October 27, 2012
by Nicholas Batzig
Whatever position one takes with regard to the cessation or continuation of the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit mentioned throughout the pages of the New Testament, there is one thing we can all be sure of--1 Corinthians 14:1-25 (see esp. vv. 20-25) is an incredibly difficult portion of Scripture to interpret. In addition to the question of what "tongues" (glossolalia) ...
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October 26, 2012
by Nicholas Batzig
In his sermon "Heavenly-Mindedness," Geerhardus Vos explained how the partriarchs could be said to be "waiting for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Heb. 11:10), "seeking a homeland" (Heb. 11:14) and "desiring a better, that is, a heavenly country" (Heb. 11:16) when in fact they had not received an explicit word from God about a heavenl...
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October 25, 2012
by Nicholas Batzig
Throughout redemptive history a number of typological death and resurrection acts were revealed in Scripture to prepare us for the ultimate death and resurrection of the coming Redeemer. For instance, in the lives of covenantal figures, the life of Joseph is marked by two death and resurrection experiences: first when his brothers throw him in the well and then sell him to...
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October 25, 2012
by Nicholas Batzig
Normally, I'm the guy in the room who was redeemed out of the most extreme, outwardly rebellious lifestyle. That's one of the reasons why I love hearing the testimony of God's grace in Christ to other believers who were redeemed out of deep and dark rebellion. The grace of God in the Gospel is magnified in the lives of such wayward men and women (1 Tim. 1:15-16). Lowell Iv...
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October 23, 2012
by Nicholas Batzig
On October 7, 2012, Rev. Roland Barnes--of Trinity PCA in Statesboro, GA--came to New Covenant PCA to do a seminar on the government of the church and the future selection of officers for the establishment of a church plant. The sermon, lectures and Q A deal with the various aspects of choosing elders and the inner workings of a local church session. I especially recomm...
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October 23, 2012
by Nicholas Batzig
In recent years a number of volumes have been written which seek to deal with the biblical theology of the Tabernacle in the wilderness. This subject is important because the Tabernacle was, in a very real sense, the first stepping stone to the restoration of the dwelling of God with man which Adam forfeited in the Garden-Temple of Eden. The Tabernacle (which was in a very...
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October 20, 2012
by Nicholas Batzig
I know that when the Bible says, "Be anger and do not sin" it is clearly teaching us that there is such a thing as righteous anger. It is referring to that just angry which is a response to the evil of sin in relationship to the holiness of God. I doubt very much that any of us have experienced any act of undiluted righteous anger. In the heart of the godliest saint there...
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October 18, 2012
by Nicholas Batzig
It might sounds strange to hear someone speak of "the man behind monergism," since the word monergism--in theological parlance--is used to denote the singular working of God in Christ in the regeneration and justification of sinners. In that sense, you would be right to assume that I am referring to Jesus Christ, who is Himself the God-Man. However, I'm actually refer...
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October 17, 2012
by Nicholas Batzig
I have always been amazed at the way in which the healing accounts in the Gospels reflect something of the compassion and the power of Jesus; but even more than that, I have often wondered at the fact that it actually cost Jesus so much more than we realize at first in order for Him to make ceremonially unclean individuals clean again. As the Son of God, Jesus lacked no po...
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October 15, 2012
by Nicholas Batzig
In his outstanding chapter "The Quest for Wisdom," in Resurrection and Eschatology, Vern Poythress explains the redemptive historical fulfillment of what is one of the most interesting examples of the apostolic Christological interpretation of an Old Testament passage. Deuteronomy 30:11-14 reads:
For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neith...
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October 10, 2012
by Nicholas Batzig
The seventh episode of East of Eden: The Biblical and Systematic Theology of Jonathan Edwards is out. This time we considered Edwards' 1739 "The Importance and Advantage of a Thorough Knowledge of Divine Truth." Here's the description of the sermon from from the Reformed Forum website:
In 1739, at the brink of the Great Awakening in Northampton, Jonathan Edwards pre...
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October 10, 2012
by Nicholas Batzig
While there has been enormous debate over the issue of whether the charismatic gifts--(i.e. the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit) that we read about in the book of Acts and in 1 Corinthians 12-14--continue to function in the church today or not, there is an important aspect of these gifts that is often overlooked, namely, the significance of them being powerfully active ...
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October 8, 2012
by Nicholas Batzig
With the recent controversy fueled by Propoganda's new song "Precious Puritans" (see this, this, this and this), I thought I'd take the extremely unpopular and countercultural route of seizing the opportunity to promote a welcomed new resource in Puritan publishing. Jim O'Brien has recently launched New Puritan Press, an ebook publishing house devoted to modernizi...
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