Luke 14

Luke Chapter 14, Calvin the Protestant Pope,

Calvinism, infant baptism, count the cost, dropsy

edema, be humble or be humbled, two resurrections,

no excuses, cars, automobiles in the Bible, Jesus was

not very Seeker Sensitive,

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Let's read Luke 14:1-6

• Jesus is at it again healing on the Sabbath!Luke 14:6 And they could not answer Him regarding

these things.

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Luke 14:1, Into The Pharisee’ House

• NAU Luke 14:1 It happened that when He went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching Him closely.

• He would go right into enemy territory to minister the gospel.

• Luke emphasizes the humanity of Christ, and he shows more healings on the Sabbath than any other gospel. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, and superior to any man-made religion.

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Luke 14:2, Suffering From Dropsy

• NAU Luke 14:2 And there in front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy.

• Mac dictionary;

• dropsy 1 |ˈdräpsē|, noun (pl. dropsies)

• old-fashioned or less technical term for edema.

• Mac Arthur Study Bible page 1543, "A condition where fluid is retained in the tissues and cavities of the body, often caused by kidney or liver ailments, including cancer"

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Luke 14:3, Lawful To Heal?

• NAU Luke 14:3 And Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”

• What a great question! I can think of no Old Testament verse that prohibited healing on any day. Their prohibition violated the entire spirit of the Mosaic law. No wonder they were speechless.

• NAU Mark 2:27 Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 "So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

• NAU John 7:23 "If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath?

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Luke 14:6, Speechless Pharisees!

• NKJ Luke 14:6 And they could not answer Him regarding these things.

• Speechless Pharisees seems like an oxymoron.

• I love this, they set a trap for our Lord, then He asked them a question, and they can't even answer.

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Let's read Luke 14:7-14

• Humble yourself or be humbled. In humility take your seat at the feast of master has prepared for us.

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Luke 14:8, Wedding

• Luke 14:8 "When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him,

• Cheryl A. Paden says, “My sister, Ann, a third-grade teacher, invited her class to her wedding. The wedding was at 3:30 p.m. on a weekday, so the substitute brought Ann's class to the church. The music started, the attendants took their places, and the bride came down the aisle on the arm of her father. At this point one alarmed student exclaimed,

• "She's not going to marry that old man, is she?"

Luke 14:11, Humble Or Humbled

• NAU Luke 14:11 "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

• Glorify Christ alone!

• NAU Romans 16:27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.

• NAU 2 Corinthians 8:23 …messengers of the churches, a glory to Christ.

• NAU Ephesians 1:12 …we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.

• NAU Philippians 3:3 for we …glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,

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Luke 14:13, Compassion On The Poor

• NAU Luke 14:13 "But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,

Luke 14:14, Compassion On The Poor

• NAU Luke 14:14 and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

• Psalm 72:13 He will have compassion on the poor and needy, And the lives of the needy he will save.

• Proverbs 10:15 The rich man's wealth is his fortress, The ruin of the poor is their poverty.

• John 12:8 "For you always have the poor with you…

Luke 14:14, Two Resurrections

• NAU Luke 14:14 …at the resurrection of the righteous.”

• Jesus very clearly talk two resurrections;

• NAU John 5:29 and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

• The first resurrection is a category

• The second resurrection is an event,

• NAU Revelation 20:4 “…I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come

to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection…”

Let's read Luke 14:15-24

• Many are invited into the Kingdom, but they make excuses and will not come.

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Luke 14:18, Excuses

• NAU Luke 14:18 "But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, 'I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.'

• Kimberly Johnson says, “Never ruin an apology with an excuse.”

• Paul says humans will have no excuse before the King; NAU

Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

Luke 14:18, One Accord

• NKJ Luke 14:18 …with one accord began to make excuses…

• Some try to say that this is another reference to automobiles in the Bible. Much like;

• NAU 2 Samuel 19:18 …the ford to bring over the king’s…

• NAU Acts 7:32 … venture to look.

• NAU Joshua 1:14 …your valiant…

• Psalm 2:5 …His fury,

• NAU Psalm 41:11 …in triumph…

Let's read Luke 14:25-35

• Jesus teaches on forsaking all, and counting the cost.

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Luke 14:25,"Seeker Sensitive”?

• NAU Luke 14:25 Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, 26 "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. 27 "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

• Jesus was not very "Seeker sensitive”• Many seeker sensitive churches are now willing to

sacrifice the gospel in order to lure in goats into the pews. Jesus stuck with the truth, because he is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Luke 14:25, Christ's Way Is Not The Easy Way

• NAU Mark 8:34 And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

• Peter is thinking in the flesh, and got rebuked for suggesting that Jesus should take the easy way out.

