John Piper Preached that Holy Spirit Baptism is a Distinct Work from Regeneration

Here is an excerpt from Piper’s sermon:
How to Receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit
April 29, 1984
Acts 2:32–42
Piper, J. (2007; 2007). Sermons from John Piper (1980-1989). Desiring God; Minneapolis, MN.
The fourth reason we should stress the experience of baptism in the Holy Spirit is that in Acts the apostles teach that it is a consequence [...]

Great Summary on Scripture’s Teaching on Alcohol

I have pasted this and the citation is at the end of the article. I found this pretty exhaustive and objective on this galvanizing topic.
SPECIAL TOPIC: BIBLICAL ATTITUDES TOWARD ALCOHOL (FERMENTATION) AND ALCOHOLISM (ADDICTION)
I. Biblical Terms
A. Old Testament
1. Yayin – This is the general term for wine, which is used 141 times. The etymology is [...]

James 5:12 Belongs to James 5:7-11

In my sermon preparation for this coming Lord’s Day, I am working on James 5:12 and was seeking where this verse belongs in James literary structure. Some place it with the discourse on prayer that follows, while most place it with the previous unit on patience, speech, and judgment. Some see it as an isolated [...]

Home Group Sheet for Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted”

I know this is a bit choppy, but I made it for my personal use and it might not be reader-friendly. This is a condensed commentary on Matthew 5:4 for the homegroup I am leading right now. We are going through the Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they [...]

Balanced Spirituality According to St. James

James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
I am preaching on this text this coming Lord’s Day (8/31/09). After reading Matt Harmon’s ( Grace Theological Seminary) “ten theses for further discussion” from his [...]

Oldest Surviving Bible Now Online

From Reuters:
The surviving parts of the world’s oldest Bible were reunited online Monday, generating excitement among scholars striving to unlock its mysteries.
The Codex Sinaiticus was hand-written by four scribes in Greek on animal hide, known as vellum, in the mid-fourth century around the time of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great who embraced Christianity.
Not all [...]

Beale on the OT in the NT

Writing in the journal Irish Biblical Studies [Volume 21, November 1999], Greg Beale talks about the use of OT scripture in the NT and says:
I gave the analogy of picking an apple off a tree and making it part of a decorative table arrangement of fruit. The new context does not obliterate the apple’s original [...]

2 Kings 11-13 “God Thwarts the Plans of the Wicked”

2 Kings 11-13 “God Thwarts the Plans of the Wicked”
Athaliah killed the entire royal family, or so she thought. There was a baby name Joash, who was taken and hidden in the house of the Lord. He later became king and Athaliah was eventually killed.
How can you not believe in providence? God chose Moses before [...]

1 Peter 4:12 “Deal With It (Suffering)”

1 Pt. 4:12 Deal With It (Suffering)
1 Pet. 4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.
Is it just me or does it seem like most believers are perplexed when trials befall them? Do we not try to find [...]

Psalm 137 “When Worship Music Becomes Entertainment”

No, I am not mocking contemporary worship or dealing with the regulative principle or any of that. Instead, I am responding to what Israel’s captors asked of them in Psalm 137:

3 For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

Babylon is making a mockery [...]

2 Kings 1-2 “Fire From Heaven”

King Ahaziah sent two groups of 50 soldiers to apprehend the lone prophet Elijah and were destroyed by fire that Elijah called down on them. The third group of 50 begged for mercy and Elijah was permitted to go down with him where he subsequently prophesied the King’s death. In 2 Kings 2, the ascension [...]

Jesus on the Cross = Penal Substitution AND Sanctification

My evening readings were in 1 Pt. 1-2 and there is so much precious truth in it all, however 1 Pt 2:24 sticks out  for me today:
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
I [...]

Psalm 136, “His Love Endures Forever”

My afternoon reading today was from Psalm 136. The refrain, “His love endures forever”, occurs in all 26 verses of this Psalm and was recited in responsive fashion before the congregation.
I know that some folks don’t like ‘7-11′ choruses in Church (7 words sung 11 times), and I would be the first to say that [...]

Ahab and 400 Apostate Prophets

I am reading through the following Bible plan. I read through the OT passage in the morning, the Psalms at midday, and the NT in the evening.  Anyhow, I thought I would offer some brief thoughts on each reading throughout the day.
In 1 Kings 22, we are introduced to the story of the evil king [...]

“Coram Deo” Sermon on Psalm 1

6.14.09 Liturgy:
-      Silent heart preparation
-      Opening prayer
-      Worship in song
-      Testimonials, words of exhortation from god’s people
-      Corporate Prayer
-      Teaching: Psalm 1
-      Closing Song

Psalm 1 – “Fruitful Trees vs. Useless Chaff”

Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor [...]

The Church is the Temple

James Jordan expounds on the Church:
I think a watershed in our  understanding of the Epistles is what kind of context we put them into. To  be crass about it (I intend no insult; I just want to get on with it): Either
1. The apostolic church started from scratch after the OT order  was cancelled, [...]

