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Wanted: A Bible For The Twenty-First Century And The New Millennium By DR. LAURENCE M. VANCE P.O. BOX 11781 - PENSACOLA, FLORIDA 32524 At the dawn of the twentieth century, an attempt to provide the world with a Bible translation in modern English was well underway. The Twentieth Century New Testament (no Old Testament was ever produced) was produced in England and released in three parts between 1898 and 1901. A revised one volume edition was issued in 1904. The excuse for this version was that “English-speaking people of today have not, until quite recently, had the opportunity of reading...

CHOOSING A THEOLOGY Whether we like it or not, as Christians we all adhere to some form of theological thinking. Our theology should not rule the Bible; the Bible should rule our theology. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Importance of Theology Have you ever wondered how there can be so many denominations when we all read the same Bible? Have you ever been frustrated by your inability to be able to explain to others what you believe and why you disagree with them? Well, the reason in most cases is that you are working from a different theology. If we can be so...

Introduction The central issue we want to study tonight is the interplay between God's sovereignty and human choice with regard to salvation. Do humans have free will to believe or reject the gospel? How should we understand the New Testament's statements about election and predestination? Reminder: Some weeks have more immediate and obvious application than others. This is not one of those weeks . . . However, there is some practical application—like the implications for evangelism. Doctrinal Overview Calvinism: This term is actually a misnomer. Calvin did not emphasize predestination in his Institutes (only 4 chapters). Calvin warned against delving...

Dispensational Theology by Phillip Heideman, Th.M. Chafer Theological Seminary The purpose of this article is to present a view similar to what Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer taught on the subject and to identify some weaknesses in traditional Dispensational theology. This author holds firmly to Dispensational theology, since that is the only system of theology that adequately accounts for the differences from one time period to another and from one testament to another. Therefore, this article will uphold the distinctives and essential features of Dispensationalism but present a different focus, a different basis for naming them, and suggest a few additional...

A SERIOUS CALL TO A DEVOUT AND HOLY LIFE By WILLIAM LAW, A.M. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER I Concerning the nature and extent of Christian devotion. DEVOTION is neither private nor public prayer; but prayers, whether private or public, are particular parts or instances of devotion. Devotion signifies a life given, or devoted, to God. He, therefore, is the devout man, who lives no longer to his own will, or the way and spirit of the world, but to the sole will of God, who considers God in everything, who serves God in everything, who makes all the parts of his common...

The Kingdom of Heaven vs. the Kingdom of God Knowing the doctrinal difference between the terms "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Kingdom of God" is the key to understanding the complete timeline of Biblical history, past, present, and future, the proper place of the Church, and the prophetic future of Israel. The Bible is about the struggle for a Kingdom; the Kingdom of Heaven, a Kingdom on this earth. Israel rejected the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah when He first came because Israel was looking for a political King, and for this King to make Israel the world ruling kingdom...

The Biblical Evidence that Jesus is Returning to Earth to Reign Is it solely based on Revelation 20? by Dr. David R. Reagan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Many people mistakenly believe that the only scriptural basis of a Millennial reign of Jesus is Revelation 20. But the concept of the Messiah returning to reign over all the earth in peace, righteousness, and justice is found throughout the Scriptures, both New Testament and Old. I. I believe Jesus is returning to reign on earth be­cause the Old Testament prophets say so. 1) The Psalms a) Psalm 2:6-9 — David says the Messi­ah will reign...

The Biblical Evidence that Jesus is Returning to Earth to Reign Is it solely based on Revelation 20? by Dr. David R. Reagan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Many people mistakenly believe that the only scriptural basis of a Millennial reign of Jesus is Revelation 20. But the concept of the Messiah returning to reign over all the earth in peace, righteousness, and justice is found throughout the Scriptures, both New Testament and Old. I. I believe Jesus is returning to reign on earth be­cause the Old Testament prophets say so. 1) The Psalms a) Psalm 2:6-9 — David says the Messi­ah will reign...

The Interpretation of Prophecy An Exercise in Imagination or the Application of Plain Sense? by Dr. David R. Reagan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When I was about 12 years old, I stumbled across Zechariah 14. It was an amazing discovery. You see, I grew up in a church where we were told over and over that "there is not one verse in the Bible that even implies that Jesus will ever set His feet on this earth again." Simple Language Well, Zechariah 14 not only implies that the Lord is coming back to this earth again, it says so point- blank! It says...

The Millennial Temple of Ezekiel 40-48 (An Exercise in Literal Interpretation) Dr. John C. Whitcomb [used by permission] Those who have discovered that the key to interpreting God's Word properly is to understand it in a normal/literal way, will also discover that Ezekiel 40-48 is not a burden to the Bible student, but a delight. What joy God brings to the heart of the believer when he realizes, perhaps for the first time, that God did not give us any portion of His Word to confuse us, but rather to enlighten us. God really does mean what He says! The...

