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I was raised in a very different theological tradition and only knew Edwards from "Sinners In The Hands of an Angry God." But lately have been researching many of his writings in more depth. This work seems to me to be the "true Edwards." Besides being a wonderful theologian and philosopher, he was a brilliant poet and psychologist! How he understood human emotions! Thank you for this!
I’m really not sure if I understood the very last part of Dr Hamilton’s message - is he preaching justification by grace and sanctification by works? I pray I’m hearing wrong…
When Autonomianism, Arminianism, Pelagianism and neo-Pelagianism has become the orthodoxy of our time, Dr Hamilton’s message here is like a breath of fresh air… Ultimately, the Lord of God is sovereign - not ‘just so sovereign’ or ‘merely sovereign’ or ‘nominally sovereign’, but ABSOLUTELY SOVEREIGN over absolutely all things, including the spiritual condition of fallen man
Reformers and Calvinists certainly don't know how it's going to end . John Calvin was IGNORANT to. Bible prophecy . He was a. " former " catholic some say . He took much with him when he left the catholic church . Some feel that they. took " everything " but the pope
Enjoyed my good friend Nick’s lecture very much. Excellent. The moment you replace divine revelation with subjective reflection, you end up captive to the tyranny of subjectivism - My opinion is as valid as yours. Well done Nick. 49:05
One minor correction to a remark made at 3:30: Hampden-Sydney is 70 miles from Richmond. The confusion is understandable, however, as the seminary where Dabney taught (now Union Presbyterian Seminary) was in Hampden-Sydney at the time, though it moved to Richmond in 1898.
Thanks Dr. Brand for your very careful and clear presentation of some of the deepest mysteries of God, I am especially blessed with the way you are very faithful I believe to scripture as understood by the church down through the centuries, in explaining as far as possible for men to do with regards to the One Divine Nature subsisting in three Persons, as well as the eternal personal properties of the Persons, in eternal mutual indwelling. I believe maintaining the biblical and historical one faith of the church in these matters is very important. I pray God’s blessings on your studies and exposition.
That was in fact the end of this lecture, Dr Needham's second address of the morning. If you'd be interested in hearing his first talk, head to the "Live" section of our channel. Thanks for watching!
How do we reconcile the timing language used for the end times in the Bible? Jesus says those who pierced him will see his return, revelation says that this will happen quick, there a lot more verses to name that give a very immediate return of Christ? Much love from Charleston, South Carolina. Thanks!
I don't think that men like Iain Murray, Ian Hamilton, Sinclair Ferguson, John MacArthur, Steve Lawson, etc. realize that they are to us, at least to me, modern day examples of faith to imitate in the same line as Spurgeon, Whitefield, Edwards and countless others from church history. Perhaps these men are too humble to realize it. I imagine they are unaware of how far God's grace through them has traveled and of how many have been blessed as a result, the outcome being an abundance of thanksgiving to God in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ for the grace received through them. As Paul wrote "(...) for I hope that through your prayers I will be given to you." May the Lord be pleased to keep giving to us faithful living examples of imitators of Christ filled of grace, truth and of the Holy Spirit.
1 Tim 4:1-2 Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the last times some will turn away from the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and demonic instructions through the hypocrisy of liars with branded consciences. 2 Tim 4:3-4 For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths. 2 Pet 3:3 Know this first of all, that in the last days scoffers will come [to] scoff, living according to their own desires Jude 1:18 for they told you “In [the] last time there will be scoffers who will live according to their own godless desires.” [This is the substance of much early Christian preaching rather than a direct quotation of any of the various New Testament passages on this theme (see Mk 13:22; Acts 20:30;] Mk 13:22 False messiahs and false prophets will arise and will perform signs and wonders in order to mislead, if that were possible, the elect. Acts 20:30 And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them.
The problem that protestants have is the same as Mormonism based on the following 3 arguments. (1) Mormons (Latter-Day Saints, or LDS) believe that after the death of the last Apostle, there was a “Great Apostasy.” Priesthood authority ceased, doctrine began to degenerate, and the true Gospel was lost (necessitating its “restoration” by Joseph Smith in the 19th century). (2) The vast majority of protestants reject multiple doctrines that were believed unanimously by ancient Christians, beginning with the very first Church Fathers who were discipled by the Apostles themselves. Specifically, these protestants reject three key doctrines: a. Baptismal regeneration (how we become Christians); b. Apostolic succession (how the Church is governed); and c. The sacrifice of the Eucharist (how Christians worship). (3) Therefore, whether they realize it or not, most protestants believe in a “Great Apostasy” theory of history that is virtually identical with that of the LDS. If all Christians of which we have any record-including the disciples of the Apostles-were unanimously wrong about how we become Christians, how the Church is governed, and how we worship as Christians (the “Three Doctrines”), there is no more fitting description of this massive falling away than a “Great Apostasy.” This necessarily means that creatures (the protestant “reformers,” or the LDS’s “prophet” Joseph Smith) outperformed the Creator, since their “gospels” and “churches” have now in one form or another lasted for centuries, whereas when Jesus originally established them, they fell apart immediately. In the writings of the Church Fathers every time they spoke about heresy and heretics, they were describing Protestantism. Protestantism is all over the place on the different positions. You can’t speak about the Protestant position on something, except perhaps in the form of a negative, like they’re contrary to the Catholic Church, they’re contrary to the Roman Pontiff. But the methods, the means, by which Protestants arrive at their theological conclusions were common in virtually all the heresies and the heretics that the Fathers talk about.
