"False Doctrines In Christianity Today" by Ray Kane

"I HAVE NO GREATER JOY THAN TO HEAR THAT MY CHILDREN WALK IN TRUTH" [3 John 1:4] Many well meaning yet mis-taught Christians and others who claim to be Christians are preaching lots of things that sound 'good' on the surface but at the root are anything but true. Some of these lies (modern unscriptural ideas about Christianity) are discussed below as a wake-up call to all true born-again Bible-believing disciples of Jesus Christ.

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LIE #1: God wants his children to be financially prosperous.

Matt 6:19-20 - "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal"

Luke 18:22 - "Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me."

Matt 8:20 - "And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head."

First and foremost, a Christian should be content in all things and should be overjoyed with the tremendous spiritual blessing of salvation that Christ paid such an enormous price for.  God causes it to rain on the just and the unjust.  Some Christians will have more money than others and some with have better health than others.  It is all a matter of God's sovereign will, as to whom He blesses, in what way, and at what time.

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LIE #2: If you have enough faith God will give you whatever you ask for.

James 4:3 - "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts."

1 John 5:14 - "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us"

God is not a genie in a bottle. He does not perform miracles based upon the power of our minds.  A true and faithful Christian will be thinking primarily about giving and serving and not about what they can get from God.

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"HELPFUL DOOR-TO-DOOR SOUL WINNING GUIDELINES"

1. PRAY FERVENTLY:

Pray privately (i.e. at home) well in advance of outings and pray privately for the people you
make contact with. Pray as if the eternal destiny of people's souls depended on God hearing
and answering your prayers, remembering how Moses interceded for rebellious Israel many
times (Exodus 32, Numbers 14, etc.) and how Paul prayed for his fellow Jews (Romans 9:3).
Pray according to God's promises in His Word. For example, you could pray that God would
give you the joy of the Lord for your strength (Nehemiah 8:10). Remember: "Except the LORD
build the house, they labour in vain that build it" (Psalm 127:1)

2. THINK LIKE AN AMBASSADOR:
Remind yourself that you are going out with the intention of trying to best represent your
precious Lord and Saviour. Groom yourself as if your appearance really matters. Dress neat,
be clean, use breath-mints, etc.

3. A WORKMAN BRINGS THE RIGHT TOOLS:
A. Carry an easy to read Bible: avoid anything too large or too small and avoid computer
Bibles and anything else that would be distracting to you or to others.
B. Bring an extra New Testament with you to give to someone that may not have a Bible but
would like one. The Bible should be labeled with your church or ministry's contact information
to provide a way for the person to obtain follow-up information and additional discipleship.
C. Bring tracts appropriate for who you will meet: tracts in various foreign languages
(Spanish, Hindi for people from India, Arabic for Muslims, etc. Bring tracts that , Jewish,
Catholic, Muslim, etc. Be sure to check out our article "Good Versus Not-So-Good
Evangelistic Literature."

D. Bring something to write down information about people you contact and prayer requests
or other needs they may inform you of.

"Incarnate Truth" B.B. Warfield

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, . . . full of . . . truth.”—John 1:14

The obvious resemblance between the prologue to John’s Gospel and the proem of Genesis is not a matter of mere phraseology and external form. As the one, in the brief compass of a few verses, paints the whole history of the creation of a universe with a vividness which makes the quickened imagination a witness of the process, so the other in still briefer compass traces the whole history of the re-creation of a dead world into newness of life. In both we are first pointed back into the depths of eternity, when only God was. In both we are bidden to look upon the chaotic darkness of lawless matter or of lawless souls, over which the brooding Spirit was yet to move. In both, as the tremendous pageants are unrolled before our eyes, we are made to see the Living God; and to see him as the Light and the Life of the world, the Destroyer of all darkness, the Author of all good. Here too, however, the Old Testament revelation is the preparation for the better to come. In it we see God as the God of power and of wisdom, the Author and Orderer of all; in this we see him as the God of goodness and mercy, the Restorer and Redeemer of the lost. Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Through what a sublime sweep does the Apostle lead our panting thought as he strives to tell us who and what the Word is, and what he has done for men. He lifts the veil of time, that we may peer into the changeless abyss of eternity and see him as he is, in the mystery of his being, along with God and yet one with God—in some deep sense distinct from God, in some higher sense identical with God. Then he shows us the divine work which he has wrought in time. He is the All-Creator—“all things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that hath been made.” He is the All-Illuminator—he “was the true Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” And now in these last days he has become the All-Redeemer—prepared for by his prophet, he came to his own, and his own received him not; but “as many as received him,” without regard to race or previous preparation, “he gave to them the right to become children of God, to them that believe on his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Then the climax of this great discourse breaks on us as we are told how the Word, when he came to his own, manifested himself to flesh. It was by himself becoming flesh, and tabernacling among us, full of grace and truth. He came as Creator, as Revealer, as Redeemer: as Creator, preparing a body for his habitation; as Revealer, “trailing clouds of glory as he came”; as Redeemer, heaping grace on grace.