• Matthew 16:24 …If anyone wishes to come after Me…• Mark 10:21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and

said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."

Luke 14:26, Hate Your Loved Ones?

• NAU Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

• MacArthur Study Bible page 1544, says,”A similar statement in Matthew 10:37 is the key to understanding this difficult command. The "hatred" called for here is actually a lesser love. Jesus was calling his disciples to cultivate such a devotion to him that their attachment to everything else, including their own lives, would seem like hatred by comparison. See 16:13; Gen. 29:30, 31 for similar usages of the word "hate."

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Luke 14:27, Carry Your Cross

• NAU Luke 14:27 "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

• I think this verse adds clarity to the previous verse. Jesus is saying that we should love him more than anything else, including our family, possessions, and even our own life.

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Luke 14:27, Die To Self, Carry Your Cross

• NAU Luke 14:27 "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

• NAU Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. [Luke 9:23, Matthew 10:38]

• Billy Graham said, “Jesus invited us, not to a picnic, but to a pilgrimage; not to a frolic, but to a fight. He offered us, not an excursion, but an execution. Our Savior said that we would have to be ready to die to self, sin, and the world.”

• NAU Philippians 2:17 But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.

• NAU Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 22

Luke 14:32, Support For Violent Coercion In This Verse?

• NAU Luke 14:32 "Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

• Do you see any justification for or “support for violent coercion” in this verse?

• This is a clear evidence of why we must hold fast to Sola Scriptura, and not trust in the doctrines of men, when they disagree with the Word of God, or are not clearly supported by Scripture.

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An interview on Search the Scriptures 24/7, featuring T.A. McMahon, a radio ministry of The Berean Call.

• “…Anton [Pastor Anton Bosch]: Yes, exegesis, "ex" meaning "out of," so "drawing out of the Scripture its meaning"; eisegesis is based on the idea of putting into Scripture your own meaning.

• Tom: Okay, now that's important to clarify that. Again, the quote: "Calvin was an exegetical genius of the first order. His commentaries are unsurpassed for originality, depth, perspicuity, soundness, and permanent value. Calvin was the king of the commentators." Again, quoting the conference, that comes from Philip Schaff. Now, they also quote a former president of Westminster Seminary, John Murray, and this is what he said: "Calvin was the exegete. He was the exegete of the Reformation and in the first rank of biblical exegetes of all time." Lawson goes on to say, "I do believe that Calvin towers over the church history as the most substantial theologian that has been given to the church, its most powerful influence, and we would do well to hear from our older brother.” Now, I know you know this stuff, Anton, but I have to keep it going. Calvin, also known as the Protestant Pope of Geneva, a city of about 20,000, in which he instigated torturous persecutions of hundreds, including more than 50 executions, many of whom were drowned for simply disagreeing with his "biblical" doctrine of infant baptism - of course, that would be the Anabaptists.

• Anton: Right….

An interview on Search the Scriptures 24/7, featuring T.A. McMahon, a radio ministry of The Berean Call.

• Tom: You know, Dave Hunt, in his book What Love Is This? spells all of this out, folks. “…Calvin, the church's most substantial theologian and foremost exegete..." Well, he interpreted Luke 14:32 to support his violent coercion. Now folks, I challenge you to look up that verse and see if you agree. Now, the conference also, not only Calvin and those of Reformed history, Reformation history, they quote Augustine, again, Roman Catholics' or Roman Catholicism's doctor of the major dogmas, John Chrysostom - he taught prayers for the dead, Luther taught infant baptism, baptismal regeneration, and wrote a vicious anti-Semitic tract, Jonathan Edwards - he taught that God is the author of sin and evil, B.B. Warfield - I mentioned him last week - he taught theistic evolution and honored Darwin "as one [before] whom we gladly doff our hats in true and admiring reverence." As well, there were lists of contemporary Reformed theologians, such as J.I. Packer - he signed Evangelicals and Catholics Together, R.C. Sproul, who teaches partial preterism. Now look, my whole point here is that why are they looking to men? Not that these guys got everything wrong, but the point is sola scriptura. We don't look to men, especially fallible men, no matter where they are. It's not that they can't give us an insight, but if their insight doesn't direct us back to the Word of God, well, it's delusionary and worse…”

Which Kind Of Calvinist Are You?

