On May 24, 1738, a discouraged missionary went “very unwillingly” to a religious meeting in London. There a miracle took place. “About a quarter before nine,” he wrote in his journal, “I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”
That missionary was John Wesley. The message he heard that evening was the preface to Martin Luther’s commentary on Romans. Just a few months before, John Wesley had written in his journal: “I went to America to convert the Indians; but Oh! who shall convert me?” That evening in Aldersgate Street, his question was answered. And the result was the great Wesleyan Revival that swept England and transformed the nation.[1]
Our focus is on the life-changing book of Romans. Why was Romans placed first in the canon when Romans was Paul’s sixth letter?
Read moreHow can I glorify God? Psalm 50:23 names one specific way. God said, “Whoso offers praise glorifies me.” We don’t need to use this as a Saturday night confession, “I’ll fix sinning all week with this one confession.” We can, however, salvage a wasted day of not glorifying God by praising Him.
In Psalm 103:1-2, David starts with three principles of praise before he actually starts praising the Lord.
Read moreThe word “baptize” means to immerse. Lexicons define baptizo to mean to dip, immerge, submerge. “Consider also the testimonies of three non-Baptist who led the Protestant Reformation. John Calvin, founder of Presbyterianism, declared, ‘The word baptize itself signifies immerse, and it is certain that the rite of immersion was observed by the ancient church.’ In commenting on Romans 6:3-5, John Wesley, founder of Methodism, said, ‘Buried with Him, alluding to the ancient manner of baptism by immersion.’ In speaking of the meaning of baptism, Martin Luther, founder of Lutheranism, said, ‘They ought to be entirely immersed, and immediately drawn out. For this the etymology of the name seems to demand.’ I have always appreciated Luther’s practical theology when he advised the pastor to immediately draw out the person being immersed.
Read moreC. H. Spurgeon was preaching in a conference in which another preacher was teaching that Christians could attain sinless perfection in this life and that he had humbly attained this sinlessness. The next morning at breakfast, Spurgeon snuck up behind the sinless preacher and dumped an entire pitcher of milk on his head. Guess what happened? He sinned.
Read moreThe late Dr. Jack L. Arnold agreed with John MacArthur that the Revolutionary War was rebellion against God:
In our own American Revolution, Christians were divided over how to understand their responsibilities to the state and over the right to revolt. Some, especially those of the Church of England, fought on the side of the British in an attempt to be faithful to Romans 13:1. Others fled to Canada. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was a Tory and sided with England rather than with the Colonies because of his biblical conviction. Yet the Reformed Churches, especially the Presbyterians, felt the revolution justifiable. This revolution was somewhat different from others as it did not result in a breakdown of law and order. Political, social, and economic order was maintained. In fact, the Congress of 1774 had no thoughts of revolution and tried for two years to gain equal representation by lawful means. History shows that Britain, not the Colonies, forced the issue. It was in 1776, after much prayer, that the Continental Congress decided to declare its independence. This ultimately led to the formation of our Declaration of Independence, which acknowledges God as the Creator of all men. Our Constitution and form of government were set forth to a nation that was God-fearing, Christ-living, and biblically oriented. However, this does not prove it was biblically correct to revolt…To resist government is to resist God because government is merely an instrument of God.
Read moreThe powerful influence of music is seen in 1 Sam. 16:14-23 when David, the greatest harpist in Israel, calmed troubled King Saul with his music.
Aristotle said, ‘Music has the power to shape character.’ Satan is clearly using music to do that today. The rock lyrics of the 1960s and 1970s shaped the values of most Americans who are now in their thirties, forties, or fifties. Today, MTV shapes the values of most people in their teens and twenties (Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, page 279).
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