" The Greek Language and the Christian Ministry" by F.F. Bruce

Christian theology is based upon the firm belief that God; the Maker of heaven and earth, has revealed Himself to mankind as a righteous God and a Saviour, and that this revelation, at first conveyed partially and variously through those whom He called to be His spokesmen, has been perfectly  communicated in Jesus Christ His Son. The preparatory and consummating stages of the revelation have been recorded respectively in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. To these sacred writings, Evangelical theology in particular attaches unique importance, believing that they constitute the standard of faith and practice, that they contain all things necessary for salvation, and that nothing must  be pressed upon men as of the essence of Christian belief and life which cannot be established from them.

The Christian theologian, particularly if he calls himself Evangelical, must therefore pay the most painstaking attention to these writings. He must realize that sound theology rests upon true exegesis, and true exegesis requires a  number of preliminary disciplines, of which linguistic study and textual criticism are two of the most important. The Biblical theologian―and do we not all call ourselves  Biblical theologians nowadays!―cannot be content with a second-hand approach to his foundation documents, by reading them in another man’s translation. He will, no doubt, consult and value many translations, but he will wish to control them by regular, direct reference to the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek texts. “True,” says one reader, “true so far as the theological specialist is concerned. But I am no theological specialist; I have no ambition but to be a parish clergyman, charged with the cure of souls. I have neither the time nor perhaps the inclination to pursue linguistic study.” But, my friend, that very vocation to which  your life is dedicated, makes you a theological
specialist. Not a theological  specialist among theologians, admittedly, but a theological specialist among laymen. To whom should your  parishioners turn for an expert ruling on some point of theological or Biblical interpretation if not to you, their true pastor? Must you, like them, depend on other men’s translations and other men’s explanations for an answer?  No doubt you will have access to many more translations and explanations than they; but your answer will still, in some important respects, be second-hand.

"Believers and Depression" By Shane C. Montgomery

 For twenty years after my ETS (Army Slang for separation)  my service to our country was mostly a distant memory, except for some side effects, such as  ever increasing nightmares, anxiety, things were  mostly okay, but once I hit my early forties things started to fall apart quickly, and one right after another.  I found out that if you let things go and neglect having certain issues addressed, then they will one day grow out of control, and that is where I found myself, some not so serious injuries in the service, ignored for a couple of decades, bloomed into some serious health problems, and a few incidents of severe stress left untreated and more or less, denied, lead to its own set of problems.  Once I began to realize these things were not going to go away on their own, and I had better see someone about them, it was almost too late, my injuries left untreated mostly now cause daily pain, and the stress, let me tell you about stress, never, ever take it lightly!  Stress is a killer with a capitol "K" my friends.  Left untreated, ignored, denied and pushed to the back of your mind will lead to serious problems over time, no matter what anyone tells you, on-going stress will eventually take its toll on you.

"Happy and Blessed Veterans Day"

I would like to offer my thanks to our Veterans.  As a U.S. Army wartime Veteran myself, I know how much it means when someone pays respect to your service.  To those of you who served in protecting and defending our great nation, I pray that God lift your pain, ease your stress and may you know His perfect grace and the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

  Once a Soldier, always a Soldier!
   Live Holy for God is Holy!
                                                                                        Shane C. Montgomery

"Halloween. A Night of Fright or a Night of Witnessing? by Shane C. Montgomery

I truly love this time of year.  The leaves are falling in a bright, colorful snowfall, the air is brisk and clean and you can almost taste the oncoming winter on your lips.  Another great thing about this time of year is that my wife and I celebrate our wedding anniversary, (Sept.27,1986) not to mention my birthday falls on Oct. 9 and my wife has hers on Oct. 13, and our youngest son, Ryan was born on Oct. 22.  To top it all off, Halloween ends what is always a great and wonderful time of year for our family.
Halloween is of course somewhat of a puzzle for most believers, they do not know what to do, should they celebrate, decorate the house and lawn, let the little ones go out trick or treating, or by doing that are they embracing a pagan and evil holiday?   You will find Christians on both sides of the fence here, and some standing right on top of the fence somehow!  But I think this to be a massive waste of time, for the record, it is not evil.  If you choose to let your kids go out dressed like Transformers or Pirates, then I applaud you for letting your kids be kids, just as your parents allowed you way back when.  But if you go out on Halloween and watch gore porn movies, start fires, drink blood and so forth, then maybe you just might have a problem and should avoid Halloween.  Of course anyone who desires those types of activities are not Christian to begin with, but you get my point.  All in all, we often make a way bigger deal about Halloween than we need to, just let the kids have some fun, watching Scooby Doo and getting candy while in a costume is fine, don't get all fundamental and go berserk on other believers who do.  

