persia. In the 3rd C., it reached North into Armenia & South into Arabia.There's an enduring legend that the apostles Thomas & Bartholomew carried the Gospel to India. For sure, a Christian teacher named Pantaeus of Alexandria went there about 190. By the 4th C, vibrant national churches were growing in the subcontinent.It was the moving of the seat of power from Rome to Constantinople in the early 4th C that helped ensure the migration of the Faith eastward. It also meant that all the important early Church Councils were held in or around Constantinople.  The great doctrinal controversies over the Trinity & Nature of Christ were carried out mostly in Asia Minor, Syria, & Egypt.Speaking of Egypt, Christianity in Africa gained a firm foothold first there, during the time of the Apostles. The city of Alexandria was a world center of learning & culture. It's libraries & schools drew from all over the world and many Jews called it home. It was in Alexandria that the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek, 200 yrs before Jesus. This Greek Bible, called the Septuagint, opened the seemingly opaque ideas of the Jews to Gentiles seekers after truth for the first time. It was in Alexandria that the religion of Moses was set alongside the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle. It was there the Jewish philosopher Philo sought to harmonize Greek & Jewish thought. Many of his ideas were picked up by later Christian apologists in defending the faith against Roman misconceptions.Ancient tradition says it was Mark who laid the foundation of the church in Alexandria, which became one of the 5 most important & influential churches of the first Centuries. A theological school flourished in Alexandria from the 2nd C in which the great church fathers Clement & Origen taught. From Alexandria, the Gospel spread South into Nubia (modern Sudan) & Ethiopia. At a council of Alexandria in 235, 20 African bishops attended from all over the Nile basin.During the 4th C, in a subject we'll treat more fully in a later episode, Egypt coughed up the Arian heresy, then quickly answered it with Athanasian orthodoxy. Egypt was the birthplace of monasticism as practiced by its earliest advocates, Antony & Pachomius. Monasticism then spread across the rest of the Christian world. But that's yet another subject for a couple later episodes.Christianity spread from Egypt across the rest of North Africa quickly. It helped that there were numerous Roman outposts reached by 3 or 4 days sailing from Italy. The faith spread rapidly over the fertile fields & burning sands of Mauritania & Numidia, taking root in Carthage. In 258 a synod of 87 bishops met there & just 50 yrs later the Donatists held a council of 270 bishops.It may be of interest to some listeners that the oldest Latin translation of the Bible, called the “Itala” & was the basis of Jerome's “Vulgate”, was produced in Africa for Africans, not in Rome for Romans, because the Christians there used Greek. Latin theology also wasn't born in Rome, but in Carthage. Tertullian was its father. Latin theology then grew in North Africa to find its zenith in the world of Augustine of Hippo, another North African city. The influence of Augustine simply cannot be overstated, as we'll see.After reaching Egypt, Nubia, Ethiopia, and a narrow band of North Africa, the Expansion of the Faith stalled. Whether or not it would have renewed its reach further South becomes moot in light of the Conquest of Islam in the 7th & 8th Cs.Tracking the expansion of the Faith into Europe, we pick up the report of the early church historian Eusebius who said by the middle of the 3rd C the Church at Rome had a bishop, 46 elders, 7 deacons with 7 assistants, 42 acolytes which we can think of as “interns,”  50 readers, exorcists, & ushers; & 1500 widows & poor who were under its care. From these numbers we guesstimate the actual membership of the Church at about 50,000 or 1/20th of the City's population. The strength of Christianity in Rome is confirmed by the enormous extent of the catacombs where Christians were buried.From Rome, the church spread to all the cities of Italy. The first Roman synod we know of was held in the mid-2nd C and had 12 bishops in attendance. A century later there were 60.An official persecution of the followers of Christ in Gaul in 177 shows the church had to already be there and large enough as to raise the concern of the authorities. The faith arrived in Gaul, not from Rome, but from Asia Minor. We know that because Irenæus, the bishop of Lyons, was a disciple of Polycarp of Smyrna & Irenaeus reported in to his peers in Asia Minor rather than to Rome. It wasn't till the middle of the 3rd C that Rome sent missionaries to Gaul. One of them was Dionysius who founded the first church at Paris, then died a martyr at Montmartre to become the patron saint of France.Spain was most likely reached with the Faith in the 2nd C. The Council of Elvira in 306 saw 19 bishops assemble to catch up and discuss the work of their various provinces. The apostle Paul once formed the plan of a missionary journey to Spain, and according to Clement of Rome he did preach there.Irenæus reported that the Gospel had been preached to the Germans and several other Northern tribes but he likely meant just those portions of Northern Europe that had been brought under Roman control.Although it's a bit of a