• “…Tom: "Now within Calvinism, if I said, "Well, yeah, " or let's say I'm dealing with somebody who claims to be a Calvinist, and I said, "Well, so you're a Calvinist.” And they'd say, "Yes. Yes, I am.” I said, "Well, are you a hyper-Calvinist? Are you a moderate Calvinist? Are you a five-point, four-point, three-point, two-point, one-point Calvinist? Are you a Limited Atonement Calvinist? Are you a Particular Atonement Calvinist? Are you a Particular Redemption Calvinist? Are you a Definite Atonement Calvinist?” Now, folks, these are legitimate - they're labels, but some would agree, "This is what I am, this is what I am." But I'll keep going: "Are you a Almyraldist Calvinist? Are you a non-Almyraldist Calvinist? Are you a supralapsarian Calvinist? Are you an infralapsarian Calvinist? …A sub-lapsarian Calvinist? A cessatinist Calvinist? Are you a continuist Calvinist? Are you a charismatic Calvinist? Are you a miracalist? Are you a providentialist Calvinist?" And the list goes on and on and on. And with all of these things, there are definitions that men have made up to see if you fit into any one of these things. Now, this is men's rationalism. This is a methodology of trying to work theology out according to the labels and the definitions of men."

• An interview on Search the Scriptures 24/7, featuring T.A. McMahon, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. We offer a wide variety of resources to help you in your study of God's Word. For a complete list of materials and a free subscription to our monthly newsletter contact us at PO Box 7019 Bend, Oregon 97708. Call us at800.937.6638. Or visit our website at the bereancall.org. [January 24, 2014]

Calvin, the Protestant Pope of Geneva

• “…Calvin interpreted Luke 14:32 to support his violent coercion;

• “Calvin, also known as the Protestant Pope of Geneva, a city of about 20,000, in which he instigated torturous persecutions of hundreds, including more than 50 executions, many of whom were drowned for simply disagreeing with his "biblical" doctrine of infant baptism -of course, that would be the Anabaptists.”

khouse.org eNews Luke 14:32, Theological Scripture Twisting

• “Often a theology is declared “Biblical” because there are verses in Scripture that seem to support it. Typically there will also be verses that refute it. In reality, almost every heresy has Biblical verses that seem to support it. For example, the following verses can be interpreted to support the “Prosperity Gospel” (aka “name it and claim it”):

• I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10b, ISV)

• And my God will fully supply your every need according to his glorious riches in the Messiah Jesus. (Philippians 4:19, ISV)

• Dear friend, I pray that you are doing well in every way and that you are healthy, just as your soul is healthy. (3 John 2, ISV)

• However the following verses clearly refuted it:

• Stop storing up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moths and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But keep on storing up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal, because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19–21, ISV)

• Jesus told them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never become hungry, and whoever believes in me will never become thirsty.” (John 6:35, ISV)

• When examined closely, these supposed supporting verses will have been misinterpreted, while the refuting verses are either ignored or interpreted in a way to make them not mean what they say. To be truly Biblical, a theology cannot have verses that refute it when they are interpreted with a correct hermeneutic and not through the lens of said theology.” 28

The Berean Call had Tom McMahon interview Ron Merryman; Infant Baptism

• “…Tom: Well, you know, Ron, along that line, when we're talking about the Reformation, the solas, here's some of the ironies, or contradictions. Yeah, the cry of Luther, sola scriptura! But when it plays out, you find that Lutherans, Wisconsin, Missouri Synod, or whatever, you're going to find within any denomination churches having autonomy and so on, and they may go by the Scriptures, some may not. But more often than not within Lutheranism, you're going to find, "Oh, you've got to be baptized in order to be saved!" Now, that's not sola scriptura!

• Ron [Merryman]: Exactly.• Tom: It's a problem.• Ron: And the perfect illustration of that which I taught over the last ten years, I

was speaking in Northern Minnesota, and the pastor said, "Well, I was baptized as a baby, and let me show you my baptism certificate." And it actually--I have a photograph of this now; I made an overhead projection of it--it said that he was regenerated and now a part of the body of Christ in his baptismal certificate of being baptized as a baby--yes, again, this is one of the carryovers again, confusion relative to these two things Jesus asked us to do. It's not cleared up even in non-Catholic circles…”

Luke 14:31, Good Counsel

• NAU Luke 14:31 "Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?

• Is always prudent and wise to seek good counsel.• NAU Proverbs 15:22 Without consultation, plans are frustrated,

But with many counselors they succeed.• NAU Proverbs 11:14 Where there is no guidance the people

fall, But in abundance of counselors there is victory.• We are not Lone Ranger Christians, and we need to remember

to seek out counsel from the most Bible based, Holy spirit filled, and Scripture equipped counselors that we can find.