  I look forward to Halloween, every year, Lord Allowing, we take our youngest son out trick or treating, we all go, me, my wife Jeannie and our oldest son Brandon.  While mom concentrates on keeping track of little Ryan and his candy grab, me and Brandon are handing out Gospel tracts.  We normally will pass out around 400-500 tracts, and witness to a good number of people.  We try to always use themed tracts aimed at Halloween and we avoid the really ill advised tracts such as "Chick Tracts" which are nothing but bad taste and poor judgement.  Avoid handing out Chick Tracts at all cost, they do more harm than good and they truly turn people away from the Gospel and Jesus Christ and that is not what we are trying to do in the Great Commission.   There are so many good tracts out there today and many are of the highest quality, such as my favorite tract company, "Custom Tract Source."   Their tracts are simply amazing, and very affordable, I recommend them to everybody.

   As I write this, it is Friday night, I have prepared my Intervarsity Messenger Bag, all stocked up with tracts, around 1,000 this time and beginning tomorrow afternoon we will be visiting a city we have never witnessed in.  They are having a special early bird trick or treat, people are to bring their kids to the downtown shopping district and the local businesses will pass out candy, and we will be there to pass out tracts to all the parents and business owners, we avoid giving tracts to small children, normally anyone under 12 that is, unless the tract is something fun like the above photo of the Frankenstein over sized million dollar bill tract, kids love these.  Taking along a stack of Gospel of John booklets from Pocket Testament League and of course, a Bible to quote from.   Really praying that God will plant a seed tomorrow.

   I always look forward to witnessing, it is getting harder and harder to do, with my failing health and the fact that so many people are turning against accepting tracts all together, some get very nasty unfortunately, but overall it is always a great experience, and just serving the Lord is enough for me!   This Monday this same city will be holding their normally scheduled trick or treat night and Lord Willing we will be there passing out tracts and witnessing as well, this time to parents along the sidewalks and adults who pass out candy from their front porch.   Every year we always run into a least one person passing out bad tracts, never on the sidewalks mind you, but from their house, it is almost always the in poor taste Chic Tracts, last year my 7 year old received one that had a story of a little girl who went trick or treating and as a punishment for sinning so bad, God gave her cancer and she soon died and the mother was upset.  To me this is just pathetic!  Why give something that nasty and tasteless to small children on a night they love and look forward too?

   It has been awhile since I have done any serious witnessing, though I witness everyday, but not on a large scale as of late, so I am looking forward to getting back in the saddle again, but no matter what happens, people will hear the Gospel, people will hear about the forgiveness of sins that can only come from Jesus Christ, and no matter what, God will be glorified, even if I stink it up, God will be glorified!

Be Holy!
Shane

 

"May I Introduce....The Reformed Faith" A New Series on the Basics of Reformed Theology By Shane C. Montgomery

  The Reformed Faith, or Reformed Theology depending on how you wish to look at it, might be a new concept for many of you.  I run into a lot of folks who have never heard of it and have no idea what it is or what is behind it.  I would very much like to introduce you, if you have not met as of yet, The Reformed Faith. I wish to begin a new series on the Basics of the Reformed Faith, what does the Reformation Theology entail?   Is it some new idea in theology?   An upstart underground denomination taking off in the U.S.?   Or is it a cult, say like Mormonism or Jehovah Witnesses?  

    Well, it is none of the above, first off, it is not new by any means, it is in fact older than all the other denominations, you can even say it is older than the Roman Catholic church which has been around for nearly ever!   Reformed Theology has been around since the very first years of the Christian Church, it really has, it was the very first teachings in the early church, these teachings are better known as The Doctrines of Grace, which is the very same teachings made popular by Christ, His disciples, mostly John and Paul, all of whom taught the Doctrines of Grace, which is nothing more than sound orthodox teachings of the Bible.  That's it in a  nutshell!  

    The name "Reformed" actually goes back to the great Reformation which began in Wittenberg, Germany on Oct. 31, 1517 when a local theology professor, and one time monk, Martin Luther wrote up a list of 95 disagreements that he took issue with the then mostly corrupt Roman church, (Catholic with a capitol C)  the word "catholic" simply means, universal, so it was intended to be the "Church Universal" meaning the same church all over the world, and it pretty much was at least in the Roman way, but the pope and several cardinals, bishops and the like began to become evermore corrupt and money hungry, the last straw being the selling of indulgences to mostly peasants in order for the pope to raise money to rebuild the main cathedral.  A man name Tetzel was the best at selling these papers (indulgences) that were promissory notes to get you or a loved one out of Purgatory quicker and into Heaven faster, and if you know your Scripture you will notice, Purgatory is not mentioned and does not exist and that God does not need to bargain with anyone.

"A Day of Reflection" by Shane C. Montgomery

 On this day, the Tenth Anniversary of the cowardly attacks on innocent men, women and children.  Let's take this day to reflect and remember those lost.  If at all possible, please make your way out to a local memorial or ceremony today.  This is the Lord's Day and we are to spend this day in worshiping of God, but we can take some time to honor those lost and those who risked their own lives to save others.