mystery why the North African Tertullian would know, he said the Faith had taken root in Britain by the end of the 2nd C. As we'll see in a later episode, the Celtic church existed in England, Ireland, & Scotland, quite independent of Rome, long before the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons by the Roman missionary Augustine. In fact, that early Celtic church sent missionaries to Germany, France, & the Low Countries well before the Italian outreach. In the mid-8th C, the Venerable Bede reported that about the year 167 the British king Lucius asked the bishop of Rome to send missionaries. Then, at the Council of Arles in 314, British bishops from York, London & Colchester, were in attendance.This would be a good place to talk about the Expansion of the Faith into the East but that's a huge, important, and all too often overlooked part of the History of the Church, so we'll save it for later.  Suffice it for now – as many students of history know, the Roman Empire got stalled in the East, first by the Parthians, then later by their successors, the Sassanids.The Sassanids gladly applied the principle that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And that meant from the late 2nd thru 3rd C, as Christians were being persecuted in the Roman Empire, they were welcomed to the East by the Sassanids. The church sprang up and grew rapidly all over Mesopotamia & Persia in what today we know as Iran. Some of the greatest cultural achievements of the Faith during the 3rd C were in this Persian church. But when Constantine embraced Christianity and the Church moved into the position of political favor in the Roman west, you may guess what that meant for the Church in the regions controlled by the Sassanids. Still, this eastern church had developed its own unique culture, and instead of moving back west to join the church of the Byzantine-Roman world, persecution pushed it even further east, all the way to China.Let's finish out this episode with a look at Justin Martyr who we began with a quote from.Justin was born in the ancient city of Shechem in the very center of Israel. But by the time he was born in AD 100, it was a Roman city called Flavia Neapolis = New Flavianberg. Raised by pagan parents, he sought life's meaning in the major philosophies of his day. But his pursuit of truth resulted in nothing more than a series of bitter disappointments.Justin was too sharp to swallow the shallow reasoning & logical inconsistencies of pagan thought. Whether it was religion or philosophy, his keen intellect cut through the silliness that was the hallmark of the pagan worldview.His first teacher was a Stoic who “knew nothing of God and did not even think knowledge of him to be necessary.” After that Justin followed an itinerant philosopher, who was more interested in collecting his fee than the pursuit of truth. Next up was a Pythagorean, but his course in music, astronomy, and geometry was too slow for Justin's voracious mind. Finally, he applied himself to Platonism which was more intellectually demanding, but proved once again to hold too many inconsistencies.Then, at about the age of 30, after a long conversation with an elderly gentleman, Justin's life was transformed. He said, “A fire was suddenly kindled in my soul. I fell in love with the prophets and these men who had loved Christ; I reflected on all their words and found that this philosophy alone was true and profitable. That is how and why I became a philosopher. And I wish that everyone felt the same way that I do.”Justin was determined to reconcile faith & reason. His work took him first to Ephesus in AD 132 where he held a debate with a Jew named Trypho about the correct way to interpret Scripture. The book which came out of this debate is aptly titled, The Dialogue with Trypho & teaches 3 main points:1) The Old Covenant has passed away to make place for the New;2) The Logos is the God of the Old Testament; AND à3) Believers in Christ constitute a New Israel; that is, the new covenant people of God.Justin then moved to Rome, founded a school, and wrote 2 bold Apologias = formal defenses of the Faith, intended to be read by pagan officials persecuting Christians. Think of an Apologia like a legal brief.Justin's First Apology published in 155 was addressed to Emperor Antoninus Pius. It was an attempt to explain the Faith, which as we saw in an earlier episode was so badly misunderstood by unbelieves of that time.  Justin showed how Christianity was not a threat to the State and should be treated as a legal religion.He reasoned with the Emperor that Christians are his “best helpers and allies in securing good order, convinced as we are that no wicked man … can be hidden from God, and that everyone goes to eternal punishment or salvation in accordance with the character of his actions.” He made an eloquent case for why Christianity was superior to paganism, that Christ fulfilled prophecy, and that paganism was in reality a poor imitation of true religion.Justin's First Apology has become an important record for students of history in that he gave a detailed description of early Christian worship to prove to unbelievers the Faith wasn't some kind of subversive movement. The most famous passage is this:On the day called Sunday there is a gathering together in the same place of all who live in a given city or rural district. The memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits. Then when the reader ceases, the president in a discourse admonishes and urges the imitation of these good things. Next we all rise together and send up prayers.When we cease from our prayer, bread is presented and wine and water. The president in the same manner sends up prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people sing out their assent, saying the ‘Amen.' A distribution and participation of the elements for which thanks have been given is made to each person, and to those who are not present they are sent by the deacons.Those who have means and are willing, each according to his own choice, gives what he wills, and what is collected is deposited with the president. He provides for the orphans and widows, those who are in need on account of sickness or some other cause, those who are in bonds, strangers who are sojourning, and in a word he becomes the protector of all who are in need.Justin's Second Apology was written soon after Marcus Aurelius became emperor in 161. In these writings, Justin showed that the Christian faith alone as genuinely rational. He said the Logos; which was an important philosophical concept of the time, became incarnate to teach humanity truth and to redeem people from spiritual deception. Since Marcus Aurelius was a true philosopher Emperor, Justin sought to appeal to his love of truth with this Second Apology.But the Emperor was more enamored of Greek thought than the new-fangled innovations of the Christians. 4 yrs after penning the Second Apology, Justin and his disciples were arrested. The prefect asked him to denounce his faith by making a sacrifice to the gods. Justin replied, “No one who is rightly minded turns from true belief to false.” It was an easy answer for Justin because he'd spent his adult life discerning the true from the false.He was taken out and beheaded. Since he gave his life for “true philosophy,” Justin was surnamed Martyr.

This is part 4 of our series on the Creeds.Because most of the creeds were the product of a Council of one kind or another, when dealing with the creeds, we have to talk about the Council.The Creed we're looking at in this episode, the Athanasian Creed, wasn't the product of a Council. And, like the Apostle's Creed we looked in the first episode, it almost certainly wasn't composed by Athanasius, just as the Apostle's Creed wasn't written by the Apostles.The origin of the Athanasian Creed remains a mystery. Athanasius, you'll remember, was an elder at the church of Alexandria and accompanied his pastor, Bishop Alexander, to Nicaea for the council, where together, they were some of the chief voices arguing against another elders from Alexandria named Arius who'd gone off the rails on the deity of Christ. Following Alexander's term as the Bishop of Alexandria, Athanasius took on that rol e, and in the years that followed, though Arianism ought to have been a moot point after being nailed into a theological coffin at Nicaea, it managed to go zombie and began once again chewing on the churches, many of which once again were infected. Athanasius stood against the tide of this resurgent Arianism; sometimes, seeming to be all alone. In fact, at times, the political winds blew against him and he was exiled for standing for Nicene Orthodoxy.Think of Athanasius as a general leading an ever shrinking number of troops in a war of theology & doctrine. If we were to single him out for the one thing he clung to, it was the Nicene tenet that God the Father & God the Son share the same substance – in Greek, homoousios.While Constantine deferred to the wisdom of theologians in settling the Arian challenge, following emperors weren't as skilled. They were Arians and allowed the heresy to re-emerge. Since Arianism was the accepted doctrinal position of court, it became politically expedient for church leaders to tow the line. Athanasius refused to allow politics to corrupt either himself or his church. For this, he was exiled. At one trial, when told that everyone else had gone over to the other side, he replied, “Athanasius contra munduma” = Athanasius against the world. He spent 17 years in 5 exiles by 4 emperors.And as much of a champ as Athanasius was, he almost certainly had nothing to do with writing the creed which bears his name.Athanasius died in 373 and never mentions the creed even once in his writings. The next 3 creeds following his death never refer to it, as they most certainly would have in the formulation of their creeds. One the contrary, the Creed bears the marks of the work of those creeds. Our best evidence is that the Creed came from the churches of North Africa that had been influenced by Augustine.In its earliest use, the Athanasian Creed wasn't   called a creed; it was called “The Faith of Athanasius.” And like the Apostles' Creed, it derived its relevance not from its author but rather to the truth it expressed and HOW it expressed it.Maybe first evidence of the creed was connected to Caesarius of Arles about 502. He transcribed the entire creed in a preface to a collection of sermons. He said he was attaching the creed, “because it is necessary . . . that all clergy, and laymen as well, should be familiar with the Faith” so they'd know what to teach. By 1090, the medieval theologian Anselm of Canterbury linked the Athanasian, Apostles', and Nicene Creeds as the Tria Symbola, the