Luke 14:32, Far Country

• NAU Luke 14:32 "Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

• NAU 1 Kings 8:41 "Also concerning the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel, when he comes from a far country for Your name's sake 42 (for they will hear of Your great name and Your mighty hand, and of Your outstretched arm); when he comes and prays toward this house, 43 hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, to fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name.

• God is at home in heaven where our citizenship is. We are in the far country, as ambassadors of Christ.

So, In conclusion

• Aerial of the Great Salt Lake in Utah.PHOTOGRAPH BY PAUL ZAHL, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Luke 14:34-35, Salt

• NAU Luke 14:34 "Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? 35 "It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

• Aerial of the Great Salt Lake in Utah.PHOTOGRAPH BY PAUL ZAHL, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

THE END

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Numbers 23:10, Who can count the dust of Jacob? ANTS!!!

• Can ants count? It seems so! When a scout ant finds an item of food too big to carry, but especially good, the scout will return to the nest to get help. Scientists have discovered that ants apparently size up the task ahead so that they can return with just sufficient help.

Notes: Photo: Weaver ant in fighting position. Courtesy of PHGCOM. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.

Luke 14:28-30, Count The Cost, Counting

• TODAY'S CREATION MOMENT• ANT MATHEMATICS• inAnimals• Listen• Luke 14:28-30• “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he

hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.”• Can ants count? It seems so! When a scout ant finds an item of food too big to carry, but especially good, the scout will return to the nest to get help.

Scientists have discovered that ants apparently size up the task ahead so that they can return with just sufficient help.• One scientist cut a dead grasshopper into three pieces. The second piece was twice as big as the first, and the third was twice as big the second. He

then left the pieces in different locations where ants could find them. He watched as each was discovered by a scout, inspected, and each scout returned to the nest for help. When the scout returned with help, the scientist counted the number of ants working at each piece of grasshopper. The smallest piece had 28 ants and the piece that was twice its size had 44 ants working on it, almost twice as many as the smallest piece. And how many ants do you think were working on the piece that was twice the size of the second? If you doubled that 44 to 88 you would be within one of being right – yes, there were 89 ants working to return the biggest piece to the nest!

• The ants were carrying out the biblical principal to “count the cost of the project before you begin it.”• Prayer:• Dear Lord Jesus Christ, You spared nothing for my salvation, even though it cost You terrible suffering and death. As Yours, give me wisdom to plan well

in the things of the world, but no desire to withhold anything from You because of the cost. Amen.• Notes:• Photo: Weaver ant in fighting position. Courtesy of PHGCOM. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.

Luke 14:27 18:22 9:23 Mark 10:21, 8:34 John 5:40, 7:37 Matthew 23:37 22:3, 11:28, 16:24, Wishes To Come After Me, Come to Me,

Come, Follow Me

• Matthew 16:24 …If anyone wishes to come after Me…

An interview on Search the Scriptures 24/7, featuring T.A. McMahon, a radio ministry of The Berean Call.

• January 24, 2014Dear Pastor and Mrs.,

This week on Search the Scriptures 24/7, Tom McMahon welcomes back Pastor Anton Bosch as they continue their discussion of the Strange Fire Conference.•

We recommend that you listen to our new program at oneplace.com. Oneplace has more listening options than we have on our website. Please go to:•• http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/search-the-scriptures-daily/•• For more information about Search the Scriptures 24/7 or to listen to our program archives please visit:

http://www.thebereancall.org/radio

• Program Description:•• Tom welcomes back guest Anton Bosch as they continue their discussion the Strange Fire Conference.•• Transcript:•• Gary: Welcome to Search the Scriptures 24/7, a radio ministry of The Berean Call with T.A. McMahon. I'm Gary Carmichael. We're glad you could join us. In today's program, Tom continues his visit with special guest Pastor Anton Bosch from Sun Valley Community Church in California. Now, along with his guest, here's TBC executive director, Tom McMahon.•• Tom: Thanks, Gary. Well, this is our...part 2 of our program in which we're addressing the Strange Fire Conference that was held at John MacArthur's church, Grace Community Church in Sun Valley in Southern California, and my partner in addressing this is Anton Bosch.•• As you'll recognize from Anton's accent, he's originally from South Africa, which...you know, when I ever have somebody on here from New Zealand or these countries, you guys are so much more articulate (laughing) that it's a thrill. You know, Paul Wilkinson from England as well. I go, "Oh brother, Tom. You'd better take some elocution lessons!"•• But anyway, back to the subject here, Anton is a pastor. He attended - if you missed our first program, he attended the Strange Fire Conference, which is not too far from his own church. He's a pastor in Sun Valley, California, which is in the San Fernando part of Los Angeles, if that's the way to describe it. But also, Anton has been a part of apologetics ministries, blog sites - I mentioned last week "Herescope," which is a fantastic blog site; it's a part of the discernment research group, so