  I am on my way out the door to our own memorial, wont you please do the same today.  This should also be a day of reflection on where we stand as a Nation, a Community and as Individuals, where do we stand spiritually?   This day should be a day of reflection and self examination, how do we stand in our lives, are we leading a Christ-like life that God calls us to?

  My prayer for you today is that you spend some time remembering this day, honoring God and Nation and in self-reflection on your spiritual standing.    May God bless you this day and may your service to Him be fruitful.

Be Holy!
Shane

"44 Questions for the Not-Yet-a-Believer"

In order to be fair in the debate about matters of faith, it's not just the Christian who must be called to the witness stand. Even those who dispute or who otherwise persist in voicing skepticism about Christianity have some questions to answer. In fact, considering the evidence, it no doubt requires more faith to stand outside the circle of those who believe than to join it. To ensure integrity, therefore, on the part of even our readers who are not yet believers, here are a few issues about which you too should be able to give an account.

1. How do you explain the high degree of design and order in the universe?
   » Learn more about the universe / origin of life / origin of species / origin of mankind
2. How do you account for the vast archaeological documentation of Biblical stories, places, and people?
   » In what ways have archaeological discoveries verified it?
   » Bible archaeology evidences
3. Since absolutely no Bible prophecy has ever failed (and there are hundreds), how can one realistically remain unconvinced that the Bible is of Divine origin?
   » Read about fulfilled biblical prophecies...
   Explain David's graphic portrayal of Jesus' death by crucifixion (Psalm 22) 1000 years previous to crucifixion being established as a form of capital punishment?

   How could any mere human pinpoint the birth town of the Messiah seven full centuries before the fact, as did the prophetMicah?
   » Read the “God's Story” account of Micah describing the Messiah...

   Account for the odds (1 in 10 to the 157th power) that even just 48 (of 300) Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in one person, i.e Jesus.
   » More about statistical odds surrounding Jesus Christ Go
   » What messianic prophecies were fulfilled by Christ? Answer
   » More about messianic prophecies

   How was it possible for the Old Testament prophet Isaiah to have predicted the virgin birth of Jesus (Isaiah 7:14) 700 years before it occurred?
   » Read the “God's Story” account of the prophets describing the Savior
   » Is the virgin birth a myth?
4. How can anyone doubt the reliability of Scripture considering the number and proximity to originals of its many copied manuscripts?
   » Read about the importance of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls /Discovering the Bible videos explain the manuscript evidence and much more
5. Are you able to live consistently with your present worldview?
   » Visit Summit Ministries for worldview comparisons...
6. Wouldn't it make better sense, even pragmatically, to live as though the God of the Bible does exist than as though He doesn't?
7. In what sense was Jesus a 'Good Man' if He was lying in His claim to be God?
   » Is Jesus Christ really God?...
8. Do you think that Jesus was misguided in affirming the truthfulness of Scripture, i.e. John 10:35, Matthew 24, Luke 24:44?
9. If the Bible is not true, why is it so universally regarded as the 'Good Book'?
   » How can I know if the Bible is true?... / Is the Bible truth or tabloid? / Can the Bible be infallible if it is written by fallible humans?
   Are you aware that the Old Testament alone claims to be God's inspired word at least 2600 times?

   Did you know that the Bible has been the number one best-seller every year since the 1436 invention of the Gutenberg printing press?
   » The Bible—an amazing book...
10. From whence comes humanity's universal moral sense?
11. If man is nothing but the random arrangement of molecules, what motivates you to care and to live honorably in the world?
12. Explain how personality could have ever evolved from the impersonal, or how order could have ever resulted from chaos.
13. If Jesus' resurrection was faked, why would twelve intelligent men (Jesus' disciples) have died for what they knew to be a lie?
    » Is the resurrection a myth?...
14. How do you explain the fact that a single, relatively uneducated and virtually untraveled man, dead at age 33, radically changed lives and society to this day?
    » Learn more about Jesus' life, death and resurrection...
    
15. Why have so many of history's greatest thinkers been believers? Have you ever wondered why thousands of intelligent scientists, living and dead, have been men and women of great faith?
    » Do real scientists believe in Creation? / Is the Bible completely accurate, or does it contain some inaccuracies about history and science?
16. Isn't it somewhat arrogant to suggest that countless churches and people (including men like Abraham Lincoln) are all radically in error in their view of the Bible?
17. How do you account for the origin of life considering the irreducible complexity of its essential components?
    » Learn more about the origin of life...
18. How can the Second Law of Thermodynamics be reconciled with progressive, naturalistic evolutionary theory?
    » Second Law of Thermodynamics - Does this basic law of nature prevent Evolution?...
    How do you reconcile the existence of human intelligence with naturalism and the Law of Entropy?
19. Why does the Bible alone, of all of the world's 'holy' books, contain such detailed prophecies of future events?
    » Learn more about the Bible...
20. On what basis can the Bible (interpreted as per historic Christian orthodoxy) be challenged as a sole, final truth-standard (Galatians 1:8)?
21. Is it absolutely true that "truth is not absolute" or only relatively true that "all things are relative?"
    » The Loss of Truth—Are we living in a moral stone age?...
22. Is it possible that your unbelief in God is actually an unwillingness to submit to Him?
    » God's plan
    