In the writings of the Church Fathers every time they spoke about heresy and heretics, they were describing Protestantism. Protestantism is all over the place on the different positions. You can’t speak about the Protestant position on something, except perhaps in the form of a negative, like they’re contrary to the Catholic Church, they’re contrary to the Roman Pontiff. But the methods, the means, by which Protestants arrive at their theological conclusions were common in virtually all the heresies and the heretics that the Fathers talk about. First, they separate from the Catholic Church and deny its authority, and the way you end up there is the same path to heresy. The Catholic Church has always been the one true church. It’s always been the vast majority of Christians. But this phenomenon of heresy and schism has been a part of the church’s pilgrimage on earth from the very beginning. The Fathers talk about it constantly. And the heretics in the ancient period were ending up with all sorts of different positions just like Protestants do. St. Vincent of Lérins talks about that. He said, “The reason we need the authority of the Catholic Church is because if you don’t, you’ll have as many interpretations of Scripture as you have interpreters.” So the second one is heretics interpret Scripture on a new and novel principle and deny being bound by any apostolic and ecclesial tradition. This is something that really blew my mind because St. Athanasius of Alexandria, many Protestants claim to love him. But then, when you actually read his writings, it’s consistently the Arians who are using a Sola Scriptura-like argument, where St. Athanasius is appealing to the constant teaching of the church. He says in one work, basically, “Who learned this in his catechesis? This has never been taught before.” And so he appealed to tradition quite openly. He appealed to the ruling of a pope, Pope Dionysius, in the 3rd century. He said, “This is not a new thing.” He said, “The Council of Nicaea has now condemned it, but it was condemned by all,” a very interesting phrase, basically affirming the papacy. He said, “This was condemned by all, by Pope Dionysius.” So the third one was that based on this novel principle, they concoct a new set of beliefs around which they form their own sect, which they erroneously claim is Christian in the true faith. So this was something that many of the fathers talk about, that all the heretics wish to be called Christian. And there’s even many parts where they will say basically that some of the heretics want to be called Catholic. Many Protestants claim, “Well, we’re Catholic, we’re Catholic,” little C Catholic. But the fathers roundly deny them that possibility. They literally say the exact same thing of ancient heretics. They said, “They wish to be called Catholic, but whenever anybody asks where the Catholic Church is, none of them will point to their own congregations because no one will know what they’re talking about.” So literally, the exact same sorts of arguments some Protestants will make about, “Well, we’re little C Catholics,” a version of it was being made by ancient heretics all over the place. You see that St. Augustine specifically talks about this. St. Cyril of Jerusalem specifically talks about this. So that was another thing. Fourth, to justify their heresy, their primary tactic is to cite and quote Scripture as much as possible so that their new religion sounds “biblical.” This is something St. Vincent of Lérins explicitly mentions. He says, “Do heretics quote Scripture?” He’s like, “They do with a vengeance.” He says, “There’s nothing of all their errors that they won’t drip with Scripture to make it seem like it’s true.” He said, “They’re basically dripping their poison with honey, the honey of divine language.” Fifth, they were often named after the men who started them. This is a big one because there are many Protestants who will say proudly, “I’m Lutheran,” or “I’m Calvinist,” or “I’m Armenian,” or whatever it may be. Sometimes they’ll be by the category, a theological category like, “I’m a Baptist,” or “I’m a Methodist,” or whatever. But most of them are named after the names of the men who founded them. So again, reading from the Fathers they were often pointing this out. This is exactly what Protestants do. And again, they try the, “Well, we’re a little C Catholic kind of thing,” but that doesn’t work for the reason already stated. So the name that they will be known by is the founder of their sect. And so that was known. Sixth, their beliefs and definitions of their own heresies constantly shift and change, whereby the certainty and unity of faith to which we are commanded by the apostles is subjected to endless argumentation. So this is the great poison of heresy as it makes the faith seem uncertain. And you see this in Scripture in Acts 15, the apostles refer to the Judaizing heretics, saying they are trying to unsettle your minds. They make that term, “unsettle your minds.” And so that’s what all heresy does. It seeks to unsettle the mind of the Church. And so the church has to respond by issuing an authoritative condemnation and explanation and articulation of the faith, which it’s done with all the councils, various papal definitions and whatnot. So again, it was another similar method, another similar phenomenon of heresy itself that is all over Protestantism. Basically, is not normal Christianity, the Fathers are roundly saying, “No, this is a key characteristic of heresy.”