he's been at this a long time. And that's what got me interested...well, I was sent an article out of Australia, which is Philip Powell's ministry, Christian Witness Ministries - is that right?•• Anton: Yeah.•• Tom: So that's where I first read Anton's impression of this conference. Now we covered a lot of material last week, so...and we'll try not to keep going over this but get on to some more information about it, so I recommend if you haven't heard part 1 of this that you...you know, it's on our website, and some radios are picking it up, and so on. It's out there. And you can also email us with your objections or with your encouragements, whatever that might be.•• Now, Anton, the issues I want to talk about today, which we alluded to last week, this conference was not only about dealing with the issues of the Charismatic movement, of the abuses among Charismatics, the charlatans, the Benny Hinns, the TBN crowd, and so on, which, you know, as I said last week, many, many other ministries, including our own, including what you've written about, Herescope, we've dealt with this over the years. But sadly, it keeps growing and growing. That

would tell us that, hey, I think the Bible may be right when it talks about in the Last Days there will be apostasy.•• Anton: Right.•• Tom: Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:1-3 that "the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine," and you couldn't...I mean, you'd have to be blind not to recognize what's going on throughout the church. It's overwhelming. But the point is that if that was the issue, yeah, let's have another voice of discernment regarding the abuses of the gifts, the abuses within...call it Charismatic, Pentecostal, whatever it might be...again, not that everybody that's a part of that...and

you mentioned last week, Anton, the broad brush that's used, but we're going to talk about that in a little bit.•• So, my concern is, yes, they're addressing an issue that needs to be addressed, but it's how they're addressing it and what their solution is, and I challenge anybody who thinks I'm putting them on with this, or not understanding this - there are 17 messages and 2 Q&A sessions, which are available on the Internet from Grace Community Church, so you can go over every message, you can watch them and hear them, and they also involve the transcripts. So, folks, check us out here. We're

just giving you our impressions. You may have a different impression, but I don't know how you can argue with some of the things that we're going to address here. But that's up to you.•• So, Anton, again, as we've mentioned the silver bullet to deal with all of these problems within the Charismatic church, Pentecostal church, within those who are continuationists, those who believe that the gifts of the Spirit are still for today, the silver bullet to solve those problems, those errors, in their view, would be Calvinist cessationism. Now, am I boiling it down to something that's not there?•• Anton: No, that's exactly what it is. Because of his broad brush approach, and it's [actually?] in a follow-up YouTube that was recorded when he spoke to his seminary students subsequent to the conference, he paints the church landscape in the world today as follows: There are the crazy Charismatics on the one side; there are the Reformed people on the other side; and in between, there is...and he used the word "generic" group of "gray" churches that are really just keeping people

happy preaching motivational messages and that kind of thing. So as far as he's concerned, there're really only two things happening in the church today, and that is Reformed theology and Charismatics on the other side.•• And that really is not the truth. In between these two extremes, there is a huge number, and granted it's not an organized thing as Calvinism is, or as the Charismatic movement is, but there are thousands of churches in America and in the rest of the world just like ours, where our emphasis is on the Scriptures; it is not on Pentecostal gifts; it is not on the Reformers; it's not on the traditions of men. It is simply trying to rediscover a biblical form of Christianity. And that just does not

exist in his understanding of what goes on in the church.•• So, yeah, the only answer, as far as he is concerned, is in Calvinism, and, as you said, not just Calvinism, because remember there are Calvinists like Grudem and Piper, and so on, who are continuationists. He disregards them and refers to them as an anomaly or an oxymoron, and so they don't really even feature in this. The only answer to the problems in the church and the world today lies within Calvinism.•• Tom: Right. Now, you mentioned Wayne Grudem, certainly John Piper, and Sam [Storms] - these are Calvinists. So, you know, my impression, Anton, was they were cut a little bit more slack because at least they had the Calvinism part right - they were just in error over their view of the gifts. So again, it all comes back to the answer is not sola scriptura, even though they wave that banner, and so on, the answer is in Reformed theology, and again, folks, if you want to take the time to