23. Does your present worldview provide you with an adequate sense of meaning and purpose?
24. How do you explain the radically changed lives of so many Christian believers down through history?
25. Are you aware that every alleged Bible contradiction has been answered in an intelligible and credible manner?
    » More about Bible contradictions...
26. What do you say about the hundreds of scholarly books that carefully document the veracity and reliability of the Bible?
27. Why and how has the Bible survived and even flourished in spite of centuries of worldwide attempts to destroy and ban its message?
    » Recommended resource: The Indestructible Book (video)...
28. Why isn't it absurd to try to speak or even conceive of a non-existent 'God' when an existing God would, by definition, be greater?
29. Have you ever considered the fact that Christianity is the only religion whose leader is said to have risen from the dead?
    » Is Christianity really unique among world religions?...
30. How do you explain the empty tomb of Jesus in light of all the evidence that has now proven essentially irrefutable for twenty centuries?
    » Is the resurrection a myth? / Did Christ really rise from the dead? / Were the witnesses hallucinating?
31. If Jesus did not actually die and rise from the dead, how could He (in His condition) have circumvented all of the security measures in place at His tomb?
    » Did Jesus really die? / How did Jesus die? / What is crucifixion?
32. If the authorities stole Jesus' body, why? Why would they have perpetrated the very scenario that they most wanted to prevent?
    » Could Jesus' body have been stolen from the tomb?...
33. If Jesus merely resuscitated in the tomb, how did He deal with the Roman guard posted just outside its entrance?
    » Could Jesus' have merely fainted? / Is the resurrection a myth? / Did Christ really rise from the dead?
34. How can one realistically discount the testimony of over 500 witnesses to a living Jesus following His crucifixion (see 1 Corinthians 15:6)?
    » Maybe the witnesses were just seeing things?...
35. If all of Jesus' claims to be God were the result of His own self-delusion, why didn't He evidence lunacy in any other areas of His life?
    » Is Jesus Christ's character consistent with his high claims?...
36. If God is unchanging, wouldn't it be true that one who changes by suddenly “realizing” that he/she is “God” therefore isn't God?
37. Is your unbelief in a perfect God possibly the result of a bad experience with an imperfect Church or a misunderstanding of the facts, and therefore an unfair rejection of God Himself? » Why should I consider Christianity, if all Christians are hypocrites? / What kind of world would you create? / How did bad things come about? / Why do the innocent suffer? /Does God feel your pain? / Goodness of God / Is God fair? / How can a God of love send anybody to Hell?
38. How did 35-40 men, spanning 1500 years and living on three separate continents, ever manage to author one unified message, i.e. the Bible?
    » Can the Bible be infallible if it is written by fallible humans? / More about thecongruency of the Bible / The Discovering the Bible videos explain the amazing authorship of the Bible and many other evidences
39. Would you charge the Declaration of Independence with error in affirming that "all men are endowed by their Creator..."?
40. Because life origins are not observable, verifiable, or falsifiable, how does historical 'science' amount to anything more than just another faith system?
    » What is the nature of science and scientists? / Why do so many scientistsendorse Evolution? / Frequently asked questions on the Origin of Life
41. What do you make of all the anthropological studies indicating that even the most remote tribes show some sort of theological awareness?
42. Why subscribe to the incredible odds that the tilt and position of our planet relative to the sun are merely coincidental?
    » Consider: Was there a big bang?...
43. If every effect has a cause, and if God Himself is the universe (i.e. is one with the universe, as some non-Christians suggest), what or who then caused the universe?
    » See our Creation SuperLibrary for answer about Creation/Evolution...
44. What would be required to persuade you to become a believer?

"Decisional Regeneration" by James Adams

What is Regeneration?

"Except a man be born again¹, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). Our Lord Jesus Christ taught that the new birth is so important that no one can see heaven without it. Mistakes concerning this doctrine have been very destructive to the Church of Christ. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God. It is not a work of man. It is not something that man does but something that God does. The new birth is a change wrought in us, not an act performed by us. This is stated so beautifully by the Apostle John when in the first chapter of his Gospel he speaks of the children of God as those "which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (v. 13).

What is "Decisional Regeneration"?

The history of the Christian Church has seen many errors concerning the new birth. These teachings depart from Scripture by attributing to man the ability to regenerate himself. When these false concepts of man and the new birth are adopted, churches soon become corrupted with false practices. The Roman Catholic church, the Anglican church, the Lutheran church and many other churches have all been corrupted at different times and to different degrees with the teaching of Baptismal Regeneration. Because of this erroneous teaching on regeneration, these churches have embraced false practices.

In the nineteenth century few controversies were so heated as the one over Baptismal Regeneration. It is interesting to note that C. H. Spurgeon (1836-1892), the most prolific preacher of that century, had printed in 1864 more copies of his sermon denouncing Baptismal Regeneration than of any other sermon. Baptismal Regeneration teaches that the new birth is conveyed by the waters of baptism. The sacrament is performed by man and is in his control.