No Compromise Between The Church and Rome by Martin Luther (1483-1546) The following article has been extracted from volume VIII of, The Sermons of Martin Luther, published by Baker Book House (Grand Rapids, MI). This was a section of a sermon based on Col. 1:3-14 titled "Knowledge of God's Will and Its Fruits," (sections 26-30 presented here). It was later published in english in 1905 by The Luther Press (Minneapolis, MN), in Precious and Sacred Writings of Martin Luther, vol. 14 (later republished by Baker Books, Sermons of Martin Luther vol. 5). This e-text was scanned and edited by Shane...

The Westminster Confession of Faith Commentary by A. A. Hodge Chapter Twenty-nine Of the Lord's Supper SECTION: I Our Lord Jesus, in the night wherein he was betrayed, instituted the sacrament of his body and blood, called the Lord's Supper, to be observed in his church, unto the end of the world, for the perpetual remembrance of the sacrifice of himself in his death; the sealing all benefits thereof unto true believers, their spiritual nourishment and growth in him, their further engagement in and to all duties which they owe unto him; and, to be a bond and pledge of...

The Presence of Christ at the Lord's Supper Is Christ really, truly, personally present with us in the sacrament? Do we therein covenant and commune with him in person, touch to touch, immediately and really; or is this only a show, a symbol of something absent and different from what it seems? The gross perversions of the Romanists and Ritualists, who have made it altogether a question of the local presence of Christ's flesh and blood, have occasioned much confusion of thought and many prejudices on the subject. Nevertheless, as a matter of fact, every believer knows that Christ is...

Principles of the Literal Bible Interpretation By Cooper P. Abrams, III (Revised August 2001) * (All rights reserved) Introduction: It is apparent from all the contradictory teachings of the many denominations and cults of Christendom, that they all cannot be right. For the most part, each claim to use the Bible as the source of their teachings. For example, most evangelical churches teach that salvation is by one's faith through God's grace apart works. However, some churches emphatically teach that baptism is necessary for salvation. Both may claim the Bible as the source of their belief. Most Protestants practice baptism...

God Rejoicing in the New Creation A Sermon (No. 2211) Intended for Reading on Lord's-day, July 5th, 1891, Delivered by C. H. SPURGEON, At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people."—Isaiah 65:17-19. HIS PASSAGE, like the rest of Isaiah's closing chapters, will have completest fulfillment in...

The Nature of Regeneration by Thomas Boston (1676-1732) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. For the better understanding of the nature of regeneration, take this along with you, in the first place, that as there are false conceptions in nature, so there are also in grace: by these many are deluded, mistaking some partial changes made upon them for this great and thorough change. To remove such mistakes, let these few things be considered: 1. Many call the Church their mother, whom God will not own to be His children. "My mother's children," that is, false brethren, "were angry with me" (Cant. 1:6). All...

The Deity of Christ by Professor Benjamin B. Warfield, D.D., LL.D., Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey A recent writer has remarked that our assured conviction of the deity of Christ rests, not upon "proof-texts or passages, nor upon old arguments drawn from these, but upon the general fact of the whole manifestation of Jesus Christ, and of the whole impression left by Him upon the world." The antithesis is too absolute, and possibly betrays an unwarranted distrust of the evidence of Scripture. To make it just, we should read the statement rather thus: Our conviction of the deity of...

Israel / Church Distinction: The 4th Foundation by Thomas Ice The fourth biblical foundation upon which the pre-trib rapture is built is the fact that God has two peoples-Israel and the church. What do we mean by this distinction and how does it impact pretribulationism? The Distinction Between Israel and the Church "The New Testament consistently differentiates between Israel and the church," claims Arnold Fruchtenbaum.1 Fruchtenbaum supports this conclusion through a powerful twofold argument in which he first demonstrates the biblical view of Israel and secondly, by showing that the church is viewed in the New Testament as a separate...

Justification by Faith by H.C.G. Moule Bishop of Durham Durham, England "Justification by Faith;" the phrase is weighty alike with Scripture and with history. In Holy Scripture it is the main theme of two great dogmatic epistles, Romans and Galatians. In Christian history it was the potent watchword of the Reformation movement in its aspect as a vast spiritual upheaval of the church. It is not by any means the only great truth considered in the two epistles; we should woefully misread them if we allowed their message about justification by Faith to obscure their message about the Holy Ghost,...

LIFE IN THE WORD By Philip Mauro, Attorney At Law, New York City [ volume 1 | volume 2 | volume 3 | volume 4 | home ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction and Chapter One INTRODUCTION It must be evident to all who pay close attention to the spiritual conditions of our day that there is being made at this time a very determined and widespread effort to set aside entirely the authority of the Bible. Let us note that one of the unique characteristics of that Book is that it claims the right to control the actions of men. It speaks...