go through all of these messages, that's what's going to come home. Now, we mentioned last week how in John MacArthur's words, Steve Lawson, and other so-called icons of the Reformed Calvinist movement, that's all you heard about. These are the men that were referred to, even drawing in Augustine, certainly Calvin himself, Luther - you go on down through the line. These are supposed to be our heroes in the faith.•• Anton: Right.•• Tom: Now, before I get to John Calvin himself, obviously from the conference, and I haven't read the book yet, but Calvin is the hero. He's almost sanctified, not only in this conference, but you read the book, Anton, and I would imagine John would continue that idea.•• Anton: Right.•• Tom: Now, Calvin, as I mentioned, he's almost sanctified in a Catholic way, canonized, in this conference. For example, John MacArthur says, "This is a time for the people who now stand on the shoulders of the Reformers in every area of their theology to be faithful to Reformation theology to its full rich intent. If we claim allegiance to the Reformers, then we ought to conduct ourselves with the same level of courage. Don't call yourself a charismatic Calvinist. John Calvin would reject

that. John Calvin• did reject that. You'll have to drop the "Calvinist" part." I assume that's pointed at Piper and Gruden and [Storms] and others who go that way. Now, Calvin, just to talk about him for a brief moment, and add whatever you'd like to this, Anton. Well, he wrote his• Institutes of the Christian Religion at age 26 - that's two years after leaving the Catholic Church, and, as I mentioned, the baggage that he brought, which I'll get into.•• Anton: Right.•• Tom: So, you know, you'd think that would give someone pause, because, wait a minute, the guy's only been a believer, if indeed that, for two years and now he's writing about the Christian religion?•• Anton: Exactly.•• Tom: Incredible. But do these guys buy that? Yes, they do. Philip Schaff, who's also a historian and a Calvinist, is quoted by Lawson in his message: "Calvin was an exegetical genius." We used the words "exegesis" and "eisegesis" last week. Exegesis is correctly interpreting the Scriptures. Eisegesis is putting your own ideas into it. Would that be...?•• Anton: Yes, exegesis, "ex" meaning "out of," so "drawing out of the Scripture its meaning"; eisegesis is based on the idea of putting into Scripture your own meaning.•• Tom: Okay, now that's important to clarify that. Again, the quote: "Calvin was an exegetical genius of the first order. His commentaries are unsurpassed for originality, depth, perspicuity, soundness, and permanent value. Calvin was the king of the commentators." Again, quoting the conference, that comes from Philip Schaff.• Now, they also quote a former president of Westminster Seminary, John Murray, and this is what he said: "Calvin was the exegete. He was the exegete of the Reformation and in the first rank of biblical exegetes of all time." Lawson goes on to say, "I do believe that Calvin towers over the church history as the most substantial theologian that has been given to the church, its most powerful influence, and we would do well to hear from our older brother."•• Now, I know you know this stuff, Anton, but I have to keep it going. Calvin, also known as the Protestant Pope of Geneva, a city of about 20,000, in which he instigated torturous persecutions of hundreds, including more than 50 executions, many of whom were drowned for simply disagreeing with his "biblical" doctrine of infant baptism - of course, that would be the Anabaptists.•• Anton: Right.•• Tom: You know, Dave Hunt, in his book What Love Is This? spells all of this out, folks. "Calvin [I'm continuing] Calvin, the church's most substantial theologian and foremost exegete..." Well, he interpreted Luke 14:32 to support his violent coercion. Now folks, I challenge you to look up that verse and see if you agree.Now, the conference also, not only Calvin and those of Reformed history, Reformation history, they quote Augustine, again, Roman Catholics' or Roman Catholicism's

doctor of the major dogmas, John Chrysostom - he taught prayers for the dead, Luther taught infant baptism, baptismal regeneration, and wrote a vicious anti-Semitic tract, Jonathan Edwards - he taught that God is the author of sin and evil, B.B. Warfield - I mentioned him last week - he taught theistic evolution and honored Darwin "as one [before] whom we gladly doff our hats in true and admiring reverence." As well, there were lists of contemporary Reformed theologians, such as J.I. Packer - he signed Evangelicals and Catholics Together, R.C. Sproul, who teaches partial preterism.

•• Now look, my whole point here is that why are they looking to men? Not that these guys got everything wrong, but the point is sola scriptura.•

• We don't look to men, especially fallible men, no matter where they are. It's not that they can't give us an insight, but if their insight doesn't direct us back to the Word of God, well, it's delusionary and worse.•

• Anton: Right. And really these men get between us and the Word and between us and God, and just the very idea of calling yourself a Calvinist is to me abhorrent. And I know that's a strong word, but was Jesus a Calvinist? Or was Jesus an Arminian? And in fact, I wrote an article before this conference a few months ago, and it's entitled, "Just a Christian." I'm a follower of Christ. And we are called to follow Him. We're not even called to follow Paul, and Paul, you know, exceeds Calvin by a thousand times. And yet we're not Paulists. We do not follow Paul. We do not follow Cephas, or Peter. We do not follow Apollos. We follow Christ.