But the twentieth century Church has, in "Decisional Regeneration," a more subtle falsehood to combat. "Decisional Regeneration" differs from Baptismal Regeneration only in the fact that it attaches the certainty of the new birth to a different act. This doctrine, just as Baptismal Regeneration, sees the new birth as the result of a mechanical process that can be performed by man. What is here called "Decisional Regeneration" has in its deceptive way permeated much of the Christian Church.

"Feeding on Christ" The Role of The Lord's Supper in the Church By Shane C. Montgomery

“Feeding on Christ”

The Role of The Lord's Supper in the Church

The primary nature of revelation is God's speaking His Word, which culminates in the word becoming flesh. When the Bible speaks of “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” (John 1:14) like wise, the practice of Word and Sacrament, meaning, the preaching of God's Word followed by the faithful observance of the Lord's Supper in a worship service, leads to the believer hearing God's Word and then that same Word, which is Christ, (John 1:1) becomes flesh in the form of Communion and dwells among the believers, where they then “Eat the body of Christ and drink the blood of Christ.” (John 6:53-5) Thus, a worship service with the preaching of His Word but lacking the observance of the Lord's Supper is then only half of a worship service. Worship is “Word and Sacrament” the preaching of the Word is mandatory and the Sacrament, in this case, “the Sacraments of Sacraments” the Lord's Supper must also be observed and always after the preaching of His Word.

By neglecting to feast on Christ we rob the sheep of their complete nourishment for the week. If we observe this sacrament monthly, or even bi-weekly, we are wasting the worship in between. Each week that Communion is not faithfully observed then becomes a mere practice of worship, a dress rehearsal if you will, an incomplete offering to God, a wasted effort that is only realized as authentic and edifying on the day of the Sacrament.

This practice realizes the Scriptures meaning in hearing the Word (Christ) and then making the Word (Christ) a reality by consuming the Word (Christ) in flesh and blood, so now Christ dwells inside the believer. This gives new meaning to the phrase “You are what you eat,” by feeding on Christ, we do not become Christ, but rather we inherit His divine grace, His blessings and His righteousness, giving us the means to resist temptation and remain Christ-like in spirit, heart and mind. This feeding, is meant to get us through the week, from Lord's Day to Lord's Day unscathed by the world. To enter the week without the spiritual nourishment of the Word (preaching) and the spiritual nourishment of Christ's body (Lord's Supper), a means of grace, we will surely struggle throughout the week. This being said, “Word and Sacrament” is more than a saying in the Reformed Church, it is more than a catch phrase battered about, it is a practice that must be lived out weekly in the Church, in order that the offering up to God is complete and the believer and the entire congregation as a whole can make it through the week, armed sufficiently to endure to the next Lord's Day and the next visit to the Lord's Table to feed upon Christ once again. We would not attempt to enter the week without consuming physical food to sustain our bodies, no one ever claims of eating three square meals a day, and the idea of making it through the week without the nourishment from food would be foolish and unthinkable, so why do we think we can make it without Spiritual nourishment”

“He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.” John 6:56

I ask that you do not confuse what I am saying with the Roman Catholic view known as “Transubstantiation.” The Reformed view is unique and the idea of which may of course differ between believers, most see this Sacrament as merely a “sign or symbol” and not a true means of grace. If the Lord allows, I would like to go a bit further in detail on this at a later date, picking up at John 6:60 where many of His disciples say, “this is a hard saying, who can hear it?” and of course the disciples on the road from Emmaus who do not recognize the risen Savior until they break bread with Him. This should be a hint for us on the importance of this Sacrament.

Be Holy!

Shane C. Montgomery

"Dr. Joel Beeke on Experimental Preaching"

What is Reformed Experimental Preaching? by Joel R. Beeke

Dr. Joel Beeke

‘And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.‘ 2 Kings 22:10-11

‘So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.‘ Nehemiah 8:8

You probably know that, historically, Reformed and Puritan preaching was ‘experimental’ preaching. But do you understand what is meant by the term experimental or experiential? The term comes from the Latin word ‘experimentum’, derived from a verb which means to ‘try, test, prove, or put to the test’. The same verb can also mean ‘to find or know by experience’, and so gives rise to the word ‘experientia’, meaning ‘trial, experiment’ and ‘the knowledge gained by experiment’.

Christian experience Calvin used experiential (experientia) and experimental (experimentum) interchangeably, since, from the perspective of biblical preaching, both words indicate the need for examining or testing experienced knowledge by the touchstone of Scripture (Isaiah 8:20). Experimental preaching stresses the need to know by experience the truths of the Word of God. It seeks to explain in terms of biblical truth, how matters ought to go, and how they do go, in the Christian life. It aims to apply divine truth to the whole range of the believer’s experience: in his walk with God as well as his relationship with family, the church, and the world around him. We can learn much from the Puritans about this type of preaching. As Paul Helm writes: ‘The situation calls for preaching that will cover the full range of Christian experience, and a developed experimental theology. The preaching must give guidance and instruction to Christians in terms of their actual experience. It must not deal in unrealities or treat congregations as if they lived in a different century or in wholly different circumstances. This involves taking the full measure of our modern situation and entering with full sympathy into the actual experiences, the hopes and fears, of Christian people’.