Joel 2:18-27 Rick Hogaboam Sermon “Jealous God = Glad People”

Here is a pdf file: Joel 2.18t27 jealous god equals glad people
Text pasted below.
Joel 2:18-27 “Jealous God = Glad People”
Joel 2:18 Then the Lord became jealous for his land and had pity on his people.
Joel 2:19 The Lord answered and said to his people, “Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and [...]

Joel 2:12-17 “Tear Up Your Hearts”

Joel 2:12-17 “Tear Up Your Hearts”
Joel 2.12t17 tear your hearts up
Joel 2:12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
Joel 2:13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to [...]

Book Review of George Montague’s “Holy Spirit: Growth of a Biblical Tradition”

Montague, G.T. (1994). Holy Spirit: Growth of a Biblical Tradition. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.
 Commenting on Joel, Montague suggests the following:
This passage from Joel, written probably in the fourth century B.C., stands on the divide between classical prophecy and apocalyptic or “end-time” prophecy. Although the immediate occasion for the prophecy seems to have been a plague of [...]

Rick Hogaboam Sermon: Joel 2:1-11 “Who Can Endure It?”

I will be uploading an attached pdf file of my sermon outlines from now on. Most outlines are about 6 pages long and will include most the material used in my preaching. I also hope to upload the “pbb” file for Libronix users. Enjoy.
joel-21t11-who-can-endure-it

Review of Charles Holman’s “Till Jesus Comes: Origins of Christian Apocalyptic Expectation”

Holman, Charles L.: Till Jesus Comes : Origins of Christian Apocalyptic Expectation. Peabody, Mass. : Hendrickson Publishers, 1996
For more information on Dr. Charles Holman, visit: http://www.regent.edu/acad/schdiv/holman/charles.shtml
Holman comments on Joel 2-3 as follows:
Following material blessing, a deluge of the Spirit “on all flesh” is foreseen, answering to the downpour in verse 23 which replenished the earth [...]

Review of Greg Carey “Ultimate Things: An Introduction to Jewish and Christian Apocalyptic Literature”

Carey, G. (2005). Ultimate Things: An Introduction to Jewish and Christian Apocalyptic Literature. St. Louis, MO: Chalice.

Commenting on Joel 2:28-32, Carey (2005:61) says:
…it proclaimed an eschatological age marked by prophetic and visionary activity…Peter recites part of the passage to interpret the manifestations of the Spirit at Pentecost (2:16-21). Likewise, Paul, who testifies to prophetic activity [...]

Quotables by Elizabeth Achtemeier

These are all taken from The New International Biblical Commentary: Minor Prophets I -
“…Joel shows us that the true God is a God of power, the ruler of all nature and history, who has the might to offer effective love. God can do away with rebellion and his enemies on earth, and he will establish [...]

Spiritual Blindness in the Academy

James Jordan has written an excellent critique of why Christian scholars and secular scholars are in thrall to false ideas. The entire article is here, this is an excerpt:
The current scholarly consensus gives little comfort to the evangelical scholar, because at a great many important points the history of the ancient world as reconstructed by secularists contradicts [...]

Review of G.K. Beale’s “The New Testament and New Creation”

                                          
Beale, G.K. (2002). The New Testament and New Creation. In Hafemann, S.J. (ed), Biblical Theology: Retrospect & Prospect. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity.
 
 The phrase “latter days” occurs approximately twenty-seven times in the NT, and only sometimes [...]

People of the Book

     James Jordan has written that the writers of the Old Testament were “highly educated priests and Levites…The Bible is not written in parole Hebrew, but in written and also hieratic Hebrew. It is written in a line by men in a line, men who were a small majority at odds with their surrounding [...]

Max Turner’s “The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts”

This isn’t a review per se, but rather some of my thoughts on a single citation from Turner’s volume.
Turner, M. (1998) The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts in the New Testament and Today. Hendrickson: Peabody, MA.
The nature of the gift of the Spirit which Peter promises to all who call on the name of the [...]

More Thoughts on Max Turner’s “Spirit of Prophecy”

Turner, Max. 1998. The ‘Spirit of Prophecy’ As the Power of Israel’s Restoration and Witness. In “Witness to the Gospel: The Theology of Acts” edited by Marshall, I.H. & Peterson, D.
My first post can be read at http://endued.wordpress.com/2009/02/03/review-of-max-turner’s-“’the-spirit-of-prophecy’-as-the-power-of-israel’s-restoration-and-witness”/
The Pentecost account (2:1-13) quite deliberately echoes Jewish accounts of the Sinai theophany…Jesus is exalted to God’s right hand [...]

Rick Hogaboam Audio Sermon, Hosea 12 “Jacob Vs. Israel”

http://www.sovereigngracefellowship.org/oldtest/hosea_part12.mp3

Rick Hogaboam Audio Sermon, Hosea 11 “I am God and Not a Man”

http://www.sovereigngracefellowship.org/oldtest/hosea_part11.mp3