•• Tom: Right. But we see again a huge difference. What Paul writes is under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And he makes that correction himself, are you following Apollos? Are you following...which way are you going. On the one hand. On the other hand, we have sola scriptura.We have the Word of God. You know, when Paul talks about "look at my life, a pattern for life," what we have is from the Scriptures, from the truth, things that we are to emulate and do, but not the person of

Paul. But what he did, "Not by might, nor by power, but by the Holy Spirit," that's the deal there.•• Anton: Yeah, and we obviously don't want to discard the benefits of 2,000 years of Christianity, and there are good things in that history, and if there are good things, we can extract those good things. And certainly there were good things out of the Reformation, and the very term that we're throwing around this morning, sola scriptura, was a Reformation term. And that was a good thing.•• Tom: Of course. The sad part is they didn't follow it. You know, Luther....I mean, they had so much Catholic baggage that they gave way to that in many cases. But I agree with you to stand up to the Roman Catholic Church at the time was a huge, huge deal. So we're not undermining that. But, as you said, Anton, what they're doing with it now, it's not just erroneous; it's so contradictory, it's antithetical to the Scriptures.•• Anton: Yeah, and the Reformation was, as you mentioned, it was a correction to the errors of Catholicism, and it was for that time. Now running parallel to that, and you get this in Broadbent's book on the church history, The Pilgrim Church, running parallel to that is this generic church that MacArthur refers to of the small little groups that existed from the Book of Acts and continues through to today. Now, I'm not saying that God does not move in big movements. Of course, you

know, He did use the Welsh revivals and the Great Awakening, and things like that. But the continuity does not run through the Roman Church and then the major correction in the Reformation. The continuity runs in those little groups, the Brethren, amongst others at that time, who didn't need to make these big corrections because they had remained true to the Scripture.•• So it's a fallacy to suggest that the answers lie in the Reformation. No, the answers don't lie in the Reformation. The Reformation was purely a Catholic thing. It related to the Catholic problem, and one of the problems of reading Luther today - in fact, I just read a comment by D. A. Carson on Luther's commentary on the Book of Galatians, and he says that Luther's commentary is basically irrelevant to us today because his interpretation of the Book of Galatians is in the light of the

Catholic problem that he was dealing with.•• Tom: Mm-hmm. Now, Anton, I want to go back to something that really...really upsets me, and it has to do with labels and definitions. And we've seen this abuse, well, on both sides of those who defending the gifts and those who are not. They fall into what I think is a huge, huge trap, an error.•• Now, have you ever had anybody say to you, "Well, are you a Calvinist or an Arminian?" And then, I'm sure your response would be, as mine, "Wait a minute. I'm not either one. I'm a biblical Christian." If we're going for labels, that's the only one I will accept.•• Anton: Right.•• Tom: Now within Calvinism, if I said, "Well, yeah, " or let's say I'm dealing with somebody who claims to be a Calvinist, and I said, "Well, so you're a Calvinist."• And they'd say, "Yes. Yes, I am."•• I said, "Well, are you a hyper-Calvinist? Are you a moderate Calvinist? Are you a five-point, four-point, three-point, two-point, one-point Calvinist? Are you a Limited Atonement Calvinist? Are you a Particular Atonement Calvinist? Are you a Particular Redemption Calvinist? Are you a Definite Atonement Calvinist?"•• Now, folks, these are legitimate - they're labels, but some would agree, "This is what I am, this is what I am." But I'll keep going: "Are you a Almyraldist Calvinist? Are you a non-Almyraldist Calvinist? Are you a supralapsarian Calvinist? Are you an infralapsarian Calvinist? A sub-lapsasrian Calvinist? A sub-lapsarian Calvinist? A cessatinist Calvinist? Are you a continuist Calvinist? Are you a charismatic Calvinist? Are you a miracalist? Are you a providentialist Calvinist?" And the list goes on

and on and on. And with all of these things, there are definitions that men have made up to see if you fit into any one of these things. Now, this is men's rationalism. This is a methodology of trying to work theology out according to the labels and the definitions of men.•• Am I making too much of this, Anton?•• Anton: No, that's exactly what it is, and it's really trying to put the Word of God, and to put God, in a box, with a label, you know, of some form of Calvinism or some form of this or that or the other thing. And, you know, of course the problem with Calvinism in terms of the central issue of predestination is a very complex thing, and the answer does not lie, as you said, in Calvinism or in Arminianism. The answer lies in holding the incredibly great truths in tension. God is sovereign. You

know, of course, He's sovereign. Can He do what He chooses? Yes, He can do exactly what He chooses. But at the same time, has He given a man a responsibility to respond to His plan of salvation? Clearly He has. Does the one contradict the other in human wisdom? Yes, it does, and so because we want to apply human wisdom to these things and not accept by faith even those things that have to be held in tension and that we cannot fully understand, we try and put things in these boxes. And God and His Word is just so profound - and there are so many truths, you know, how can He be three and be one at the same time? We have to hold these things in tension. And so any attempt to put things in this box or that box is really an attempt at applying human wisdom and descaling the incredible depths of God's greatness and God's power and wisdom.