Preaching Christ, The experimental preaching of the Reformers and Puritans focused on preaching Christ. As Scripture clearly shows, evangelism must bear witness to the record God has given of his only begotten Son (Acts 2:3; 5:42; 8:35; Romans 16:25; 1 Corinthians 2:2; Galatians 3:1). The Puritans thus taught that any preaching in which Christ does not have the pre-eminence is not valid experiential preaching. William Perkins said that the heart of all preaching was to ‘preach [only] one Christ by Christ to the praise of Christ’. According to Thomas Adams, ‘Christ is the sum of the whole Bible, prophesied, typified, prefigured, exhibited, demonstrated, to be found in every leaf, almost in every line, the Scriptures being but as it were the swaddling bands of the child Jesus’. ‘Think of Christ as the very substance, marrow, soul, and scope of the whole Scriptures’, advised Isaac Ambrose. In this Christ-centred context, Reformed and Puritan evangelism was marked by a discriminating application of truth to experience.

Marks of grace Discriminatory preaching defines the difference between the non-Christian and the Christian. Discriminatory preaching pronounces the wrath of God and eternal condemnation upon the unbelieving and impenitent. But it offers the forgiveness of sins and eternal life to all who, by true faith, embrace Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. Such preaching teaches that if our religion is not experiential, we will perish not because experience itself saves, but because Christ who saves sinners must be experienced personally as the rock on whom our eternal hope is built (Matthew 7:22-27; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2:2). The Reformers and Puritans were very aware of the deceitfulness of the human heart. Puritan evangelists in particular took great pains to identify the marks of grace that distinguish the church from the world, true believers from merely professing believers, and saving faith from temporary faith. Thomas Shepard in The Ten Virgins, Matthew Mead in The Almost Christian Discovered, Jonathan Edwards in Religious Affections, and other Puritans wrote dozens of works to differentiate imposters from true believers. That kind of discriminatory preaching is scarce today. Even in conservative Evangelical churches, head knowledge of scriptural truth is often a substitute for heart experience, or (what is equally unscriptural) heart experience is substituted for head knowledge. Experimental preaching calls for both head knowledge and heart experience; its goal, according to John Murray, is ‘intelligent piety’.

Brought home Experimental preaching is ‘Christianity brought home to men’s business and bosoms’, said Robert Burns. ‘The principle on which experimental religion rests is simply this, that Christianity should not only be known, and understood, and believed, but also felt, and enjoyed, and practically applied’. How different this is from most contemporary preaching! The Word of God is often preached today in a way that wiII never transform anyone because it never discriminates and never applies. Preaching is reduced to a lecture, a catering to the wishes and needs of people, or a form of experientialism removed from the foundation of Scripture. Such preaching fails to expound from Scripture what the Puritans called ‘vital religion’: how a sinner is stripped of all his own righteousness; driven to Christ alone for salvation; finds joy in obedience and reliance upon Christ; encounters the plague of indwelling sin; battles against backsliding; and gains the victory through Christ.

Our great need When God’s Word is preached experimentally, the Holy Spirit uses it to transform men, women, and nations. Such preaching transforms because it corresponds to the vital experience of the children of God (Romans 5: 1-11); clearly explains the marks of saving grace in the believer (Matthew 5:3-12; Galatians 5:22-23); proclaims the high calling of believers as the servants of God in the world (Matthew 5:13-16); and shows the eternal destination of believers and unbelievers (Revelation 21:1-9), We desperately need a return to faithful, Reformed experimental preaching today

"The Minister & His Greek Testament" By J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937)

The widening breach between the minister and his Greek Testament may be traced to two principal causes. The modern minister objects to his Greek New Testament or is indifferent to it, first, because he is becoming less interested in his Greek, and second, because he is becoming less interested in his New Testament.