St. Ignatius of Antioch - a disciple of the apostles - an extremely early witness to Peter and Paul being in Rome, talks about the structure of the church with bishops and priests and deacons, which is still the Catholic Church to this day. He talks about them succeeding directly from the apostles. He talks about the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, in an extremely real way, for lack of a better term, just very physical even. He’s saying that the heretics of those days were denying the real presence of Christ. In his letter to the Church of Rome, it was very different from the other letters. He’d said some wonderful things to all the churches that are very highfalutin language. But in the letter to the Church of Rome, it was the only church he spoke of commanding other churches. He said, “I don’t issue orders to you because I’m not Peter and Paul.” He was also an extremely early witness to Peter and Paul being in Rome, which some Protestants, to this day, will try to cast doubt on. Every Protestant sect denies the apostolic succession, real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the sacrifice of the Eucharist.
St. Isidore of Seville in the early 600’s was widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century french historian Charles Forbes René de Montalembert, as "the last scholar of the ancient world, Basically says something to the fact of, “All the heretics disagree violently with one another, but they’re united by a same hatred of the Catholic Church.” So a Protestant would say like, “Whoa, that’s us.” I can’t get a straight answer from all my Protestant brethren who I love very much, I can’t get a straight answer on baptism, I can’t get a straight answer on sacraments, I can’t get a straight answer on various moral questions or the governance of the church and whatnot. But they all agree that we’re not part of the Catholic Church.
About a century and a half after Jesus built his Church, against which the gates of hell will never prevail (Matt. 16:18), a man named Irenaeus, the bishop of Lyons, took it upon himself to list, in order of succession, all the bishops who had thus far succeeded Peter as bishop of Christ's Church in Rome: “The blessed apostles, then, having founded and built up the Church, committed into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate.... To him succeeded Anacletus; and after him, in the third place from the apostles, Clement was allotted the bishopric.... To this Clement there succeeded Evaristus. Alexander followed Evaristus; then, sixth from the apostles, Sixtus was appointed; after him, Telephorus, who was gloriously martyred; then Hyginus; after him, Pius; then after him, Anicetus. Soter having succeeded Anicetus, Eleutherius does now, in the twelfth place from the apostles, hold the inheritance of the episcopate.” [Against Heresies, 3:3:3.] - www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103303.htm ] As a bishop in what is now France, why would Irenaeus have such concern with the history of the Church in Rome? He tells us, "For it is a matter of necessity that every Church should agree with this Church, on account of its preeminent authority." [Ibib., 3:3:2.] Later he writes of those twelve successors to Peter: “In this order, and by this succession, the ecclesiastical tradition from the apostles, and the preaching of the truth, have come down to us. And this is most abundant proof that there is one and the same vivifying faith, which has been preserved in the Church from the apostles until now, and handed down in truth. [Ibib., 3:3:3.]” These few words of Irenaeus are rich with information that should be important to everyone who desires to be a disciple in Christ's Church. First, they attest to the importance of the successor to Peter's office as bishop of Rome. The Church of Rome has "preeminent authority" that "every church should agree with." Historically, we know Peter's successor to be the pope of the Catholic Church and his office to be the papacy. Second, "by this succession, the ecclesiastical tradition from the apostles" comes down to us. In the Catholic Church, we have come to call this Sacred Tradition, or sometimes, as it comes "from the apostles," apostolic Tradition. Finally, by Irenaeus's words "one and the same vivifying faith... preserved in the Church," we can know with certainty that, by adhering to Sacred Tradition, we are embracing the one, true, life-giving Christian faith. ExplorIng the early Church-from Christ to Irenaeus and beyond to the early fourth century, Papal and apostolic succession, Sacred Tradition, the Magisterium of the Church, and much more will come to life through early Christian writings, the Church Fathers, and Church councils. We witness the handing on, as Christ intended, of the authentic deposit of faith in Christ's one, true Church, the Catholic Church.
If you want to listen to Thomas Goodwin's Excellent Classic "The Heart of Christ in Heaven towards Sinners on Earth" in Audiobook format it can be found for free on RU-vid here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UQ986OQk1GU.htmlsi=BDoeKesEyDehS98o Highly recommend!
John 5:39-47 KJV [39] Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. [40] And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. [41] I receive not honour from men. [42] But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. [43] I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. [44] How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only? [45] Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. [46] For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. [47] But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?
@@cvetanstankov exactly my point, those who reject the Torah do not know the Messiah. The Pharisees rejected the Torah in favor of their own tradition according to Mark 7:8-13. According to the same passage, Yeshua condemned their nullification of the Torah.
my confusion is why separate person from essence? If the father causes the divine son in eternity then person and nature are united in the Son’s hypostasis / person. Why make a distinction when it’s not needed?