Three Creeds of the Christian Faith.The creed wielded major influence during the Reformation. It lies at the opening of the Lutheran Book of Concord along with the Apostles' & Nicene Creeds. It's used by several Reformed churches, and it was mentioned approvingly in the Augsburg Confession, the Formula of Concord, the 39 Articles, the 2nd Helvetic Confession, the Belgic Confession, and the Bohemian Confession. Luther said the Athanasian Creed was “the most important and glorious composition since the days of the apostles.” Calvin considered it one of “the three symbols” that stand forever alongside God's Word. Church historian Philip Schaff wrote of the Athanasian Creed, “This Creed is unsurpassed as a masterpiece of logical clearness, rigor, and precision.”High praise! But the Creed was rejected by the Greek Church because of it's position on the Holy Spirit.The Creed consists of 42 articles, divided into 3 parts. The 1st addresses the Trinity, relying heavily on Augustine's ideas, going so far as to quote him verbatim; making it pretty clear that it wasn't written by Athanasius, since he died when Augustine was still young & a pagan.The 2nd section defends the dual natures of Jesus the Council of Chalcedon explained in 451. We'll get in to a lot more detail on all that when we take a look at the Councils of the 4th & 5th Cs. The 3rd section of the creed is a list of condemnations for those who refuse to the assertions of the creed. This part of the creed has proven to be difficult for those who don't want their opponents consigned to a verbal damnation. But the fact is, most of the early creeds & confessions had a list of “anathemas,” that is, beliefs considered unacceptable in light of the beliefs that had just been articulated as embodying the Christian Faith. If “A” is exclusively true, “anti-A” can't be.Okay, enough jawing ABOUT the Creed. Let's read it . . . à BUT . . .Before we do, I need to clarify a word =  Catholic. We find it a LOT in the writings of the early church. It does NOT mean a denomination or branch of the church with headquarters in Rome. The word catholic meant universal. When the Church father wrote or spoke of the catholic faith, they meant the faith all genuine Christians believed.Okay, here we go …Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith. Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled; without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the Persons; nor dividing the Essence.For there is one Person of the Father; another of the Son; and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one; the Glory equal, the Majesty coeternal. Such as the Father is; such is the Son; and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father uncreated; the Son uncreated; and the Holy Ghost uncreated. The Father unlimited; the Son unlimited; and the Holy Ghost unlimited. The Father eternal; the Son eternal; and the Holy Ghost eternal. And yet they are not three eternals; but one eternal.As also there are not three uncreated; nor three infinites, but one uncreated; and one infinite. So likewise the Father is Almighty; the Son Almighty; and the Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet they are not three Almighties; but one Almighty. So the Father is God; the Son is God; and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not three Gods; but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord; the Son Lord; and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not three Lords; but one Lord.For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity; to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord; So are we forbidden by the catholic religion; to say, There are three Gods, or three Lords. The Father is made of none; neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone; not made, nor created; but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten; but proceeding. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts.And in this Trinity none is before, or after another; none is greater, or less than another. But the whole three Persons are coeternal, and coequal. So that in all things, as aforesaid; the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, is to be worshipped. He therefore that will be saved, let him thus think of the Trinity.Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation; that he also believe faithfully the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess; that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; God, of the Essence of the Father; begotten before the worlds; and Man, of the Essence of his Mother, born in the world. Perfect God; and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father, as touching his Godhead; and inferior to the Father as touching his Manhood. Who although he is God and Man; yet he is not two, but one Christ. One; not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh; but by assumption of the Manhood by God. One altogether; not by confusion of Essence; but by unity of Person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man; so God and Man is one Christ.Who suffered for our salvation; descended into hell; rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into heaven, he sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from whence he will come to judge the living and the dead. At whose coming all men will rise again with their