The former objection is merely one manifestation of the well known tendency in modern education to reject the "humanities" in favor of studies that are more, obviously useful, a tendency which is fully as pronounced in the universities as it is in the theological seminaries. In many colleges, the study of Greek is almost abandoned; there is little wonder, therefore, that the graduates are not prepared to use their Greek Testament. Plato and Homer are being neglected as much as Paul. A refutation of the arguments by which this tendency is justified would exceed the limits of the present article. This much, however, may be said—the refutation must recognize the opposing principles that are involved. The advocate of the study of Greek and Latin should never attempt to plead his cause merely before the bar of "efficiency." Something, no doubt, might be said even there; it might possibly be contended that an acquaintance with Greek and Latin is really necessary to acquaintance with the mother tongue, which is obviously so important for getting on in the world. But why not go straight to the root of the matter? The real trouble with the modern exaltation of "practical" studies at the expense of the humanities is that it is based upon a vicious conception of the whole purpose of education. The modern conception of the purpose of education is that education is merely intended to enable a man to live, but not to give him those things in life that make life worth living.
  In the second place, the modern minister is neglecting his Greek New Testament because he is becoming less interested in his New Testament in general—less interested in his Bible. The Bible used to be regarded as providing the very sum and substance of preaching; a preacher was true to his calling only as he succeeded in reproducing and applying the message of the Word of God. Very different is the modern attitude. The Bible is not discarded, to be sure, but it is treated only as one of the sources, even though it be still the chief source, of the preacher's inspiration. Moreover, a host of duties other than preaching and other than interpretation of the Word of God are required of the modern pastor. He must organize clubs and social activities of a dozen different kinds; he must assume a prominent part in movements for civic reform. In short, the minister has ceased to be a specialist. The change appears, for example, in the attitude of theological students, even of a devout and reverent type. One outstanding difficulty in theological education today is that the students persist in regarding themselves, not as specialists, but as laymen. Critical questions about the Bible they regard as the property of men who are training themselves for theological professorships or the like, while the ordinary minister, in their judgment, may content himself with the most superficial layman's acquaintance with the problems involved. The minister is thus no longer a specialist in the Bible, but has become merely a sort of general manager of the affairs of a congregation.
  The bearing of this modern attitude toward the study of the Bible upon the study of the Greek Testament is sufficiently obvious. If the time allotted to strictly biblical studies must be diminished, obviously the most laborious part of those studies, the part least productive of immediate results, will be the first to go. And that part, for students insufficiently prepared, is the study of Greek and Hebrew. If, on the other band, the minister is a specialist—if the one thing that he owes his congregation above all others is a thorough acquaintance, scientific as well as experimental, with the Bible—then the importance of Greek requires no elaborate argument. In the first place, almost all the most important books about the New Testament presuppose a knowledge of Greek: the student who is without at least a smattering of Greek is obliged to use for the most part works that are written, figuratively speaking, in words of one syllable. In the second place, such a student cannot deal with all the problems at first hand, but in a thousand important questions is at the mercy of the judgment of others. In the third place, our student without Greek cannot acquaint himself with the form as well as the content of the New Testament books. The New Testament, as well as all other literature, loses something in translation. But why argue the, question? Every scientific student of the New Testament without exception knows that Greek is really necessary to his work: the real question is only as to whether our ministry should be manned by scientific students.
  That question is merely one phase of the most important question that is now facing the Church—the question of Christianity and culture. The modern world is dominated by a type of thought that is either contradictory to Christianity or else out of vital connection with Christianity. This type of thought applied directly to the Bible has resulted in the naturalistic view of the biblical history-the view that rejects the supernatural not merely in the Old Testament narratives, but also in the-Gospel account of the life of Jesus. According to such a view the Bible is valuable because it teaches certain ideas about God and His relations to the world, because it teaches by symbols and example, as well as by formal presentation, certain great principles that have always been true. According to the supernaturalistic view, on the other hand, the Bible contains not merely a presentation of something that was always true, but also a record of something that happened—namely, the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. If this latter view be correct, then the Bible is unique; it is not merely one of the sources of the preacher's inspiration, but the very sum and substance of what he has to say. But, if so, then whatever else the preacher need not know, be must know the Bible; he must know it at first hand, and be able to interpret and defend it. Especially while doubt remains in the world as to the great central question, who more properly than the ministers should engage in the work of resolving such doubt—by intellectual instruction even more than by argument? The work cannot be turned over to a few professors whose work is of interest only to themselves, but must be undertaken energetically by spiritually minded men throughout the Church. But obviously, this work can be undertaken to best advantage only by those who have an important prerequisite for the study in a knowledge of the original languages upon which a large part of the discussion is based. 
  If, however, it is important for the minister to use his Greek Testament, what is to be done about it? Suppose early opportunities were neglected, or what was once required has been lost in the busy rush of ministerial life. Here we may come forward boldly with a message of hope. The Greek of the New Testament is by no means a difficult language; a very fair knowledge of it may be acquired by any minister of average intelligence. And to that end two homely directions may be given. In the first place, the Greek should be read aloud. A language cannot easily be learned by the eye alone. The sound as well as the sense of familiar passages should be impressed upon the mind, until sound and sense are connected without the medium of translation. Let this result not be hastened; it will come of itself if the simple direction be followed. In the second place, the Greek Testament should be read every day without fail, Sabbaths included. Ten minutes a day is of vastly more value than seventy minutes once a week. If the student keeps a "morning watch," the Greek Testament ought to be given a place in it; at any rate, the Greek Testament should be read devotionally. The Greek Testament is a sacred book, and should be treated as such. If it is treated so, the reading of it will soon become a source of joy and power.


This essay was originally printed in The Presbyterian (February, 1918). This article is now in the public domain and may be freely copied and distributed.