•• Tom: Now, Anton, we just have a few minutes left, but we need to address this, because I know people say, "Well, wait a minute, so what's your view on the gifts?" Okay? I'll tell you folks pointblank, we believe that there's no verse in the Bible that says that the gifts have ceased for today. It all has to do, you look at all the gifts, it all has to do with the building up of the church, for edification, and so on. So in our view, yes, it's a difficult subject, and it's not like a nonnegotiable part of

the gospel, or the gospel itself, which is objective. We can look at verse after verse and say, "This is clearly what it says." But when you move into the issue of the gifts, it's a little bit more subjective, lends itself more to somewhat the experiential. Now, having said that, it can be a minefield. We've seen people go awry with it. We've seen people lock down on it. But my view is the Bible does not teach that the gifts have ceased for today. No way. You can't give me chapter or verse. Having said that, we also can see from observation how the gifts have been abused in the church. But that doesn't mean you throw it out. You can't! There are too many examples in the Bible of the Holy Spirit directing lives in ministering from the Scriptures. We can take that.

•• Sorry, Anton, you've only got about a minute. What do you say to that?

Ezekiel 47:11 Mark 9:50 Luke 14:34 James 3:12 Zephaniah 2:9, Salt

• Ezekiel 47:11 "But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.

• Aerial of the Great Salt Lake in Utah.PHOTOGRAPH BY PAUL ZAHL, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

The Berean Call had Tom McMahon interview Ron Merryman; Infant Baptism

• The Berean Call had Tom McMahon interview Ron Merryman;;• Ron: I think that's excellent. I recently had a very nice--here I go on a rabbit [trail], but...I was selling a piano. I was moving from Colorado, and I couldn't take this piano, and I had somebody call me, and they came and they saw all my

books and everything, and they asked if I was interested in the church and all that, and I said, "Yeah," and they said, "Well, we're going to buy this for our church."•• And I said, "What church do you go to?"•• And they said, "We go to Lutheran Church."•• I said, "What synod is it in?"•• "The Missouri Synod."•• And I said, "What branch?"•• And they said, "The Wisconsin Branch."•• And I said, "Well, that's encouraging to me, because you at least believe the Bible!"•• Tom: Right.•• Ron: And the man's wife then came, and she couldn't wait to tell me. She said, "Do you believe that only believers were baptized in the New Testament?"•• I said, "You know, it really doesn't matter what I believe personally. My answer to your question is yes, but what's important is what does the text say? Everybody in the New Testament that got water baptized, they had accepted

Christ; they were believers."•• Tom: Mm-hmm.•• Ron: She said, "Well, we've come to that, too, and I went to my pastor and I asked him would he immerse me, and he said he would. So my husband and I, we figured when we were baptized as babies it didn't count, so we got

baptized."•• So I said-this lady was, now, she was about fifty-and I said, "Have you talked to your parents about this?"•• She said, "Oh, I haven't had the courage." [chuckles]•• Tom: Right.•• Ron: Isn't that interesting?•• Tom: Well, you know, Ron, along that line, when we're talking about the Reformation, the solas, here's some of the ironies, or contradictions. Yeah, the cry of Luther, sola scriptura! But when it plays out, you find that Lutherans,

Wisconsin, Missouri Synod, or whatever, you're going to find within any denomination churches having autonomy and so on, and they may go by the Scriptures, some may not. But more often than not within Lutheranism, you're going to find, "Oh, you've got to be baptized in order to be saved!" Now, that's not sola scriptura!

•• Ron: Exactly.•• Tom: It's a problem.•• Ron: And the perfect illustration of that which I taught over the last ten years, I was speaking in Northern Minnesota, and the pastor said, "Well, I was baptized as a baby, and let me show you my baptism certificate." And it actually--I

have a photograph of this now; I made an overhead projection of it--it said that he was regenerated and now a part of the body of Christ in his baptismal certificate of being baptized as a baby--yes, again, this is one of the carryovers again, confusion relative to these two things Jesus asked us to do. It's not cleared up even in non-Catholic circles.

•