bodies; And shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting; and they that have done evil, into everlasting fire. This is the catholic faith; which except a man believe truly and firmly, he cannot be saved.Surely you noted how very careful this creed handles the issues, 1st of the Trinity, & 2nd, of the 2 natures of Christ. A word on that . . .Theologians have long discussed how almost any attempt to [air-quote] “explain” God, and specifically, the Trinity, is destined to end up saying something that's not quite right. And that not quite rightness becomes a toehold for misunderstanding and the geneis of error that can break out in heresy. Either God is made out to be three gods, or the 3 divine persons of Father, Son, and Spirit are turned into a messy amorphous mish-mash that does nothing but confuse. The reason for this is because to speak about God as a Trinity as the Bible presents Him, requires a vocabulary & philosophical background different from speaking about literally - any other thing. God is categorically separate from all other subjects. God is God, & nothing else is. When we are dealing with the Trinity, we're entering into what theologians call the “aseity” of God; God as He is in & to himself. Since God is perfect & infinite, He will ALWAYS transcend His creation, of which we are. So while we struggle to grasp how the Trinity “works,” don't get frustrated if you find your understanding falling short. Rather, take comfort in that. For a God you could completely understand would be a god too small to worship. The essence of worship is awe. WE need to have the sense that we stand in the presence of something infinitely bigger & beyond, or worship has no fuel.Because of God's gracious self-revelation, we can apprehend Him. But because of his infinity, we cannot comprehend Him.Given this challenge in culling what Scripture tells us about the Trinity into a succinct Statement of Faith, the Athanasian Creed is about as careful and thorough an attempt as is found in history. It describes the core doctrine of the Trinity, then sets boundaries to prevent misunderstandings.The Athanasian Creed guides through key qualities & attributes shared by all three persons of the Trinity. God is uncreated, unlimited, & eternal.The wording of the Creed may at times seem a bit thick and heavy-handed in its repetition of God being 1 in Essence but 3 in Person. Whenever you see something like that, understand it as a clue to the historical setting that birthed it. A Neo-Arianism had risen that pretended to be faithful to Nicene orthodoxy, but was in fact a return to the idea that while Jesus & the Holy Spirit are God, they are less God than the Father, who alone sits at the top of the divine triangle. This was the position of royalty, because it allowed them some wiggle room to attach themselves to a position at the top of society with everyone else below them.Some have wondered why, for goodness sake, the early Christians didn't just chuck all this arguing about the Trinity and go for simply monotheism. The answer to that is simple= Because early Christians didn't have a choice. Scripture was God's Word, His self-revelation. So if it said there was one God, but 3 persons all claimed to be that one God, then that meant God is One in Essence but three in person.Well, why not go along with the ideas of Sabellius in the early 3rd C who said there's one God, who's chosen 3 different modes to reveal Himself in; as Father with Israel, as the Son Jesus during the Incarnation, and as the Spirit after Jesus' ascension. This idea was called Sabellianism, or modalism and persists to this day in some groups.Again, Modalism simply doesn't square with Scripture. Only one view does, classic orthodox Trinitarianism accommodates ALL of Scripture. And yes, that makes things difficult for us because it's hard to reconcile intellectually. But the more one meditates on the Trinity, the more blessing and goodness flows from it. We see that built into the very nature and character of God is the reality of relationship & mutuality, fellowship, sharing.The Creed ends with a bold but terse comment that those who believe its tenets are saved, but those who reject them are eternally damned. And as you may well imagine, that's raised a hew & cry for many years. There are those who have no problem with other stating their beliefs in bold, clear terms. But to then say salvation lies in agreeing with them while failure to do so results in condemnation, well, wait just a minute there pal! Back the carriage up! Who are you to tell me what I HAVE to believe?Consider this: Bill tells Ted he has to eat or he'll starve. What would we think of Ted if he told Bill that was very narrow thinking & that Ted's deeply offended by Bill's certainty. Ted's not hungry and is disturbed by the thought a failure to eat will result in his death.In a situation like this, we judge Ted as unreasonable. Because we know the connection between food and health.People who take offense at the Creeds for saying “Believe this and live, don't a die” are like Ted. They assume that heaven and hell aren't settled destinations all people end up in. They assume there's some other way than the one the Creed is so careful to plot.The authors of the creeds weren't aggressively drawing a fence around the Faith to keep people out. They were posting big, bold signs pointing to the only way in.